With the spring game set for Saturday at Memorial Stadium, the Husker football team took to the practice field yesterday for a full-pad workout. Only two more practices remain before the spring game, and defensive coordinator John Papuchis expressed his hope that his charges will be able to finish strong this week leading into the big day Saturday. “You get into the last week and guys start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I just don’t want guys to lose focus.” Papuchis said. “There’s still progress to be made, even though we’re getting to the tail end of spring. I still want our guys to come out focused and be prepared every day and treat it like it’s the first day.” The Huskers will practice again on Wednesday. Tickets are still available for Saturday’s scrimmage at the Huskers’ official website.

So much for first impressions. The Colorado Rockies played nine innings of insipid baseball in their home opener yesterday, falling to the San Francisco Giants 7-0. The Rockies could muster just four hits on the day against Giants starter Barry Zito, who went the distance and became the first left-handed pitcher to shut out the Rockies at Coors Field since 1997. But offense was hardly the only aspect of the game in which the Rockies utterly failed. Starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin gave up four runs on four hits and five walks in just four innings of work. Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki both made errors that helped the Giants score three more runs in the fifth frame. The Rockies, who have lost three straight after their Opening Day win, have today off to lick their wounds before resuming their series with the Giants tomorrow night.

The Husker baseball team hopes to strike the first blow in this year’s in-state rivalry games as they host Creighton tonight at Hawks Field. Nebraska is fresh off a walk-off win on Sunday that gave them a Big Ten conference series win over Iowa. The Huskers are now 22-12 overall and 5-4 in Big Ten play. After winning the Missouri Valley Conference last season, Creighton has struggled mightily this year. The Blue Jays have lost eight of their last eleven games and are just 14-15 overall and 2-7 in conference play. Nebraska took two out of three games from Creighton last season, including the lone meeting at Hawks Field. Tonight, the Jays will start their ace on the mound, junior left-hander Ty Blach, while the Huskers will counter with sophomore righty Jon Keller. First pitch in Lincoln tonight is set for 6:35.