BAHL RETURNS HOME, CHOOSES NEBRASKA SOFTBALL:
The Husker softball team strengthened its roster on Thursday when All-America pitcher Jordy Bahl announced she was transferring to Nebraska. A Papillion native, Bahl returns to her home state with two years of eligibility for a Cornhusker squad that won the 2022 Big Ten Tournament title and was an NCAA Regional Finalist in 2023.
Bahl spent the past two seasons at Oklahoma, where she was one of the nation’s top players while helping the Sooners to back-to-back national championships. Bahl was named a first-team All-American, a National Player of the Year Top-10 Finalist and the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year in each of her two seasons at Oklahoma. She was also the Big 12 and National Freshman of the Year in 2022.
A Papillion-La Vista graduate, Bahl did not allow a run in 50 of her 71 career appearances with the Sooners, including 15 shutouts among her 26 complete games. She posted 11 games with double-digit strikeouts and allowed only 30 extra-base hits in 993 opponent at bats.
Bahl is the second transfer to join Nebraska this month, as Omaha native Bella Bacon announced her return home after spending her freshman season at Purdue in 2023.
BEARCAT BASKETBALL COMPETES IN KANSAS CITY:
The Kearney High Boys and Girls basketball teams compete in Kansas City’s HyVee Arena starting today through Sunday as part of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Midwest Showcase.
96 total teams will compete over the four day period with schools traveling from Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
Girls competitions run today and tomorrow while the boys play Saturday and Sunday.
Both Kearney teams were selected as two of the 24 programs from Nebraska to compete.
The Bearcat girls compete today at 5 PM and 7 PM. Game recaps will be available at KGFW.com.
USHL NAMES NEW PRESIDENT AND COMMISSIONER
The United States Hockey League (USHL) announced Thursday that Glenn Hefferan has been selected as its 11th President and Commissioner.
Hefferan was approved Thursday afternoon by the USHL Board of Directors to take over the role on July 1.
Hefferan will succeed Bill Robertson, who has served in the USHL President and Commissioner role the past two years. Robertson informed the league during the 2022-2023 season that he would not seek renewal of his employment contract in order to pursue sports and entertainment consulting opportunities.
STROH WITHDRAWS NAME FROM TRANSFER PORTAL, TO STAY AT WICHITA STATE
Kearney Baseball native Seth Stroh will stay at Wichita State after withdrawing his name from the transfer portal.
Stroh entered his name into the portal at the end of May after Wichita State announced they would move on from Interim HC Loren Hibbs.
The Shockers hired Washington State’s Brian Green earlier this month.
Stroh started in 32 games last season, hitting .234 with 16 RBI and four home runs. In 100 career games, Stroh hit .240 with 47 RBI, 22 extra base hits, and 13 home runs.
Stroh will have two years of eligibility remaining despite being a junior in academic standing.
KEARNEY RUNZA SENIORS SWEEP NORFOLK:
After taking a loss at home Tuesday night to Hastings, the Kearney Runza Seniors responded strong to move their record above .500 with a doubleheader sweep at Norfolk on Wednesday afternoon.
Despite falling early, Kearney rallied to earn a 5-2 victory in game one of the Norfolk doubleheader.
The Runza Seniors swept Norfolk on the road with a nail-biter of a finish in Game Two, earning the 4-3 win.
Kearney awaits their matchup on Sunday battling Scottsbluff at Memorial Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3 PM.
OUACHITA BAPTIST WRESTLING TO JOIN MIAA AS ASSOCIATE MEMBER
Loper Wrestling has picked up another conference opponent, as the MIAA office announced Thursday that Ouachita Baptist is joining the MIAA as an associate member for men’s wrestling.
Ouachita Baptist is a member of the Great American Conference (GAC), however the GAC does not sponsor wrestling. The program has accumulated four top-15 team finishes at nationals, 17 All-Americans, two individual national runner-up finishes and one individual national champion. They became the first university in Arkansas to sponsor the sport of wrestling in 2010.
The Tigers are the sixth school to compete in the MIAA for wrestling.
HUSKER VOLLEYBALL ANNOUNCES 2023 SCHEDULE:
The Nebraska volleyball program and the Big Ten Conference announced the 2023 schedule on Wednesday.
The Huskers will begin the 2023 campaign on Aug. 25-27 by hosting Utah State, Lipscomb and SMU in a tournament at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
In week two, the Big Red will play Omaha on Wednesday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Volleyball Day in Nebraska match in Memorial Stadium.
NU is back at home on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. to host Creighton for the first time since 2019.
In Big Ten Conference play, Nebraska’s seven double-play opponents are Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers and Wisconsin.
Full schedule details can be found at KGFW.com.
NEBRASKA BASEBALL DUO CONTINUES HONORS WITH SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS:
Max Anderson and Brice Matthews added to their impressive haul of postseason accolades, as the Husker duo were recognized as Second-Team All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) on Tuesday.
Anderson was tabbed a second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA’s District 6 Player of the Year earlier this month, while Matthews earned third-team All-America recognition from Collegiate Baseball. Both Huskers received first-team All-Central Region honors from ABCA/Rawlings earlier this week.
A semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and NCBWA District 6 Player of the Year, Anderson was a unanimous First-Team All-Big Ten honoree while hitting .414 with 20 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs, 70 RBI and 51 runs scored.
Matthews concluded his junior season batting .359 at the plate with 11 doubles, two triples, 20 home runs, 67 RBI and 61 runs scored as a First-Team All-Big Ten selection.
LOPER ATHLETICS FINISHES 38th IN LEARFIELD DIRECTORS’ CUP:
Nebraska-Kearney tallied 403.00 points to finish 38th in the race for the 2022-23 Learfield Directors’ Cup.
The Cup is the Division II “All-Sports” Trophy, given annually to the school that scores the most points at NCAA Championships over the fall, winter and spring seasons.
Ranking sixth among MIAA schools, this is UNK’s second straight year with 400.00 points and the 10th time overall.
The Blue & Gold scored 121.50 points in the fall, 152.5 in the winter and added 129.0 in the spring. Overall, UNK tallied points in men’s and women’s cross country, volleyball, women’s basketball, wrestling, men’s indoor & outdoor track and women’s golf.
FORMER HUSKER COLLINS SIGNS DEAL WITH TEXANS:
Former Nebraska DL Maliek Collins has spent the past 2 seasons in Houston, and he can plan on spending the next 2 with the club.
The Texans have signed Collins to a 2-year extension. Collins’ new deal is worth up to $23 million, with $20 million guaranteed.
Collins is entering Year 8 of his professional football career. After spending his first 4 seasons with the Cowboys, Collins signed a 1-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. The following year, Collins signed a 1-year deal with Houston. He has remained with the Texans since his March 2021 signing.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SCHEDULE:
THURSDAY SCHEDULE:
Detroit Tigers @ Minnesota Twins – 6:10 PM
Colorado Rockies @ Atlanta Braves – 6:20 PM
Los Angeles Angels @ Texas Rangers – 7:05 PM
Pittsburgh Pirates @ Chicago Cubs – 7:05 PM
Washington Nationals @ Houston Astros – 7:10 PM
Cleveland Guardians @ San Diego Padres – 7:40 PM
Chicago White Sox @ Los Angeles Dodgers – 9:10 PM
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY SCHEDULE:
GAME 1 – Oral Roberts v. TCU – 2 PM (ESPN)
GAME 2 – Virginia v. Florida – 7 PM (ESPN)
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
WEDNESDAY:
-
- Kearney Legion Baseball:
- Runza Seniors: @ Norfolk Doubleheader
- GAME 1: Runza Seniors 5-2 Norfolk
- GAME 2: Runza Seniors 4-3 Norfolk
- POST 52: N/a
- Five Points: @ Central City
- Runza Seniors: @ Norfolk Doubleheader
- Kearney Legion Baseball:
- CC/Fullerton Post 6 Juniors 9-1 Five Points Bank Juniors
-
-
- Jerseys: @ Central City
-
- Central City Post 6 Seniors 16-1 Jerseys Seniors
THURSDAY:
- Kearney Legion Baseball:
- Runza Seniors: N/a
- POST 52: @ Rapid City Tournament
- Five Points: N/a
- Jerseys: N/a
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)
FRIDAY:
- Kearney Legion Baseball:
- Runza Seniors: N/a
- POST 52: @ Rapid City Tournament
- Five Points: N/a
- Jerseys: @ Hebron Wood bat Tournament – 7 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)
SATURDAY:
- Kearney Legion Baseball:
- Runza Seniors: N/a
- POST 52: @ Rapid City Tournament
- Five Points: N/a
- Jerseys: @ Hebron Wood bat Tournament – 1 PM/3:30 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- N/a
SUNDAY:
- Kearney Legion Baseball:
- Runza Seniors: v. Scottsbluff WESTCO @ Memorial Field – 3 PM
- POST 52: @ Rapid City Tournament
- Five Points: N/a
- Jerseys: @ Hebron Wood bat Tournament – 12 PM/2:30 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- N/a
