The Seattle Mariners got off to a strong start in Game 2 of the American Champions League Series on Monday, courtesy of Julio Rodriguez.

The centerfielder smashed an 84 mph splitter off Trey Yesavage for a three-run homer in the top of the first inning. Yesavage’s splitter had never allowed an extra base hit before the home run, according to ESPN Research.

It marked Rodriguez’s second home run of the postseason, as Seattle looks to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

JULIO RODRÍGUEZ 3-RUN HOMER! #ALCS pic.twitter.com/LdnHOBG3P2

— MLB (@MLB) October 13, 2025

The home run was Yesavage’s first career home run allowed in his fifth career start (regular season and playoffs). Entering Monday, he had only allowed two extra base hits in 19 and one-third innings pitched.

Seattle trailed 1-0 in the first inning in Game 1 before bouncing back to win 3-1 on Sunday. The series shifts to Seattle on Wednesday.

ESPN Research contributed to this report.

Purdue is No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll for the first time.

The Boilermakers earned 35 of 61 first-place votes to top Monday’s poll to begin the 2025-26 season. That put Matt Painter’s squad ahead of the two teams that played in last year’s NCAA title game, with runner-up Houston at No. 2 and reigning champion Florida at No. 3.

“We are obviously excited to get the season going and being ranked No. 1 in the preseason is a great indicator of what we feel this team can accomplish,” Painter said. “But the goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the year. We’re thrilled that people think this highly of our team, but there is a long ways to go and a lot of work to do to reach that goal in April.”

Purdue started a season ranked as high as No. 2 once before, in 1987-88 under Gene Keady.

It’s another milestone for Painter, the former Keady player who has built his own successful program that is still looking for its NCAA title breakthrough as he enters his 21st season. Purdue had never been ranked No. 1 in any AP poll before the 2021-22 season, which marked the first of three straight seasons in which the Boilermakers have reached the top. The last was during the 2023-24 season behind two-time AP national player of the year Zach Edey in a run all the way to the national title game.

The Boilermakers reached last year’s Sweet 16 before falling to Houston on a last-second basket, but return a first-team AP All-American in point guard Braden Smith, scoring leader Trey Kaufman-Renn (20.1) and veteran guard Fletcher Loyer.

The top tier

Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars earned 16 first-place votes to match the program’s best-ever preseason AP ranking after last year’s run to the final. The other No. 2 appearance was by the 1967-68 team led by Elvin Hayes.

Todd Golden’s Gators earned eight first-place votes to start this year with their highest preseason ranking since the last time they entered a year as reigning champions in 2006-07, the start of a run to a second straight title.

UConn was next at No. 4 and earned the remaining two first-place votes. St. John’s was fifth, with Rick Pitino’s Red Storm surpassing the program’s previous best ranking in a preseason AP poll (No. 7 in 1984-85).

Duke was next at No. 6, followed by Michigan, BYU — which landed the nation’s No. 1 recruit in A.J. Dybantsa — Kentucky and Texas Tech to round out the top 10.

Quick transitions

It hasn’t taken long for Pat Kelsey to get Louisville back among the national elite, with the Cardinals checking in at No. 11 after a 27-win season to start his tenure. The Cardinals were 12-52 in the two seasons before his arrival.

Louisville is one of five programs with a second-year coach in the preseason poll, joining Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and No. 14 Arkansas with John Calipari.

Jayhawks lower

Kansas checked in at No. 19, the lowest preseason rank for Bill Self’s Jayhawks since starting at No. 24 in the 2008-09 season as the reigning national champion. Kansas had been ranked outside the top 10 only once since that year (No. 13 in 2011-12) while starting at No. 1 in 2019-20 as well as each of the last two seasons in that stretch.

Pearl’s debut

Auburn opens at No. 20 as it enters its first season since the unexpected retirement of coach Bruce Pearl following last year’s Final Four run.

Pearl stepped aside last month after 11 seasons, triggering a transition to his 38-year-old son Steven, who climbed his father’s staff through the elder Pearl’s Auburn tenure but has never been a head coach nor coached elsewhere in college.

Conference watch

The Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 each had six ranked teams to make up 72% of the field. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East were next with three each, while the West Coast Conference had one with No. 21 Gonzaga. The Big 12 was the only league of that group to have three top-10 teams.

Watch list

Will Wade’s arrival at NC State and subsequent roster shakeup has the Wolfpack as the first team outside the poll, sitting just three points behind 25th-ranked rival North Carolina from the ACC. Oregon is lurking close behind entering its 16th year under Dana Altman.

South Africa registered their third consecutive victory by defeating Bangladesh in another successful run chase during the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 at Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, on Monday.

A collective bowling effort, followed by half-centuries from Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon, led South Africa to a narrow victory.

Chasing a modest 233-run target, the Proteas were made to do hard yards as they eventually knocked the winning runs for the loss of seven wickets and three balls to spare.

Leading the way for them was the all-rounder duo of Tryon and Kapp, who smashed vital half-centuries before Nadine de Klerk gave the final touches with an unbeaten 37-run cameo, coming off just 29 deliveries and featuring five boundaries, including a six.

Tryon remained the top-scorer for the Proteas, scoring 62 off 69 deliveries, laced with six fours and a six, while Kapp made a 76-ball 51.

Earlier, top-order batters Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch made handy contributions with 31 and 28, respectively. The duo also shared a 55-run partnership for the second wicket, recovering South Africa from 3/1 in 1.1 overs.

Nahida Akter was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh, taking two wickets for 44 runs in 9.3 overs, while Rabeya Khan and Fahima Khatun both struck once.

Put into bat first, Bangladesh could accumulate 232/6 in their allotted 50 overs despite half-centuries from Shorna Akter and Sharmin Akhter.

Shorna top-scored for Bangladesh with an unbeaten 51 off just 35 deliveries, laced with three sixes and as many fours, while Sharmin made a cautious 77-ball 50, featuring six fours.

Besides them, skipper Nigar Sultana (32) made a notable contribution.

Openers Fargana Hoque and Rubya Haider chipped in with 30 and 25, respectively, but conceded a combined 128 deliveries, which eventually barred Bangladesh from amassing a defendable total.

For South Africa, Nonkululeko Mlaba picked up two wickets, while de Klerk and Tryon chipped in with one apiece.

The three-wicket victory, which marked South Africa’s third on the trot, lifted them to the third position in the ICC Women’s World Cup standings with six points in four matches, while Bangladesh remained sixth with two points in as many games.