Bill Trocchi

1 week ago | beloitdailynews.com | Bill Trocchi |Bill Trocchi

ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. homered for the second straight game in his return from a nearly year-long absence due to a knee injury, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 7-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Saturday. Acuña homered on the first pitch he saw in his season debut Friday. On Saturday, he hit a 411-foot, two-run shot to left field in the sixth inning, going 1 for 5. The 27-year-old is 3 for 9 in his two games back after missing the previous 161 games due to a torn ACL in his left knee.

3 weeks ago | sportingnews.com | Bill Trocchi |Peter Gammons |Will McDonough |Bill focuses

Is Cade Klubnik the superstar QB Clemson has been waiting for since the days of Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence? He has shown flashes in his first two seasons starting for the Tigers, and he gets one final shot to get Clemson back into national title contention. Klubnik leads our ACC QB rankings, which features six returning starters and seven first-year transfers among the 18 schools (Notre Dame is included in this exercise even though the Irish are independent).

2 months ago | sportingnews.com | Bill Trocchi |Peter Gammons |Will McDonough |Bill focuses

ATLANTA – Auburn’s dream season was slipping away. The overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the champions of the toughest conference of all-time, trailed Michigan 48-39 in the second half of a Sweet 16 game. Freshman Tahaad Pettiford waited for Sporting News Player of the Year Johni Broome to set a screen for him. Meanwhile Broome was asking for the ball.

2 months ago | sportingnews.com | Bill Trocchi |Peter Gammons |Will McDonough |Bill focuses

ATLANTA – Dylan Caldwell really didn’t want to let go of the South Region championship trophy. The Auburn big man was carrying it around, posing for photos on the makeshift stage and generally taking ownership of the symbol of the Tigers' first four wins in this NCAA Tournament. Miles Kelly was escorting his mom around the State Farm Arena court, the one covered in orange and blue confetti following Auburn’s 70-64 elimination of Michigan State.

2 months ago | sportingnews.com | Bill Trocchi |Peter Gammons |Will McDonough |Bill focuses

ATLANTA – Isn’t this a college football town? In the shadow of Mercedez-Benz Stadium, four schools that had all participated in the Peach Bowl within the last eight years staged an SEC/Big Ten basketball challenge in the Sweet 16. Michigan State overcame Ole Miss, 73-70. Auburn exploded past Michigan, 78-65. And it was every bit as tense and ferocious and wild as we’d hoped.