Monday Morning Sports – Husker Baseball Fall in Michigan Series, Kearney Baseball Begins Busy Week at Columbus, Loper Softball Extends Record Win Streak, Storm Sweep Lancers, Final Four Set, USMNT Appear to Punch World Cup Ticket, Local Sports Schedule

NEBRASKA BASEBALL DROP SERIES FINALE AGAINST MICHIGAN:

Nebraska suffered a 6-1 setback in the series finale vs. Michigan on Sunday afternoon at Hawks Field in Lincoln.

The Huskers (9-13, 1-2) scored one run on six hits, while the Wolverines (13-10, 2-1) tallied six runs on nine hits.

Nebraska makes the short trip to Omaha for a midweek matchup at Creighton on Tuesday, March 29 at Charles Schwab Field. First pitch between the Huskers and Bluejays is set for 6:32 p.m.

KEARNEY BASEBALL STARTS BUSY WEEK WITH TRAVEL TO COLUMBUS:

After falling in the Lincoln Pius X invite to Norris on Saturday, the Bearcat baseball team takes on a huge challenge this week with multiple contests throughout the week. 

Kearney begins the week on Monday night traveling to Columbus, followed by a home contest against rival Grand Island on Tuesday. After Tuesday’s contest, the Bearcats travel to Lincoln Northeast on Thursday. 

The Bearcats will hit the road again on Saturday to take on Millard West in a double dual. 

KGFW will have Monday and Tuesday broadcasts with Austin Jacobsen on the call from Pawnee Park in Columbus as pregame coverage begins at 3:50 PM. 

LOPER SOFTBALL EXTEND WIN STREAK, TIED AT FIRST IN MIAA:

The Nebraska-Kearney softball team used timely hitting, solid pitching and made a couple of stellar defensive plays to sweep a double header from rival Fort Hays State, 5-3 and 7-2, Saturday afternoon at Patriot Park.

This was UNK’s “Home Opener” after 26 games on the road. The Lopers (16-12, 6-0) push its win streak to 11 in a row, the longest such streak in 23 years. The 1999 squad started 22-0 en route to a national runner up finish.

The Lopers are now tied with 4th-ranked Rogers State (26-2, 6-0) for first place in the MIAA. 

UNK heads to Pittsburg State (21-11, 3-4) and Missouri Southern State (16-15, 4-4) next weekend.

STORM WRAP UP LANCERS WEEKEND:

The Tri-City Storm posted a two-game weekend sweep of the Omaha Lancers in a 4-1 win Saturday night at the Viaero Center. 

Cole O’Hara, Tanner Adams, Ilya Nikolaev, and Lleyton Roed netted goals for the Storm in the victory. Arsenii Sergeev recorded his team-record-tying 26th win of the regular season in net for Tri-City. 

The Storm returns to action next weekend with back-to-back home games against the Sioux Falls Stampede on Friday and Saturday. 

FINAL FOUR SET AS BLUE BLOODS BID FOR CHAMPIONSHIP:

The Final Four has officially been set at the conclusion of the Sweet Sixteen on Sunday night. Results from the weekend:

SATURDAY:

No. 2 Villanova 50 – 44 No. 5 Houston

No. 2 Duke 78 – 69 No. 4 Arkansas

SUNDAY:

No. 1 Kansas 76 – 50 No. 10 Miami

No. 8 North Carolina 69 – 49 No. 15 Saint Peter’s

FINAL FOUR MATCHUPS: (Saturday)

No. 2 Duke v. No. 8 North Carolina

No. 1 Kansas v. No. 2 Villanova

Winners advance to the National Championship on Monday, April 4. 

LOPER T&F START OUTDOOR SEASON STRONG:

The Nebraska-Kearney track and field team had 32 top 10 finishes and six national list efforts at the annual Emporia State Relays this weekend in Kansas.

The two-day meet began Friday afternoon and featured junior college, NAIA schools and NCAA Division I and II schools. Many of the events had at least 40 competitors with one numbering over 100. The meet was scored with the women tallying 49 points to be eighth out of 25 with the Loper men netting 58.50 to be seventh of 29.

On Friday, Kearney sophomore Grace Bonsall won the 5,000 with a career-best time of 17:23.30. The Lopers other winner was another Kearney native in Brayden Sorensen. He led a field of 21 high jumpers on Saturday by clearing 7-0.25, currently second in D2. KHS grad Richard Harbols was four spots back (6-5) as well.

The Central Nebraska Challenge is set for next Saturday at KHS. Action begins at 11 a.m. with running starting at 3 p.m.

USMNT FOLLOW HAT TRICK INTO A LIKELY QUALIFYING BID FOR WORLD CUP:

Barring an unimaginable, catastrophic loss on Wednesday, the United States men’s national team will be playing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The red, white and blue dominated Panama 5-1 on Sunday in their second-to-last World Cup qualifier as Christian Pulisic registered a hat trick. 

The result sets up a comfortable scenario for their final game at Costa Rica. The U.S. can suffer a lopsided loss and still punch their ticket as long as they hold a superior goal differential over Los Ticos following the match. 

The U.S. would have to lose 6-0 or worse to miss out on the World Cup, so unless the unthinkable happens, the Americans are set to mark their return after missing out in 2018. 

MONDAY SPORTS NIGHTLY SCHEDULE:

Greg Sharpe and the rest of the Sports Nightly crew will discuss Husker football as the team had Monday morning practice and afterwards defensive coordinator Erik Chinander met with the media.   They will also have another Husker baseball show with Head Coach Will Bolt.

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • BASEBALL: @ Lincoln Pius X Tournament
    • KHS v. Norris
      • Norris 8-0
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • BASEBALL: @ Lincoln Pius X Tournament
    • KHS v. Norris
      • Norris 8-0
• UNK:
  • SOFTBALL: v. Fort Hays State @ Patriot Park
    • GAME 1: UNK 5-3
    • GAME 2: UNK 7-2

MONDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • BASEBALL: @ Columbus – 4 PM
    • Pregame on KGFW at 3:50 PM
  • GIRLS TENNIS: @ Lexington; Double Dual – 4 PM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • BASEBALL: @ Columbus – 4 PM
    • Pregame on KGFW at 3:50 PM
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • MENS GOLF: @ Jamestown University Invite
  • WOMENS GOLF: @ Jamestown University Invite
  • SOFTBALL: @ Doane (Doubleheader) – 1 PM, 3 PM

TUESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • BASEBALL: v. Grand Island – 4 PM
    • Pregame on KGFW at 3:50 PM
  • GIRLS TENNIS: @ Holdrege – 4 PM
  • GIRLS SOCCER: @ Columbus – 5 PM
  • BOYS SOCCER: v. Lincoln Northeast – 7 PM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • BASEBALL: v. Grand Island – 4 PM
    • Pregame on KGFW at 3:50 PM
  • GIRLS TENNIS: v. Adams Central – 4 PM
  • GIRLS SOCCER: v. Hastings
  • BOYS SOCCER: v. Hastings
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • MENS GOLF: @ Jamestown University Invite
  • WOMENS GOLF: @ Jamestown University Invite
  • SOFTBALL: @ Midland (Doubleheader) – 4 PM, 6 PM

WEDNESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • WOMENS TENNIS: @ Fort Hays State – 3 PM
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • BASEBALL @ Lincoln East – 4:30 PM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • BASEBALL @ Lincoln East – 4:30 PM
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • SOFTBALL: v. Nebraska Wesleyan – 4 PM, 6 PM

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • BOYS GOLF: @ Grand Island invite – 9 AM
  • GIRLS TENNIS: @ North Platte Invite – 9:30 AM
  • T&F: @ Columbus Invite – 11:30 AM
  • T&F: @ North Platte Invite – 12:30 PM
  • GIRLS SOCCER: v. Lincoln North Star @ Foster Field – 5 PM
  • BOYS SOCCER: v. Lincoln North Star @ Foster Field – 7 PM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • T&F: @ GICC – 11 AM
  • GIRLS TENNIS: v. GICC – 2:30 PM
• UNK:
  • SOFTBALL: @ Missouri Southern (Doubleheader) – 3 PM, 5 PM
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • BASEBALL: @ Millard West; Double Dual – 10:30 AM
    • V. Millard West – 10:30 AM
    • V. Millard South – 1 PM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • BASEBALL: @ Millard West; Double Dual – 10:30 AM
    • V. Millard West – 10:30 AM
    • V. Millard South – 1 PM
  • GIRLS SOCCER: @ Seward Invite
  • BOYS SOCCER: @ Seward Invite
• UNK:
  • VOLLEYBALL: @ River City Tourney @ La Vista
  • M/W T&F: v. Central NE Challenge @ Kearney High School
  • SOFTBALL: @ Pittsburg State (Doubleheader) – 1 PM, 3 PM
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • WOMENS TENNIS: v. Doane
  • M/W T&F: @ Central NE Challenge @ Kearney High School
  • MENS TENNIS: v. Doane
  • BASEBALL: @ Jamestown (Doubleheader) – 1 PM, 3 PM
  • SOFTBALL: @ Mount Marty (Doubleheader) – 1 PM, 3 PM