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Wilyer Abreu’s HR carries Venezuela into WBC semis over Japan

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Baseball: World Baseball Classic Quarterfinal-Venezuela at JapanMar 14, 2026; Miami, FL, United States; Japan designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (16) rounds the bases after hitting a home run against Venezuela in the first inning during a quarterfinal game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Wilyer Abreu hit the go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning Saturday night for Venezuela, which eliminated defending champion Japan with an 8-5 win in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals in Miami.

Venezuela, the runner-up in Pool D with a 3-1 record, will face Italy in Monday night’s semifinal. Italy outlasted Puerto Rico 8-6 in Houston earlier Saturday.

The winner of Venezuela-Italy will advance to Tuesday’s championship game against the winner of Sunday’s semifinal between the United States and the Dominican Republic.

Japan, which went 4-0 in Pool C play, was eliminated prior to the semifinals for the first time in six WBCs as its bid for a fourth title ended.

Abreu’s homer provided the biggest flourish in an entertaining game that began in historic fashion when Ronald Acuna Jr. and Shohei Ohtani each homered leading off the first.

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Acuna Jr., the 2023 National League Most Valuable Player, and Ohtani, the two-time defending NL MVP who also won two MVPs in the American League, are the first pair of former MVPs to lead off the same game with homers.

Gleyber Torres gave Venezuela the lead a second time with an RBI double in the second before Japan went ahead 5-2 in the third, when Teruaki Sato delivered a run-scoring double and Shota Morishita later followed with a three-run homer.

Morishita entered the game an inning earlier in place of Seiya Suzuki, who exited with a right knee injury after he was caught stealing in the first.

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Venezuela began its comeback in the fifth, when Maikel Garcia hit a two-run homer. Ezequiel Tovar and Torres opened the sixth with singles against losing pitcher Hiromi Itoh before Abreu unleashed a wild celebration by hitting a 409-foot homer to right.

Tovar added an insurance run in the eighth when he scored from second when Atsuki Taneichi’s pickoff throw sailed into centerfield.

Enmanuel De Jesus, Venezuela’s third pitcher, earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of one-hit ball. Daniel Palancia notched the save by striking out two in a perfect ninth that ended with Ohtani popping out.

Ranger Suarez started and the game for Venezuela and gave up all five runs in 2 2/3 innings.

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Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto started for Japan and allowed two runs in four innings.

–Field Level Media

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Canada’s Lee misses two-footer to lose LIV event to DeChambeau in playoff

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SINGAPORE — Bryson DeChambeau hit his drive into the water and still won the playoff with a par Sunday at LIV Golf Singapore when Richard T. Lee of Canada missed a two-foot putt.

DeChambeau birdied the par-5 18th for a 5-under 66. Lee birdied four of his last six holes for a 66. They finished on 14-under 274 at Sentosa Golf Club.

Lee Westwood closed with a 70 and finished third, his best finish in LIV.

Lee was trying to become the first wild card — players not affiliated with a team — to win in the LIV Golf League. It looked certain the playoff would go another hole when Lee had a two-footer for par. He jabbed at it with a quick stroke and it spun out hard off the left lip.

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“It was a short putt and I wanted to just hit it hard, and I hit it a little too hard,” Lee said. “I think the adrenaline was pumping a little bit.”

The 35-year-old Lee picked up $2,250,000 for his runner-up finish, the largest check of his career. He earned his spot in the Saudi-funded league by winning the LIV Promotions event.

DeChambeau put his hands over his head in disbelief when Lee missed the playoff putt. He said it reminded him of John Daly having a 15-foot birdie putt to beat Tiger Woods in a World Golf Championships playoff in 2005, only to three-putt by missing a three-foot par putt.

“To actually see that happen in front of you, for you to be the positive receiving side of it, it’s just a weird feeling,” DeChambeau said. “But it’s a win and something I’ll appreciate for the rest of my life. Even if I lost today, I was still looking pretty good at my game. I was excited the way I was striking it coming in the last couple days.”

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It was DeChambeau’s first victory over 72 holes since he won the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2024, and it was his fourth title on LIV Golf.

Jon Rahm finished fifth, ending a stretch of five tournaments he won or was runner-up.

The 4 Aces captained by Dustin Johnson won the team competition for the second straight week.

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Guard play will be key for Vanderbilt, Arkansas in SEC final

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Syndication: The TennesseanVanderbilt guard Duke Miles (2) starts a fast break against Florida during their semifinal game of the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, March 14, 2026.

NASHVILLE — No. 22 Vanderbilt will try to win its first Southeastern Conference tournament championship since 2012 when it meets 17th-ranked Arkansas on Sunday.

The Commodores (26-7), playing two miles from their campus, routed fourth-ranked Florida (the tournament’s top seed) by a 91-74 score on Saturday, snapping the Gators’ 12-game winning streak.

“Proud of the guys,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said afterward. “Not really much celebrating. It’s on to Sunday, and that’s what we started this tournament for, is to play for a trophy on Sunday, and that’s what we have a chance to do tomorrow.”

Vanderbilt enters on a four-game winning streak, none of those wins coming on its campus.

Arkansas (25-8) has also won four straight, surviving in a 93-90 overtime win over Ole Miss to get here.

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It’ll be the third game in three days for both teams, and Arkansas coach John Calipari was particularly perturbed about tournament scheduling on Friday evening.

After beating Oklahoma in a game that ended around 11:30 p.m. Central on Friday, Calipari lamented a Sunday tip-off that comes less than 19 hours after Arkansas finished off the Rebels.

Vanderbilt knows something about overcoming difficult circumstances lately.

The Commodores struggle against teams with size and rebounding, but in their last three games have knocked off the nation’s top offensive rebounding team in Tennessee (twice) and then clocked the Gators, who rank second.

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Vanderbilt was beaten on the glass by Tennessee by counts of 40-31 and 46-34, and then 38-23 by Florida.

But neither team could come close to matching Vanderbilt’s guard play of Tyler Tanner (19.2 ppg, 5.2 apg, 2.4 spg) and Duke Miles (16.5 ppg, 4.2 apg, 2.6 spg).

The two have been a wrecking crew most of the season through their quickness and play-making ability. Tanner was a first-team All-SEC pick and Miles scored 30 in the win Friday over Tennessee.

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Arkansas also has elite guards, led by SEC Player of the Year Darius Acuff Jr. (22.7 ppg, 6.5 apg) and Meleek Thomas (15.6 ppg). Acuff scored 24 and dished out seven assists on Saturday and Thomas added 29 and five.

Thomas played all 45 minutes on Saturday, just as he did in an 88-84 win over Missouri when Acuff was out with injury.

“There is no one that would say to Meleek anything that would believe him to believe he’s not as good as good as any player in the country,” Calipari said after Saturday. “He has otherworldly — otherworldly, now — confidence. Like, he could run for president one day. … I’ve gotta let him do some crazy stuff. I get on him but he’ll look at me like, ‘You’re nuts. You don’t have any idea how good I am.’ And I love that.”

The Razorbacks handed Vanderbilt its most lopsided loss of the season with a 93-68 walloping in Fayetteville on Jan. 20.

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Arkansas is best in the country at avoiding turnovers (12.2%), per KenPom.

The 6-foot-3 Acuff and 6-5 Thomas also have the height advantage, respectively, on Tanner (6-0) and Miles (6-2), who had just 11 and five points, respectively, in the first game.

–Chris Lee, Field Level Media

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Inter held meeting with referees’ team after controversial Atalanta draw

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Serie A league leaders Inter felt undone in their 1-1 draw against Atalanta, as La Dea were handed a controversial goal and the Nerazzurri were also denied a clear penalty late in the tie.

The scenes were rather ugly towards the conclusion of the game, as Cristian Chivu was also sent off for dissent.

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La Gazzetta dello Sport – relayed by Calciomercato, report that Inter CEO Beppe Marotta and sporting director Piero Ausilio spoke to the refereeing team after the tie. The conversation has been described as rather polite.

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This is the second time Inter had complained to the refs, with the first instance coming in the loss to Napoli earlier in the campaign. Unlike that point, Inter went into a media blackout and no one from the club came forward to make statements.

After the Napoli controversy, Marotta had questioned the calls. This time, the league leaders remainded silent and let that do the talking.

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN

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“That’s BIG V impact” – Fans react as BTS’ Taehyung hits 3M TikTok followers in under 48 hours without posts or verification

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On March 14, X account, TheePopCore reported that BTS’ Taehyung had crossed three million followers on TikTok. The milestone arrived in less than 48 hours after the account appeared online. What makes the moment unusual is the lack of activity on the page, which has the username @tete_kimv.

There are no uploads, no verification badge, and no official confirmation attached to the profile as of now. Even so, curiosity spread rapidly among admirers. As a result, the follower count continued rising at an impressive pace.

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“That’s BIG V impact,” an X user commented.

Fans are hailing Taehyung’s impact.

Sheer social media powerKim Taehyung is in his own league

TAEHYUNG POWER 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Others are hailing him as a “king.”

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We call him King of this nation🤴

This isn’t easy but he’s is Kim taehyung. King behaviour


More about BTS’ Taehyung’s alleged TikTok account

The TikTok profile, @tete_kimv, first surfaced on March 13. Soon after fans discovered the page, the numbers began climbing almost instantly. Within only a few hours, the account had already attracted more than 434,000 followers. Interest kept building throughout the evening. Soon, the total had already crossed one million followers. The sudden growth, therefore, turned the quiet launch into a widely discussed topic across fan communities.

Early interactions around the account also offered an important hint. j-hope and Jungkook appeared among the first followers. At that point, they remained the only BTS members actively present on TikTok. Their connection to the new page quickly caught attention. Fans noticed the unfamiliar username in their following list. Naturally, speculation began spreading online. Many observers soon concluded that the account likely belonged to Taehyung.

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The discovery itself unfolded through careful observation. On March 12, one day before the profile appeared, Jungkook had quietly adjusted his TikTok following list. After that change, only Hobi and the official BTS account remained visible. When fans checked the list again the following day, a new profile had suddenly appeared. That small update sparked immediate discussion. ARMY members compared details and timing. The connection became clear to many fans within minutes.

Meanwhile, the timing of the account has also sparked excitement about possible content. In a recent interview with GQ, V and Jungkook spoke about the idea of trying TikTok challenges together after a fan suggested it. For now, fans continue watching the page closely in anticipation of the first post.


In other news, Kim Tae-hyung remained a major talking point during Paris Fashion Week even without attending Celine’s Celine Hiver 2026 show on March 7. The brand’s official X account shared a photo taken by him with hashtags linked to the event, which quickly drew attention online.