KEARNEY BASEBALL GOES UP AGAINST LINCOLN SOUTHEAST TODAY:
Kearney High Baseball looks to get back on track after their 9-8 Monday loss to Millard West with a noon game against Lincoln Southeast.
Today’s game between the Bearcats (11-8) and the Knights (7-11) has been moved up because of weather, instead of being played as a mid-afternoon game.
First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 on KGFW, with the Family Physical Therapy and Sports Center Pregame show set for 12:15.
NEBRASKA BASEBALL FALLS TO KANSAS:
Nebraska suffered a 4-0 setback in its midweek matchup with Kansas on Tuesday night at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
Nebraska (19-22) totaled six hits, while Kansas (32-10) recorded four runs on nine hits.
Max Buettenback was 2-for-4 with a double, while Robby Bolin, Tyler Stone, Gabe Swansen, Case Sanderson and Will Jesske recorded a hit.
Tucker Timmerman dropped to 0-1 on the season after allowing two runs on two hits in two innings of work. Gavin Blachowicz and Pryce Bender combined to pitch four scoreless innings, dealing two innings apiece.
Nebraska returns to conference play this weekend, as the Huskers head east to Maryland for a three-game series. First pitch of Friday’s series opener between the Huskers and Terrapins is set for 5 p.m. CT on B1G+ and KGFW.
NEBRASKA MEN’S GOLF GETS READY FOR BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS THIS WEEK
The Nebraska men’s golf team takes aim at the conference title when the Huskers travel to Maryland for the Big Ten Championship, April 25-27.
The three-day, 54-hole tournament at the Baltimore Country Club gets underway with tee times off No. 1 and No. 10 at 8 a.m. (CT) on Friday, April 25, before Saturday’s second round continues with the same schedule. Sunday’s final round will begin with tee times at 7 a.m. (CT).
The Huskers, who own six top-five tournament finishes this season, head into the conference championship ranked No. 82 nationally. Nebraska is still hunting for its first tournament title of the season, but is coming off a runner-up finish at Ohio State’s Robert Kepler Invite (April 18-19).
Nebraska has established a solid five-player rotation during the spring led by Hamish Murray. The senior from Sydney, Australia has produced five top-20 finishes in his last six tournaments and carries a 72.00 stroke average while playing in all 29 rounds for the Huskers this season.
The Huskers will need to fire on all cylinders to challenge a Big Ten Championship field that features six top-50 teams nationally, including No. 11 Illinois, No. 13 UCLA, No. 27 Northwestern, No. 36 Oregon, No. 37 Purdue and No. 50 USC.
LB89, NEBRASKA BILL TO BAN TRANSGENDER STUDENTS FROM THE BATHROOMS AND SPORTS OF THEIR CHOICE ADVANCES:
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska bill that would bar transgender students from bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that correspond with their gender identity has advanced from the first of three rounds of debate — but with a caveat.
Sen. Merv Riepe, who helped tank an effort to pass a similar bill last year, agreed Tuesday to provide the 33rd vote needed to break a filibuster against the bill. But only if the bill’s sponsor agrees to support his amendment to remove language that would ban bathroom and locker room use, leaving only the ban on sports participation. That amendment will be introduced in the next round of debate, Riepe said.
“They’ve agreed to it,” Riepe said of the bill’s main sponsors. “They know if they don’t, I’ll kill it in the next round.”
The bill from Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth is a reprise of one she has introduced repeatedly in recent years. It was billed in 2023 as a companion to another Kauth measure restricting gender-affirming medical care for minors. The medical care bill passed and was enacted, but the bathroom and sports bill failed to advance from committee.
FROM 8-MAN FOOTBALL TO COMPETITIVE CROSSFIT, SOME PROSPECTS TOOK A DIFFERENT ROAD TO THE NFL DRAFT:
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Former Virginia safety Jonas Sanker took a somewhat unconventional path to this week’s NFL draft.
He initially drew the interest of college scouts while playing high school basketball in Charlottesville, Virginia, but then emerged as a star in eight-man football.
Sanker’s rapid ascension from fast-break-style prep games to college captain to the cusp of a pro career sounds more like Hollywood, but Sanker has made it this far with hard work.
“I tried to make the most of it and then the transition to college is a little bit of a learning curve,” he said, describing the move from his high school’s narrower field to a regulation-sized college field. “But I was willing to learn.”
Sanker fine-tuned his skills in a game that features three fewer players on offense and defense, everyone is an eligible receiver and the potential for high-scoring games is a constant. This version is attractive to schools that lack enough bodies to be competitive in the traditional 11-man style of football.
If Sanker makes a roster this fall, he will join a short list of eight-man alums who have played in the NFL since 2017 that includes Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown, recently retired Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, and former running back Tarik Cohen.
Finding players who haven’t taken the traditional journeys is hardly a new phenomenon in a world that rewards creativity, athleticism and innovation.
Former receiver “Bullet” Bob Hayes joined the Dallas Cowboys after winning the 100-meter dash at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He’s still the only player to win an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring.
TODAY’S MAJOR LEAGUE GAMES:
All Times EDT
Wednesday, April 23
MLB
St. Louis at Atlanta, 12:15 p.m.
Cincinnati at Miami, 1:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees at Cleveland, 1:10 p.m.
Philadelphia at San Diego, 1:10 p.m.
San Diego at Detroit, 1:10 p.m.
Baltimore at Washington, 6:45 p.m.
Seattle at Boston, 6:45 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers at Chicago Cubs, 7 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Minnesota, 7:40 p.m.
Colorado at Kansas City, 7:40 p.m.
Toronto at Houston, 7:40 p.m.
Pittsburgh at L.A. Angels, 9:38 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Arizona, 9:40 p.m.
Milwaukee at San Francisco, 9:45 p.m.
Texas at Athletics, 10:05 p.m.
NBA Playoffs – First Round
Eastern Conference
Orlando at Boston – Game 2, 7 p.m.
Miami at Cleveland – Game 2, 7:30 p.m.
Western Conference
Golden State at Houston – Game 2, 9:30 p.m.
NHL Playoffs – First Round
Eastern Conference
Montreal at Washington – Game 2, 7 p.m.
Western Conference
Dallas at Colorado – Game 3, 9:30 p.m.
Edmonton at Los Angeles – Game 2, 10 p.m.
