KEARNEY BASEBALL PICKS UP MIDWEEK WIN AGAINST LINCOLN SE, GRAND ISLAND DEFEATS PIUS:
Kearney used a late inning rally scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth to get back in the win column against Lincoln Southeast yesterday, 5-4.
Derrick Nonhof had a 95 pitch complete game win for the 12-8 Bearcats, who go up against Creighton Prep (10-10) Friday to start the Lincoln East tournament. Bryce Andersen had two doubles and Chase Bentz had 2 RBI’s.
Grand Island shut out Pius 5-0 yesterday in a weather shortened contest. Trent Verplank and Sam Schroeder were perfect at the plate for the Islanders. The back half of Grand Island’s doubleheader was postponed against North Star. Grand Island (12-5) has Norris (15-4) Friday in the Lincoln East tournament
HAC SOCCER TOURNAMENT GAMES MOVED AROUND BECAUSE OF WEATHER:
Because of expected weather concerns today, Grand Island and Kearney soccer will now play their HAC Tournament games on Friday. Grand Island will play Columbus tomorrow at 11AM in the Silver bracket, while Kearney will play Lincoln East at 4PM tomorrow in the Gold Bracket.
Both teams are on the consolation side of their respective brackets, as Kearney fell to Lincoln Southwest on Tuesday 3-1, and Grand Island lost to Lincoln High 1-0.
HIGGINS, BRODERICK NAMED TO NCBWA WATCH LIST:
Kearney native Cal Higgins has been named to the National College Baseball Writers Association Midseason Stopper of the Year Watch List. The award is given to the top relief pitcher in Division I baseball each season.
After playing for Kearney, he pitched at Iowa Western CC before transferring to Western Kentucky.
Higgins has had a very productive senior season at WKU. He has appeared in 14 games this season with five saves. The left-hander has recorded a 1.50 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 24.0 innings of work while holding opponents to a .188 batting average.
Nebraska junior closer Luke Broderick was also named to the list.
Broderick is one of three Big Ten pitchers on the 56-player list, joined by Ethan Hedges of USC and Michigan State’s Tyler Horvath.
Broderick enters this weekend’s series at Maryland tied for sixth nationally and is one of 13 closers with at least nine saves on the season.
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.
JUDGE DELAYS $2.8 BILLION NCAA SETTLEMENT TO ADDRESS ROSTER LIMIT CONCERNS:
The judge overseeing the rewriting of the college sports rulebook threw a potentially deal-wrecking roadblock into the mix Wednesday, insisting parties in the $2.8 billion antitrust lawsuit redo the part of the proposed settlement involving roster limits that many schools are already putting in motion.
“Any disruption that may occur is a problem of Defendants’ and NCAA members schools’ own making,” U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken wrote in a pointed five-page order in which she gave no weight to the argument that a reworking of the proposal could throw college sports into chaos.
She gave the sides 14 days to contact their mediator and return to the bargaining table.
The settlement in the landmark class-action lawsuit called for schools to no longer be bound by scholarship limits for their teams, but rather by roster limits in which everyone would be eligible for aid.
It figured to ultimately weed out walk-ons, athletes on partial scholarships and, in extreme cases, entire teams. In preparing for the settlement to be approved, schools across the country have been busy cutting players who, in turn, were finding spots on new teams.
While the attorneys look for a Plan B, the clock is ticking. Terms of the settlement were supposed to go into effect July 1. Football practice starts soon after. Whether rosters will come in at around the old average (128) or the newly prescribed limit (105) is an open question.
CHICAGO BEARS GREAT STEVE MCMICHAEL DIES AT 67 AFTER BATTLE WITH ALS:
CHICAGO (AP) — With his massive frame and larger-than-life persona, Steve McMichael was natural for the gridiron and the squared circle.
The man known as “Mongo” and “Ming The Merciless” left a trail of battered and beaten opponents during a Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bears. Then he did the same as a professional wrestler.
McMichael, a star defensive tackle on the Bears’ famed 1985 Super Bowl championship team who remained a fixture in the Windy City for decades, died Wednesday following a battle with ALS. He was 67.
McMichael died at Lightways Hospice in suburban Joliet, his publicist, Betsy Shepherd, told The Associated Press.
McMichael played alongside Hall of Famers Dent, Mike Singletary and Dan Hampton, and the 1985 Bears, led by their dominant defense, shuffled their way to the franchise’s lone Super Bowl championship. McMichael was an All-Pro that season with eight sacks.
He played 15 years in the NFL — 13 with Chicago before his final season with the rival Packers.
ON THE BRINK OF THE NFL DRAFT, THE BIGGEST QUESTION SURROUNDS SHEDEUR SANDERS AND WHERE HE’S GOING:
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Where’s Shedeur Sanders going?
That’s the main question everyone is asking ahead of the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night.
They’re not just debating it on television and sports radio shows. Even casual football fans in town for other business are wondering which team is going to pick “Prime Time’s” son. That was a discussion among a group sitting at a restaurant near Lambeau Field on Wednesday.
In a draft loaded with talented players, Sanders has dominated the conversation in the days leading up to it. The Colorado quarterback and son of Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders has been projected anywhere from No. 2 overall to out of the first round since the draft process began several months ago.
The Tennessee Titans are on the clock and it’ll be a shock if NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn’t announce they’re taking Miami quarterback Cam Ward at No. 1.
TODAY’S MAJOR LEAGUE GAMES:
All Times EDT
Thursday, April 24
MLB
Chicago White Sox at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.
Seattle at Boston, 1:35 p.m.
Colorado at Kansas City, 2, 2:10 p.m.
Milwaukee at San Francisco, 3:45 p.m.
Baltimore at Washington, 6:45 p.m.
Pittsburgh at L.A. Angels, 9:29 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Arizona, 9:40 p.m.
Texas at Athletics, 10:05 p.m.
NBA Playoffs – First Round
Eastern Conference
New York at Detroit – Game 3, 7 p.m.
Western Conference
Oklahoma City at Memphis – Game 3, 9:30 p.m.
Denver at L.A. Clippers – Game 3, 10 p.m.
NHL Playoffs – First Round
Eastern Conference
Florida at Tampa Bay – Game 2, 6:30 p.m.
Toronto at Ottawa – Game 3, 7 p.m.
Western Conference
Vegas at Minnesota – Game 3, 9 p.m.
Winnipeg at St. Louis – Game 3, 9:30 p.m.
