RMU wins AHA playoff game

Darcy Walsh’s overtime winner at 4:42 of the extra period lifted the Robert Morris University men’s hockey team to a Game 1 win against Niagara, 3-2, Friday night at Clearview Arena.

Walsh’s first career overtime goal puts the Colonials one win away from advancing to their seventh consecutive Atlantic Hockey Association semifinal appearance.

Aidan Spellacy scored a power-play goal and Jordan Timmons also scored in the second period to give the Robert Morris a 21 lead.

Despite a furious effort from RMU in the third, excellent defensive-zone coverage on the part of Niagara kept the Colonials from converting on a number of chances as the game headed to suddendeath overtime.

Walsh ended things taking a feed from Cameron Hebert and burying a2-on1 chance past goaltender Chad Veltri.

Soccer

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC signed goalkeeper Jake Leeker to a one-year contract with a club option for 2022, pending USL and USSF approval. Leeker, 25, comes to the Riverhounds for his fourth pro season after debuting in the USL Championship in 2018 with Real Monarchs and spending the past two seasons with Portland Timbers II.

Baseball

Former Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis is retiring, ending a 15-year career that spanned the Orioles’ competitive renaissance and ended with the Atlanta Braves. Markakis debuted at age 22 with the Orioles in 2006 and spent nine seasons as a durable right fielder for the club, batting .290 with a .793 OPS and winning two Gold Glove awards.

• Los Angeles and Orange counties received approval to move into the red tier of the state’s coronavirus guidelines, allowing the Dodgers and Angels to sell 20% of the seats in their ballparks.

• Jameson Taillon made his second start for the New York Yankees, yielding two hits and three walks in 2⅔ innings, striking out four.

• Chris Archer made his first start for Tampa Bay, retiring all four batters he faced.

• Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the game with his second spring home run, a smashing return after missing six days with a non-virus bug. The San Diego shortstop is 6 for 12 in exhibition play.

• New York ace Jacob deGrom reached 102 mph with his fastball while carving up Houston, striking out seven over three perfect innings. The twotime Cy Young Award winner is yet to allow a run in five innings this spring.

• Adam Wainwright kept up his strong spring, pitching four shutout innings of one-hit ball.

Tennis

Garbine Muguruza reached her third final of the season after needing seven match points to beat Elise Mertens, 6-4, 7-6 (5), in the semifinals of the Dubai Championships in the United Arab Emirates. Muguruza will play Barbora Krejcikova Saturday in the final as the Spanish player seeks her first title since April 2019.

• Roberto Bautista Agut ended Andrey Rublev’s Qatar Open title defense in the semifinals in Doha by upsetting the Russian, 6-3, 6-3. The 13th-ranked Spanish player will face Nikoloz Basilashvili for the title in the final Saturday after the Georgian beat Taylor Fritz, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

• Stefanos Tsitsipas’ bid to win a third consecutive Open 13 fizzled out when he lost to doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2, in the quarterfinals in Marseille, France.

Basketball

The Detroit Pistons agreed to trade Svi Mykhailiuk and a 2027 second-round draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for guard Hamidou Diallo. The 22-year-old Diallo is averaging a career-best 11.9 points this season. The 6-foot-7 Mykhailiuk, who is 23, is averaging 6.9 points.

• Center Kevin Love and power forward Larry Nance Jr. were slated to play Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans , Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. Love played in just two games early this season and has missed 33 games since injuring his right calf in late December.

Hockey

The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired defenseman Mikko Lehtonen from the Toronto Maple Leafs for goaltender Veini Vehvilainen. Lehtonen, a 27-year-old rookie, skated in his first NHL game Jan. 18 against Winnipeg.