Sports
This Dodger pitcher’s girlfriend is 'the Michael Jordan of field hockey.' He’s just Ben.
Fans crowded into Dodger Stadium for Friday’s World Series opener, among them the wives and girlfriends of the players on the home team. One of the girlfriends was missing, though: She had a big game, too.
Ben Casparius was nothing but supportive.
“She’s in the midst of their season,” he said. “They’re gearing up for the playoffs, too.”
Casparius, 25, the Dodgers’ rookie reliever, is dating Erin Matson, the field hockey coach at the University of North Carolina. The two met as students at North Carolina and, the way Matson tells the story, they finally became a couple just as he was transferring to the University of Connecticut.
“We’ve been doing long distance for almost six years now,” she said, laughing. “I don’t know what’s quite wrong with us.”
During the National League championship series, Joe Davis told the national television audience that Matson was “the Michael Jordan of field hockey.”
Said Matson: “Around Carolina, that’s pretty normal. It’s not the first time I’ve heard it.”
If Jordan set the standard for excellence at North Carolina, Matson might have transcended it. In 2022, when Matson won her fourth national championship as a player, she recreated a picture Jordan had taken after his fourth NBA championship, holding up four fingers, with a victory cigar in the mouth. The school titled the picture: “Just GOAT things.”
Said Casparius: “Whenever we go to a basketball game in Chapel Hill, she’s on the big screen at least a couple times.”
In 2022, she graduated from North Carolina’s school of journalism and media. In 2024, she was its commencement speaker.
In between, when North Carolina’s longtime field hockey coach retired, Matson invited herself to apply and got the job, something akin to one of John Wooden’s seniors immediately replacing him at UCLA.
Matson, 24, was a three-time player of the year. The Tar Heels had won 10 national championships, including four in the previous five years. In Matson’s first year as coach, the Tar Heels won another championship. This year, they’re 14-0.
“She was able to prove she could bring together a group of girls who, I want to say, at the time, at least 75% of them had been her teammates,” Casparius said. “It’s definitely an interesting situation when you’re able to gain that respect. She did it. She crushed it.”
Her career as an athlete may not be done. She could receive consideration for a spot on the U.S. field hockey team that would compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
If Matson has shined in the field hockey spotlight, Casparius has toiled in the baseball shadows.
The Dodgers selected him in the fifth round of the 2021 draft, and he has slowly worked his way up their minor league ladder, up one level each year. He never has appeared in a spring training game for the Dodgers.
What did Dodgers manager Dave Roberts know about Casparius when he joined the team?
“I knew his (girlfriend) was a great field hockey player, and she coaches at UNC,” Roberts said. “That’s what I knew. And he had a good fastball.”
Pitcher Ben Casparius reacts after the final out of Game 1 of the NLCS against the Mets, which the Dodgers won, 9-0.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Not to say he might have been overlooked, but he said MLB Pipeline never included him among its ranking of the Dodgers’ top 30 prospects until “three or four days before I got called up.”
That was in August. He pitched three regular season games for them, and now he has pitched three postseason games for them.
In one of them, Matson was watching on television and thought she noticed a spot of blood on Casparius’ jersey. She asked him about in a telephone call that night.
“Yeah,” Casparius confessed in the conversation, “I had a bloody nose my whole outing.”
Matson shot back, with laughter: “You’re a psycho.”
It comes as absolutely no surprise to her that she fell in love with a baseball player. Her father was a baseball player. Her brother currently pitches in the Cleveland Guardians organization.
Her boyfriend is a baseball player. So was her ex-boyfriend.
“I have a type,” she said, jokingly.
She has a boyfriend in the World Series, too.
“He lets me be me, and he will always support what I do,” Matson said. “He would never want me to stop doing what I love. It makes it easy for me.
“We’ll figure out the long distance. We’ll figure out the airline miles. We’ll figure it out so he can chase his dream, too.”
Matson said she plans to attend Game 3 of the World Series on Monday, fly back to North Carolina to run practice Tuesday, return to New York for Game 4 on Tuesday night, fly back to North Carolina to run practice Wednesday, then return to New York for Game 5 on Wednesday night.
“We’re going to be hunkering down,” she said, “and taking lots of Vitamin C.”
Sports
Conor McGregor’s long-awaited Octagon return cut short by apparent knee injury seconds into UFC 329
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Nearly five years after his last walk to the Octagon, Conor McGregor made his long-awaited UFC return Saturday night against fellow MMA star Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329 in Las Vegas.
McGregor opened aggressively, attempting a running kick before throwing a head kick moments later. He appeared to slip on both tries. Holloway quickly capitalized after the second, taking top position and landing a right hand before McGregor was able to work his way back to his feet.
Moments later, McGregor hit the canvas again after trying to throw a kick with his right leg, which appeared to buckle underneath him.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Conor McGregor of Ireland participates in the walkout before facing Max Holloway of the United States in their welterweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Ian Maule/Getty Images)
The official inside the Octagon waved off the fight moments later, giving Holloway a TKO victory.
During the broadcast, UFC CEO Dana White pointed to a first-round replay that appeared to show the moment McGregor suffered the injury. The apparent injury was not to the same leg McGregor broke during his 2021 fight against Dustin Poirier, which led to a lengthy absence from the Octagon.
The loss extended McGregor’s long winless drought, with his last UFC victory coming by first-round TKO against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in January 2020.
JAKE PAUL’S BUSINESS PARTNER GIVES TIMELINE ON RETURN TO RING AFTER CAREER-THREATENING INJURY
McGregor earned a unanimous decision over Holloway in a featherweight clash in 2013, when neither was an MMA megastar. In the blink of an eye, McGregor’s star rose.
Conor McGregor and Max Holloway face off during the UFC 329 ceremonial weigh-in at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 10, 2026. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
On Wednesday, he admitted he got caught up in his own stardom after winning UFC belts in two weight classes and becoming one of the biggest names in combat sports.
“I launched an Irish whiskey,” McGregor said. “I didn’t drink heavily, if at all, at that time of my life. I was an athlete at the top of my game. Next thing you know, thousands upon thousands of bottles (are) in my garage.
RONDA ROUSEY REVEALS WHAT INSPIRED HER TO END NINE-YEAR MMA HIATUS FOR ONE FINAL FIGHT
“‘Sell this, Conor.’ OK, I’d leave my property with two bottles under my arm, and that was it. I was caught. And I wasn’t used to it. And that’s it. God gave me these lessons. That’s it. I was trapped and caught, and it is what it is.”
Conor McGregor jumps into the air for a kick as he fights Max Holloway in a welterweight bout at UFC 329 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (John Locher/AP)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Easier said than done, perhaps, as the controversial former champion has been embroiled in multiple controversies and legal issues over the past several years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LAS VEGAS — The door opened for Arthur Kaluma to show his worth for the Lakers in the NBA Summer League on Saturday night.
He did so in a big way.
Kaluma had 34 points and five rebounds during the Lakers’ 91-70 win over the Dallas Mavericks at the Thomas & Mack Center.
He was 11 for 16 from the field and six for 10 from three-point range.
With Lakers rookie guard Cameron Carr unable to play because of a right thumb contusion, Kaluma took over the scoring role. Carr, the 24th pick in the NBA draft, is averaging 17 points per game.
“Cam doesn’t play tonight, so he gets a little bit more minutes, gets a couple more touches,” said Lakers Summer League coach Ty Abbott about Kaluma. “But he’s done a really good job of making the most of it when he doesn’t have actions run for him. So the way that he’s been able to stay ready, find windows for himself has kept him in a rhythm. So, on a night like tonight, when we can run some actions for him, he knocks them down and just plays out of his mind. It was great.”
Kaluma said he was “a little nervous” but his three-point shooting said otherwise.
“When [teammate] Jon Elmore came down and he pitched it back to me for a three … I just knew when it came off my hand it was cash,” Kaluma said. “So I said, ‘Yeah, I’m hot.’ It went on from there.”
Late in the fourth quarter, Kaluma lined up a three-pointer, setting his feet and scoring from 29 feet out. He flashed three fingers and smiled. His teammates on the bench stood and cheered, as did the fans.
“We have such a great group of guys this year at Summer League and going through this it’s hard to get that camaraderie with a group,” Kaluma said. “But I feel like everybody wants to see everybody succeed and I felt that tonight. I’m not going to lie to you. They tell me to shoot the ball. I passed up a couple of shots and they were mad at me the other day.”
Kaluma played for the South Bay Lakers in the G League last season. He averaged 14.6 points per game, 4.9 rebounds and shot 55% from the field, 37% from three-point range.
“The G can get grimey, you know what I’m saying? It’s a time where everybody is trying to fight for a position and there is a certain hunger that you have to have in order to be successful in the G,” Kaluma said. “And I feel like that drive that I had my first year in it pushed me into this summer to really get better and work on my game and come here and have the opportunity to perform.”
Kaluma wasn’t alone in helping the Lakers improve to 2-0 in Summer League play.
Adou Thiero ran the court, took a lob pass from Chris Mañon and threw down a two-handed dunk. He had another solid outing with 15 points and four rebounds. He shot just four for 12 from the field, but was a plus-15.
But the night belonged to Kaluma.
“I pride myself on the defensive end,” he said. “I know I got hot offensively, but the shot was just falling today, you know what I’m saying? My game is three-and-D. I lock-up on defense and I know I can hit open shots. I just got hot today and I’m not going to try to let it get to my head.”
Sports
Golf star records lowest round in LPGA major history with astounding performance at Evian Championship
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
There are good days on the golf course, and then there is what Haeran Ryu just did on Saturday.
Ryu, 25, recorded the lowest round in LPGA major history on Saturday with an 11-under 60 at the Evian Championship. With the South Korean golfer’s historic round, she holds a three-stroke lead.
Ryu’s round comes just two weeks after winning her first major at the Women’s PGA Championship. On the 18th hole, Ryu left a 30-foot eagle putt a few inches short, and instead settled for a birdie.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Haeran Ryu of South Korea reacts on the 18th green after the third round of The Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France, on July 11, 2026. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
She said after the round that she had no idea what she had done until she counted up her scorecard.
“But after the putt and I counted my score with my caddie,” she said. “Oh my God, it’s 11-under par today. It was so amazing. My caddie says, ‘Yep.’ I’m so happy right now.”
If Ryu had made the eagle putt on the 18th hole, she would have been just the second player to shoot a 59 in LPGA history.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Haeran Ryu of South Korea celebrates a birdie on the 15th green during the third round of The Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 11, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Her 60 broke the record for the lowest round in an LPGA major by one shot. Leona Maguire and Jeungeun Lee6 in 2021, and Hyo Joo Kim in 2014, each shot 61 at the Evian Championship, which was designated as an LPGA major in 2013.
The lowest round in a men’s major is 62, which is shared by four players — Branden Grace at Royal Birkdale in the 2017 British Open, Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler in the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, and Schauffele and Shane Lowry in the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Haeran Ryu of South Korea and Lottie Woad of England interact after their round on the 18th green during the third round of the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France, on July 11, 2026. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Ryu hopes her historic third round can help propel her to a second major win in three weeks.
“That is amazing, amazing dream,” Ryu said. “So I just want that one to come true, but we have one more day.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
-
Oregon7 minutes agoEast Evans Creek Fire grows to 2,656 acres, all evacuations remain in place
-
Pennsylvania10 minutes agoFans fill Pennsylvania Convention Center for first day of All-Star Village in Philadelphia
-
Rhode Island15 minutes agoRIFC fails to advance to USL Cup knockout stage after beating Brooklyn in penalties
-
South-Carolina22 minutes agoSouth Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham dies after brief illness
-
South Dakota25 minutes agoNeutrino Day combines science and fun for families
-
Tennessee30 minutes ago
TN Lottery Powerball, Lotto America winning numbers for July 11, 2026
-
Texas37 minutes ago‘It just hurts’: Texas lawmaker speaks out after meeting with detained men who witnessed deadly ICE shooting | CNN
-
Utah40 minutes agoPutting together the best baseball team of Utah products
