CNT Sports // Baseball & Softball // NRG CN
KEARNEY BASEBALL WINS MARATHON IN COLUMBUS; PREPARES FOR HOME TRIANGULAR FRIDAY:
The Bearcat baseball team outlasted Columbus at Pawnee Park in a three-hour affair, taking down the Discoverers 14-5 Wednesday night.
Kearney (4-2) earned their first win of the week with fourteen runs on seventeen hits with two errors. Columbus (1-7) suffers their sixth straight loss scoring five runs on six hits with three errors.
The Bearcats have a day off today before preparing for a talented 24 hour stretch, battling four Top Ten teams on Friday and Saturday. The challenge begins on Friday at home in a rescheduled triangular with Lincoln East at 11 AM and Grand Island around 3 PM from Memorial Field.
Kearney then travels on Saturday to Millard West and Millard South in Omaha.
KGFW will provide radio broadcasts of each contest on Friday.
CJ WILCHER DEPARTS BIG RED:
Husker guard CJ Wilcher has entered his name in the transfer portal on Wednesday.
Wilcher becomes the fourth Nebraska player to enter the portal since the Huskers’ season ended in the NCAA Tournament, joining guards Ramel Lloyd Jr. and Eli Rice, as well as center Blaise Keita.
Wilcher has one season of eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-5, 214-pound Wilcher spent the past three seasons at Nebraska, where he played in 96 career games with 28 starts. He spent his first season of college basketball at Xavier.
This past season, Wilcher had stretches of strong play off the bench and, at one point, was getting Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year buzz. In an 11-game stretch from Dec. 20 to Feb. 1, Wilcher averaged 13.2 points. Wilcher’s season-high of 22 points came in a 80-72 overtime win against Wisconsin.
SWEET SIXTEEN TIPS-OFF TONIGHT:
Another round of the NCAA Tournament begins again today as the Sweet Sixteen begins its action with two number one seeds and two two seeds in action.
Arizona, UConn, North Carolina, and Iowa State will all compete to move forward to the Elite Eight, as each matchup provides interesting storylines. Clemson battles Arizona, while a 2023 National Championship rematch pits San Diego State with Uconn. The Tar Heels face a No. 1 seed from last year in Alabama, and the Cyclones take on Big Ten tournament champ Illinois.
Full matchups, bracket updates, game times, TV designations, and more can be found at KGFW and Central Nebraska Today. The second half of the men’s Sweet Sixteen matchups begin tomorrow, as well as the first half of the women’s final sixteen.
RYDER PARK RECEIVES $5.1 MILLION RENOVATION PROPOSAL:
Grand Island’s City Council heard a proposal Tuesday night for a $5.1 million renovation of the Ryder Park baseball stadium.
The new field would have artificial turf and would be designed so it could be used as a baseball field or two softball fields.
Of the $5.1 million, a group of local baseball enthusiasts would contribute $1.75 million of the project. The City would contribute the remaining $3.35 million.
The stadium is the home field for Grand Island Senior High School baseball in the spring and the American Legion Baseball program during the summer.
The renovated baseball stadium would have new dugouts, lights, concession stand, restrooms, additional scoreboard for use when there are two softball games being played, and an area for umpires. The existing metal canopy over the grandstand would remain.
Renovation of the stadium would begin after the summer 2025 baseball season. Work would be completed in time for games to be played there in the spring of 2026.
FORMER LOPER ASSISTANT JOINS KANSAS STATE STAFF:
Former UNK assistant football coach Nate Kaczor is now a part of the K-State staff football staff. Kaczor will be the special teams quality control coach. A 16-year NFL coaching veteran who has served as the special teams coordinator for the Washington Commanders over the last five seasons, Kaczor has worked as a college or NFL coach each of the last 33 seasons.
He was the offensive coordinator at UNK from 2000-2003. Kaczor is a native of Scott City Kansas.
He got his start in the NFL as an assistant special teams coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2008 to 2011, and was an assistant offensive line coach for the Tennessee Titans in 2012 and has also served as the special teams coordinator for the Titans (2013-15) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016-18).
REYES SELECTED FOR TEAM USA COACHING SPOT:
Nebraska volleyball assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Jaylen Reyes has been named to the USA Volleyball U21 National Team coaching staff for the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship this summer.
Reyes will be an assistant coach on a staff that also includes BYU head coach Heather Olmstead and Stanford assistant coach Alex Dunphy.
Reyes played an instrumental role in helping Nebraska finish 33-2 and win a Big Ten Championship before reaching the NCAA Final in 2023. For the second year in a row under Reyes’ defensive coaching, the Huskers led the nation in opponent hitting percentage with a .137 average.
OMAHA TO HOST PRO FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP:
Pro Volleyball Federation has announced that its first championship will take place in a city that supports professional volleyball like no other in the United States – Omaha, Nebraska. The semifinals on May 15 and title match on May 18 will take place at the CHI Health Center and be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network.
The home of the Omaha Supernovas has already established the attendance standard for professional volleyball in America, with four of the top five U.S. attendance records coming this season – including all of the top three marks.
The championship weekend for Pro Volleyball Federation will come to a fantastic conclusion with the players from the winning team being awarded a $1,000,000 bonus.
NEBRASKA NATIVE ADDED TO SUPERNOVAS ROSTER:
The Omaha Supernovas have reunited with Nebraska native and middle blocker Kyla Swanson who officially signed as a practice player for the Supernovas. A Wahoo graduate, Swanson returns to Omaha after competing in the Puerto Rican League with Mets de Guaynabo.
Swanson was drafted by the Supernovas as the 35th pick in the Pro Volleyball Federation 2023 U.S. College Player Draft in December. Swanson battled hard in Training Camp but was eventually waived before going to Puerto Rico.
Swanson established herself at Wahoo High School leading the Warriors to back-to-back Class C-1 State Championships in 2017 and 2018. Swanson was the top high school prospect coming out of Nebraska in 2019. She committed to Illinois and former Husker assistant Chris Tamas where she spent the next four seasons.
NCAA TOURNAMENT: MEN’S SWEET SIXTEEN SCHEDULES/SCORES:
THURSDAY SWEET SIXTEEN SCHEDULE:
No. 2 Arizona v. No. 6 Clemson – 6:09 PM (CBS)
No. 1 UConn v. No. 5 San Diego State – 6:39 PM (TBS/truTV)
No. 1 North Carolina v. No. 4 Alabama – 8:39 PM (CBS)
No. 2 Iowa State v. No. 3 Illinois – 9:09 PM (TBS/truTV)
Buffalo County Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN BUFFALO COUNTY SPORTS:
WEDNESDAY:
High School Sports:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Baseball: @ Columbus @ Pawnee Park – Kearney 14-5 Columbus
- Girls Soccer: @ Columbus – Columbus 2-1 Kearney (2 OT)
- Boys Soccer: v. Columbus – Kearney 3-2 Columbus
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Baseball: @ Columbus @ Pawnee Park – Kearney 14-5 Columbus
THURSDAY:
High School Sports:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Girls Tennis: @ Varsity Invite – POSTPONED to April 3
- Boys Track & Field: @ Columbus Invite – 11:30 AM
- Girls Track & Field: @ North Platte Invite – 12:30 PM
- Girls Soccer: @ Omaha Buena Vista – 5 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Boys Golf: @ Amherst Invite – CANCELED
- Track & Field: @ North Platte – 12:30 PM
- Girls Soccer: @ Grand Island – 4:30 PM
- AMHERST:
- Boys Golf: @ Amherst Invite – CANCELED
- Track & Field: @ Pleasanton Invite @ Kearney High School – 12 PM
- PLEASANTON:.
- Boys Golf: @ Amherst Invite – CANCELED
- Track & Field: @ Pleasanton Invite @ Kearney High School – 12 PM
- GIBBON:
- Boys Golf: @ Amherst Invite – CANCELED
- SHELTON:
- Track & Field: @ Pleasanton Invite @ Kearney High School – 12 PM
- ELM CREEK:
- Track & Field: @ Hi-Line Invite – 10 AM
- RAVENNA:
- Track & Field: @ St. Paul Invite – CANCELED
College Athletics:
- UNK LOPERS:
- M/W Tennis: v. Newman @ Harmon Park – 11 AM / 1 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE BRONCOS:
- Softball: @ Morningside – 3 PM
- Softball: @ Morningside – 5 PM
- NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS:
- N/a
KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)
