Saints win before hitting the road

Three St. Paul Saints pitchers scattered seven hits and Brandon Tripp went 3-for-4 with two RBI on Wednesday night in a 3-1 victory over the Fort Worth Cats at Midway Stadium.

Kyle Zaleski went six innings, allowing one unearned run. Kyle Foster pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, and Robert Manuel pitched the ninth to earn his third save.

The Saints (8-4) have Thursday off before embarking on a 13-game, four-city road trip that begins in Kansas City.

MSU softball opens play in D-II finals The Minnesota State Mankato softball team opens play Thursday at the NCAA Division II finals in Salem, Va.

The Mavericks (53-14), regional champions for the only second time in school history, will play Saginaw Valley State (40-16) at 1:30 p.m.

UC San Diego and C.W. Post are also on MSU's side of the bracket. The other side consists of North Georgia, Indiana (Pa.), Alabama-Huntsville and Midwestern State.

The title game is Monday.

• The Gophers will be represented by 24 men and 16 women at the NCAA outdoor track and field West prelims beginning Thursday in Eugene, Ore.

Duluth Huskies are sold The Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods League have been sold to a local ownership group. The team had been owned by Florida restaurateur Bobby McCarthy since its inception in 2003. The Northwoods League is a summer baseball league made up of teams of the top college players from across the nation.

Etc. Brett Larson was named coach and GM of the Sioux City Musketeers of the U.S. Hockey League. Larson, 38, was an assistant coach at Minnesota Duluth the past two seasons.