April 7 in sports history: Carmelo Anthony-led Syracuse wins first national title

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1963: Twenty-three-year-old Jack Nicklaus won his first Masters by a stroke over Tony Lema. His 286 score was the second highest in tournament history at the time. "Disaster looked Jack Nicklaus straight in the eye yesterday," the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News wrote, "but he stared it down. Simultaneously, he bludgeoned the last five holes of a jealous golf course and sent some of the world's greatest players off to other tournaments, amazed at the nerveless skills of this youngest of all Masters champions." After signing his card, Nicklaus was hustled off for a fitting for his size 44 green jacket. "It's too big for me," he said with a grin.

ON THIS DATE IN SPORTS: April 6

1969: In the Dodgers' 3-2 win over the Reds in Cincinnati, Bill Singer earned the first official save in Major League Baseball history, pitching three innings in relief of Los Angeles ace Don Drysdale. The historic save merited only two lines in coverage in the Los Angeles Times the next day.

1969: On Opening Day, Hall of Famer Ted Williams debuted as a Washington Senators manager, losing to the Yankees, 8-4. Before the game, he laughed and joked with a mob of sports writers. "He seemed so cheerful, so relaxed," wrote Frank Dolson of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Only his hands, fiddling aimlessly with the drawstring on his red jacket, tipped off the fact that Ted Williams was, indeed, nervous on this opening day."

1970: In their first game after their one-year stint as the Pilots in Seattle, the Brewers lost to the California Angels, 12-0, before 37,237 at Milwaukee County Stadium. In 1998, Milwaukee joined the National League. Seven years later on April 7, the Blue Jays played their first game, defeating the White Sox, 9-5, in Toronto.

1979: Houston's Ken Forsch, a 10-year veteran, threw a no-hitter in a 6-0 win over the Braves. Five years later to the day, Detroit's Jack Morris no-hit the White Sox in a nationally televised 4-0 win. "He was going after us and challenging us throughout the game," Chicago slugger Ron Kittle said. "I don't think we hit many decent foul balls all day." Said Morris afterward: "I'm so excited, I can hardly talk."

2009: Connecticut routed Louisville, 76-54, to win its sixth women's NCAA Tournament basketball title and its first championship since 2004. UConn finished the season 39-0. "Someone was saying they ought to have two tournaments this year," ESPN analyst Doris Burke told the Hartford Courant. "One for UConn and one for everyone else. It's true." Connecticut's Tina Charles was named Final Four MVP. On April 7, 2015, the UConn women beat Notre Dame, 63-53, to win another title.

2014: Led by Shabazz Napier (22 points), coach Kevin Ollie's Connecticut Huskies defeated Kentucky, 60-54, to win the NCAA Tournament. "Kevin Ollie is one of the great guys of all time," Kentucky coach John Calipari said afterward. "I hate losing, but I'm happy he won. They beat us to every 50-50 ball." In the women's national championship game the next day, undefeated UConn routed Notre Dame, 79-58.

2019: Baylor defeated Notre Dame, 82-81, to win the NCAA women's basketball title. The Lady Bears lost a double-digit lead but hung on against the defending champions.

Happy birthday ...

• Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett (67) 
• Former boxer Buster Douglas, who upset Mike Tyson for the heavyweight title in 1990.  (61)
• Former NFL running back Ricky Watters (52)
• Former NFL players Ronde and Tiki Barber (46) 
• Former MLB star Adrian Beltre (42)

R.I.P.

1968: Scottish auto racer Jim Clark, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1965, died in a race accident in Germany. Nicknamed "The Flying Scot," Clark was 32.