PITTSBURGH (AP) — San Diego Padres All-Star left fielder Jurickson Profar left Wednesday night’s game at Pittsburgh shortly after getting hit just below his right knee by a pitch.
Profar was struck by a pitch from Hunter Stratton in the sixth inning and initially stayed in the game, taking first base. Profar hobbled into second base while advancing on Xander Bogaerts’ single. He was then removed from the game for pinch runner Ha-Seong Kim after being visited by manager Mike Shildt and a trainer.
After the Padres' 9-8, 10-inning win, Shildt said X-rays on Profar were negative and he is listed as day to day.
Signed to a one-year, $1-million contract in the offseason, Profar entered the game with a .302 batting average, 19 home runs and a National League-leading .395 on-base percentage in 112 games.
Profar was selected to last month's All-Star Game for the first time in his 11-year career and was a starter.
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San Diego Padres' Jurickson Profar, left, is helped by Xander Bogaerts (2) after being hit by a pitch from Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Hunter Stratton during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Profar left the game. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
San Diego Padres' Jurickson Profar, center, leaves the baseball game after advancing to second base following being hit by a pitch from Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Hunter Stratton during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt is left, and Xander Bogaerts is right. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
HOUSTON (AP) — When Baylor and LSU face off in the Texas Bowl on Tuesday, it will be the first meeting between the teams since the 1985 Liberty Bowl.
But they do have some familiarity with one another. Baylor coach Dave Aranda spent 2016-19 on the LSU staff, helping the Tigers to the 2019 national championship as defensive coordinator before leaving for Waco.
“It’s really cool,” Aranda said. “So many good memories and such great people, and such respect and appreciation for all of it. How my family was treated, just all of it.”
And he still holds an affinity for the school.
“I’m rooting for LSU — except for this game,” Aranda said.
Aranda’s Bears (8-4) enter the game on a high note with a six-game winning streak that came after they won just two of their first six games this season.
“I think there’s some momentum going,” Aranda said. “You get that momentum by winning, and that’s what we’ve been able to do. And we’ve got to be able to continue to do that, in any circumstance. I think if we do that, it puts us in a good position for next year, to be able to win some more.”
LSU (8-4) has won two in a row after a three-game skid as the Tigers head into their third bowl appearance under coach Brian Kelly.
“The game is such an interesting one in that momentum, belief, confidence, they all play a role,” Kelly said. “When teams are fairly equal — and that’s what the case is — all those things that I just mentioned play a role. You’re playing a team that believes they’re going to win. They’ve won games that they hadn’t won in a long time. They’ve gotten all that out of the way. So, that’s probably the biggest challenge.”
These teams both feature veteran quarterbacks in LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson.
Nussmeier ranks second in the Southeastern Conference and sixth in the nation with 3,739 yards passing and his 26 TD passes are second in the SEC. In 13 career starts, he has thrown at least two touchdown passes nine times and thrown for more than 300 yards eight times, including seven this season.
He’s led the Tigers to a 9-4 record as a starter.
Robertson leads the Big 12 with an 83.9 quarterback rating that ranks sixth in the nation. He started his career with the late coach Mike Leach at Mississippi State before transferring to Baylor last season.
He has thrown for a career-high 2,626 yards with 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions this season.
LSU will be without several top players Tuesday after tight end Mason Taylor, receiver Kyren Lacy and tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones opted out as they prepare for the NFL draft.
Taylor, the son of NFL Hall of Fame Jason Taylor, had 55 receptions for a career-high 546 yards and two touchdowns as a junior before declaring for the draft earlier this month.
Lacy led the Tigers with 866 yards receiving and nine touchdowns and ends his career with 2,360 yards receiving.
Baylor receiver Josh Cameron leads the team with nine touchdown receptions this season, which ranks 11th in school history. His 44 receptions for 643 yards also lead the team and are both career highs.
The performance comes after he didn’t score a touchdown in his first two seasons.
Cameron is also the team’s punt returner, and he ranks second in the country by averaging 20.7 yards per return.
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FILE - LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier (13) passes in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Vanderbilt in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FILE - Baylor head coach Dave Aranda watches his team warm up before an NCAA college football game against Iowa State, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
