Wednesday Afternoon Sports – Husker Baseball Splits Creighton Doubleheader, Kearney T&F State Qualifiers, Thompson Picks FAU in Portal, KCHS Names New Co-Head Coaches for Cross Country, Local Sports Schedules

HUSKER BASEBALL DROPS SUSPENDED GAME; DOWNS CREIGHTON IN GAME TWO:

Nebraska fell 6-5 in the resumption of last month’s suspended game on Tuesday evening at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.

Nebraska had the tying run on third with two outs in the eighth after Matthews walked, stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw from the CU catcher, but the Huskers couldn’t bring home the tying run.

In the second contest Nebraska concluded its series against Creighton with a 7-4 win.

Nebraska (26-20-1) scored seven runs on 11 hits, while Creighton (23-19) had four runs on 11 hits and an error.

Nebraska returns to Big Ten play this weekend, as the Huskers welcome Penn State to Hawks Field at Haymarket Park. First pitch of the series opener on Friday night is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

KEARNEY HIGH QUALIFIES NINE BOYS EVENTS, FOURTEEN GIRLS EVENTS AT DISTRICTS:

The Kearney Track and Field teams had a successful A-2 Districts at Kearney High School despite a later start due to severe weather to begin the day. 

The Bearcat girls track team qualified eighteen athletes in fourteen events for the State Meet in Omaha next week, placing Kearney as runner-up in the A-2 District. 

The Kearney boys qualified seven athletes and one relay, finishing third in the district. 

The State Track & Field meet will begin a week from today at Omaha’s Burke Stadium. Full results from the A-2 District meet can be found at KGFW.com.

FORMER HUSKER QUARTERBACK THOMPSON TRANSFERS TO FAU:

Florida Atlantic landed one of the top available quarterbacks in the transfer portal Wednesday as former Nebraska and Texas quarterback Casey Thompson committed to the Owls for his final year of eligibility.

Thompson is set to reunite with head coach Tom Herman, who originally recruited him to Texas as a three-star prospect in the 2018 class.

Thompson’s commitment comes shortly after his visit to Boca Raton. The signal-caller set a visit with Florida Atlantic on Tuesday following a trip to Auburn. Thompson also reportedly received interest from Notre Dame, Indiana, Houston and Texas State.

Thompson battled through injuries during the campaign but still started 10 contests and completed 173-of-274 passes for 2,407 yards and 17 touchdowns. He added five rushing scores, as well.

STARS’ CROSS COUNTRY NAMES NEW CO-HEAD COACHES:

Kearney Catholic High school announced that Jonathan Nikkila and Marcus Witter have been selected as Co-Head Coaches for the Stars’ Cross-Country program replacing Don Liess, the Stars Coach for the last 28 years. During Coach Liess’ tenure the Stars earned two State Championships and four State Runner-Ups.

Nikkila is a former Cross-Country runner at Kearney Catholic and Hillsdale College. He has been an assistant coach for the Cross-Country and track programs at Kearney Catholic since 2009.

Witter ran track and cross-country at Kearney High and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has previously helped coach at Kearney High and UNK and for the past two years has helped with the Stars junior high track and cross-country teams.

LOPER WOMEN’S HOOPS LOSE GUARD TO TRANSFER PORTAL:

UNK women’s basketball lost their head coach and their top guard from last season as both have moved on to the University of Idaho.

Sarah Schmitt announced her transfer commitment to Idaho Sunday. The incoming senior has one season of collegiate eligibility remaining and chose to follow her coach Carrie Eighmey, who just took the head coaching job with the Vandals.

Schmitt started her career at Omaha before spending the last two seasons at UNK. This past year, she was an All-MIAA honorable mention after averaging 10.0 points and 3.9 assists per game.

LOPER WOMEN’S BASKETBALL NAMES FORMER NEWMAN COACH JOHNSON NEXT HEAD COACH:

Former Newman University head coach Drew Johnson has been hired as head women’s basketball coach at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Director of Athletics Marc Bauer announced today.

UNK will formally introduce Johnson as its eighth coach in team history at a 10 a.m. news conference Thursday (May 11) at UNK’s Cope Stadium third floor. 

Johnson, 34, helped rebuild the women’s basketball programs at both MIAA-member Newman University (Wichita) and Bethel College (North Newton, Kan.). 

UNK has gone 101-23 over the past four seasons, reaching three NCAA Division II Tournaments, winning the 2021 MIAA Tournament title and 2023 MIAA regular season title. Former Head Coach Carrie Eighmey moved on from the Lopers to Division I Idaho two weeks ago. 

LOPER GOLF CONTINUES STRONG PERFORMANCES AT NCAA REGIONAL:

The Nebraska-Kearney women’s golf team had nine birdies and 28 pars on the back nine to retain its lead at the 2023 NCAA Central Regional Tuesday in Larchwood, Ia.

After a school-record 289 on Monday, the Lopers got off to a bit of a slow start in the morning as it was a bit crisp and windy. UNK briefly lost its five-stroke lead but, as the skies brightened, regained it thanks to a solid back nine. The 298 ties for the eighth-best tally in school-history with the overall score (587) ahead of 4th-ranked Harding (591), 41st-ranked Augustana (594), 21st-ranked Central Missouri (601) and 43rd-ranked Rogers State (602).

The final round begins Wednesday morning with overcast skies in the forecast. No UNK squad has ever reached the NCAA Championships but four different individuals have qualified, the last being Sara Wissing (Hastings) in 2010.

HUSKER SOFTBALL HAS FIVE HONORED BY BIG TEN:

Freshman Katelyn Caneda led five Huskers who were honored on Wednesday, when the conference announced its postseason awards. 

Caneda (second base) earned First Team All-Big Ten, All-Defensive and All-Freshman honors, the only player in the conference to receive a spot on all three teams. 

Billie Andrews (shortstop) and Brooke Andrews (outfield) joined Caneda, each earning a spot on the First Team All-Big Ten team.

Mya Felder (first base) joined Caneda on the All-Defensive team. Abbey Newlun rounded out Nebraska’s honorees, as she was announced as the Huskers’ Big Ten Sportsmanship recipient. 

After receiving a bye with a fourth-place regular-season finish, the Huskers are set to play in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.

BIG RED BASEBALL NAMED TO 2024 SHRINERS SHOWDOWN:

Nebraska baseball will open its 2024 campaign in Texas, as the Huskers are one of six teams competing in the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Feb. 2024.

The 2024 tournament will mark the fourth year of the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field. Joining the Huskers in the three-day tournament includes Baylor, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas Tech.

All games of the 2024 Shriners Children’s College Showdown will once again be streamed live by FloSports, the exclusive broadcast partner for the tournament.

STATE SOCCER SCORES/SCHEDULES:

TUESDAY RESULTS:

CLASS A GIRLS QUARTERFINALS:

Gretna 6-0 Papillion-LaVista

Omaha Westside 4-1 Omaha Marian

Lincoln Southwest 1-0 Lincoln Pius X (Shootout)

Lincoln East 3-2 Millard West (OT)

CLASS B BOYS QUARTERFINALS:

Bennington 6-1 Conestoga

Schuyler/South Sioux City

Skutt Catholic v. Elkhorn North – 5:30 PM

Lexington v. Columbus Scotus – 7:30 PM

NBA PLAYOFFS SCORES/SCHEDULES:

TUESDAY RESULTS:

Philadelphia 76ers 115-103 Boston Celtics (PHI leads 3-2)

Denver Nuggets 118-102 Phoenix Suns (DEN leads 3-2)

WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE:

Miami Heat @ New York Knicks (MIA leads 3-1) – 6:30 PM

Los Angeles Lakers @ Golden State Warriors (LAL leads 3-1) – 9 PM

NHL PLAYOFFS SCORES/SCHEDULES:

TUESDAY RESULTS:

Carolina Hurricanes 6-1 New Jersey Devils (CAR leads 3-1)

Dallas Stars 6-3 Seattle Kraken (Tied 2-2)

WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE:

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Florida Panthers (FLA leads 3-0) – 6 PM

Vegas Golden Knights @ Edmonton Oilers (VGK leads 2-1) – 9 PM

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

TUESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Track & Field: A-2 DISTRICT TRACK @ Kearney High School
    • GIRLS = 18 Athlete qualifiers, 14 events
      • TEAM = A-2 Runner-Up
    • BOYS = 7 Athlete qualifiers, 9 events
      • TEAM = A-2 3rd place
  • Girls Tennis: @ Grand Island Dual @ GISH Tennis Courts
    • KHS 7-2 GISH

WEDNESDAY:

• UNK:
  • Women’s Golf: @ NCAA Central Regional @ Larchwood, IA
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Boys Golf: @ Awarii Dunes Invite – 8:30 AM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Boys Golf: @ Awarii Dunes Invite – 8:30 AM
  • Track & Field: DISTRICTS @ Southern Valley – 10 AM
  • Girls Tennis: @ Gothenburg – 4 PM
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 6:45 PM)

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Girls Tennis: @ HAC Championships @ Woods Tennis Center – 8 AM
  • Boys Golf: @ Norfolk Invite @ Norfolk Country Club – 9 AM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • M/W T&F @ Concordia Twilight @ Seward, NE – 12 PM
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Baseball v. Penn State (5:30 PM – 10 PM)

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • M/W T&F: v. Loper Twilight @ Kearney High School – 2 PM
• HASTINGS COLLEGE: 
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Baseball v. Penn State (5:30 PM – 10 PM)

SUNDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • N/a