Wednesday Morning Sports – Bearcat Baseball Wins Despite Late Rally, Loper Softball Adds Two to All-MIAA, Storm Complete Phase I Draft, Bearcat Boys Soccer Heads to District Final, Husker Baseball Hosts NDSU, Local Sports Schedules

BEARCAT BASEBALL WINS DESPITE LATE RALLY BY BURKE:

Despite a ten run lead heading into the fourth inning, Burke never surrendered and nearly pulled back within reach but ultimately fell to Kearney at Memorial Field 10-7 to end the regular season.

Kearney (12-13) awaits their postseason draw as does Burke (11-15). Kearney won with ten runs on fifteen hits and one error with Burke having four runs on ten hits and one error.

District assignments will be announced later today.

LOPER SOFTBALL ADDS TWO TO ALL-MIAA TEAM:

Senior Katie Gosker and sophomore Sydney Thomason represent Nebraska Kearney on the 2023 All-MIAA team.

Gosker (Blair) and Thomason (Ripon, Calif.) both were tabbed honorable mention, Gosker at catcher and Thomason at Utility/Pitcher. This is the second All-MIAA honor for each.

UNK finished up the 2023 season with a 16-34 (7-19 MIAA) mark that included 12 home games (three home weeks) and nearly 8,000 miles on the road.

STORM COMPLETE PHASE I OF USHL DRAFT:

The Tri-City Storm completed Phase I of the 2023 USHL Draft Tuesday evening at the Viaero Center in Kearney. 

The organization made ten picks in the ten-round draft of 2007-born players, including the tender signing of forward Cooper Simpson that replaced the team’s 1st round draft selection. 

The Storm drafted seven forwards and three defenseman in Tuesday’s draft. Phase II of the 2023 USHL Draft will begin tomorrow at 11:00am CT.

KEARNEY BOYS SOCCER TRAVELS TO PAPIO-SOUTH FOR DISTRICT FINAL:

The Kearney Boys Soccer teams continues their win-or-go-home mentality, lining up to face #1 Papillion-LaVista South tonight in the Metro for a chance to punch their ticket to state. 

The Bearcats (14-3) earned their first round win in the A-6 District semifinal over Bellevue West 2-1 on Saturday at home. Papio-South (13-5) downed Omaha Northwest 4-1. 

Pregame coverage of the A-6 District Final begins at 5:15 PM with kickoff set for 5:30. Join Austin Jacobsen and Ford Clark on the call. 

Listen to Bearcat athletics on 1340 KGFW, 96.1 FM, on the free KGFW mobile app, and online at KGFW.com.

HUSKER BASEBALL HOSTS NORTH DAKOTA STATE:

Nebraska hosts North Dakota State for the second time this season in a midweek matchup tomorrow night at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

First pitch between the Huskers and Bison is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

Nebraska holds a perfect 7-0 record against North Dakota State in the all-time series. In their last meeting earlier this season, the Huskers came away with a 4-1 victory over the Bison on March 28 at Hawks Field.

KGFW’s coverage will join in progress at the conclusion of the KHS Boys Soccer district final. 

NEBRASKA ATHLETICS NAMES BATEMAN NEW NIL DIRECTOR:

Nebraska Athletics announced Tuesday that it has hired an in-house director of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and extended its partnership with Altius Sports Partners (ASP), a trusted advisor to top-tier collegiate athletics programs and sports properties, to best support student-athletes pursuing NIL opportunities. 

NU named Jonathan Bateman as Assistant Athletic Director – NIL Strategy and Governance. Bateman has been with the Huskers since 2011 and most recently served as the Associate Director of Compliance.

In this new role, Bateman will manage day-to-day NIL operations for Nebraska Athletics and serve as the primary liaison for all NIL and governance operations.

EMBIID WINS NBA MVP:

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award for the 2022-23 season, the league announced Tuesday, finally claiming the prestigious trophy after finishing second the past two seasons.

Embiid flipped the script with a dominant season as he finished ahead of Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo for the league’s top individual honor.

What seemed like a tight race throughout much of the season ended as a blowout, with Embiid garnering 73 of the 100 available first-place votes (915 total). Jokic had 15 first-place votes (674 total), while Antetokounmpo captured 12 (606). Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum finished fourth, and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was fifth.

NBA PLAYOFFS SCORES/SCHEDULES:

TUESDAY RESULTS:

New York Knicks 111-105 Miami Heat (Tied 1-1)

Los Angeles Lakers 117-112 Golden State Warriors (LAL leads 1-0)

WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE:

Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics (PHI leads 1-0) – 7 PM

NHL PLAYOFFS SCORES/SCHEDULES:

TUESDAY RESULTS:

Florida Panthers 4-2 Toronto Maple Leafs (FLA leads 1-0)

Seattle Kraken 5-4 Dallas Stars (SEA leads 1-0)

WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE:

New Jersey Devils @ Carolina Hurricanes – 6 PM

Edmonton Oilers @ Vegas Golden Knights – 8:30 PM

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

TUESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Boys Golf: @ Lincoln Invite @ Pioneers Golf Course
    • KHS = 3rd
    • INDIVIDUAL:
      • Owen Bartee = 3rd
      • Dylan Dahlstedt = 4th
  • Baseball: v. Omaha Burke @ Memorial Field
    • KHS 10-7 OBHS
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Boys Golf: @ GICC Invite
    • KCHS = 1st
  • Girls Soccer: B-7 DISTRICTS CHAMPIONSHIP
    • #2 KCHS @ #1 Northwest @ Northwest High School
      • #1 GINW 2-0 #2 KCHS

WEDNESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Boys Soccer: A-6 DISTRICTS
    • #2 Kearney @ #1 Papillion-LaVista South @ PLVS High School – 5:30 PM
      • KGFW Pregame at 5:15 PM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • Softball: @ GPAC Tournament @ Sioux City, IA – 10 AM
    • Hastings College @ Morningside
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • DISTRICTS: Kearney Boys Soccer @ Papillion-LaVista South (5:15 PM – 7:15 PM)
  • Sports Nightly (7:15 PM – 8 PM)

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Girls Tennis: v. Kearney Triangular @ Harmon Park – 4 PM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Girls Tennis: KCHS Invite – 9 AM
  • Track & Field: @ Cozad Invite – 4 PM
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Baseball: DISTRICTS TBA
  • Girls Tennis: @ Norfolk Dual – 3 PM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • M/W T&F: @ MIAA Championships @ Jefferson City, MO
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • M/W T&F: @ GPAC Championships @ Sioux Center, IA – 1 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Baseball @ Maryland (5:30 PM – 10:15 PM)
  • TBA – Kearney Baseball v. Districts

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Baseball: DISTRICTS TBA
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Boys Golf: @ Centennial Conference
• UNK:
  • M/W T&F: @ MIAA Championships @ Jefferson City, MO
• HASTINGS COLLEGE: 
  • M/W T&F: @ GPAC Championships @ Sioux Center, IA – 1 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Baseball @ Maryland (12:30 PM – 5:15 PM)
  • TBA – Kearney Baseball v. Districts

SUNDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • M/W T&F: @ MIAA Championships @ Jefferson City, MO
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Baseball @ Maryland (12 PM – 4:15 PM)