Twins trade Ryne Harper to Senators for young relief pitcher

The Twins on Wednesday acquired a 21-year-old righthander from Washington in exchange for reliever Ryne Harper, the team announced.

Hunter McMahon, who had a 0.71 ERA in his first 12 innings of pro baseball last summer, was traded by the Nationals to the Twins in exchange for Harper, the 30-year-old rookie who made the team with a strong spring training in 2019.

Harper was designated for assignment last week to clear a roster spot for third baseman Josh Donaldson. Harper compiled a 3.81 ERA in 61 relief appearances for the Twins last season.

McMahon, drafted in the ninth round out of Texas State by the Nationals in the 2019 draft, made nine appearances, all in relief, for the Nationals' Gulf Coast League rookie team and Class A Auburn after signing. He struck out 23 batters and walked five in 12 innings.

U shot putter Tharaldsen honored

Redshirt senior Jonathan Tharaldsen was named the Big Ten field athlete of the week after winning the shot put with a toss of 67 feet, 3¼ inches at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky.

His toss stands as the best in the NCAA this year. Former Olympian and NCAA champion Ron Backes is the only Gopher with a better performance in the indoor shot put — 68-11½ in 1986.

Etc.

• Gophers senior righthander Amber Fiser was named to USA Softball's Player of the Year preseason watch list of 50.

• Bethel senior Jake Marsh, a football and baseball player, was named one of 31 candidates for the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, an award given to the most outstanding role model among athletes. He is ninth on the Royals' all-time list for career passing yards and is first in career saves. He also has a 3.9 cumulative GPA.

• Hanna Geistfeld of Bethany Lutheran was named to the D3hoops.com team of the week. The junior averaged 22.5 points and 11.5 rebounds as the Vikings won twice last week to extend their winning streak to a school-record 10 games.