The North Platte Lady Bulldog softball team earned a split in their season-opening doubleheader in Hastings last night. In their first game, the Bulldogs mustered just two hits in a 9-0 loss to Class B’s top ranked team Omaha Skutt Catholic. But the Bulldogs bounced back in game two for a 6-4 win over Omaha Gross Catholic in eight innings. North Platte scored four runs in the top of the eighth and left the bases full of Cougars in the bottom half to secure the win. The Bulldogs are back on the diamond on Saturday in a tournament in Lincoln.

Christina Yoshida’s RBI single was part of a four-run eighth inning for the Bulldogs in their win over Gross. Listen to last night’s Play of the Game by clicking the link below.

SB 8-23 Yoshida RBI 1B

The Colorado Rockies defeated the New York Mets 1-0 in Queens yesterday, earning a four-game sweep of the Mets and tying a season-high with a fifth straight win. Chris Nelson’s RBI single in the eighth inning drove in Tyler Colvin with the only run of the contest. The Rockies now head to Chicago to open a three-game road series against the Cubs this afternoon. ESPN Radio 1410 has the action, with pregame coverage at 12:30 and the first pitch at 1:20.

The Nebraska volleyball team begins the 2012 season with a busy weekend, hosting Saint Louis and UCLA at the NU Coliseum on Friday and Saturday, and traveling to the CenturyLink Center in Omaha for a match up with Notre Dame on Sunday.

The weekend’s action kicks off on Friday as the Huskers take on Saint Louis at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Nebraska and defending NCAA Champion UCLA will meet at 6 p.m.

The Huskers hold a 1-0 record over Saint Louis, last meeting in 1975. The last time the Huskers faced the Billikens, Nebraska won in two sets (15-8, 15-7).

Nebraska and UCLA met for the first time in 1979, when the Huskers lost in two sets to the Bruins. The two teams have met a total of 14 times, with Nebraska leading the series at 9-5. The Huskers most recently faced the Bruins on Sept. 13, 2009 at the Devaney Center, with NU losing in five sets (25-18, 17-25, 22-25, 26-24, 7-15).

Game 3 – vs. No. 16 Virginia Tech

Series History – NU leads, 1-0-0

When –  Friday, Aug. 24 (6 p.m.)

Where – Nebraska Soccer Field

Live Video – HuskersNSide

Live Radio – KRNU.com

Live Stats – Huskers.com

 

Game 4 – vs. New Mexico

Series History – UNM leads, 1-0-0

When –  Sunday, Aug. 26 (1 p.m.)

Where – Nebraska Soccer Field

Live Video – BTN.com

Live Radio – None

Live Stats – Huskers.com

 

Huskers Host Husker Classic

The Nebraska soccer team returns to the Nebraska Soccer Field this weekend to host the Husker Classic on Friday, Aug. 24 and Sunday, Aug. 26. No. 16 Virginia Tech will be in Lincoln for the two-day event, as well as New Mexico and Iowa State.

The Huskers open play on Friday at 6 p.m. against the Hokies, a team the Huskers beat, 4-3, in double overtime last season in Blacksburg. New Mexico and Iowa State open the tournament at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

Following a game between Virginia Tech and Iowa State on Sunday at 10:30 a.m., the Huskers will look to even the all-time series with New Mexico when the two teams meet at 1 p.m. The Lobos won the only other meeting between the two programs at home during the 2010 season by a score of 3-0.

Missing a Cog

Head Coach John Walker has been without one his key players so far this season, as junior Ari Romero is playing for the Mexican National Team at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Japan. The return of the Surprise, Ariz., native all depends on how long the Mexicans stay at the tournament. Entering the 2012 season, Romero had started every game of her Husker career, including 21 games as a true freshman in 2010 and 18 games a year ago.

Romero and her teammates opened with a 4-1 loss to Japan, but then responded with a 2-0 win over Switzerland. Mexico completes group play on Sunday, Aug. 26, in Kobe at Kobe Univer Stadium with a 5:20 a.m. (CT) game against New Zealand.

If Mexico advances past the group stage, the quarter-final stage starts on Thursday, Aug. 30, with the semi-final stage on Tuesday, Sept. 4 and the finals are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 9.

Mexico earned a trip to the tournament by placing third at CONCACAF qualifying this past March, as a 5-0 win over host nation Panama secured the bid. Mexico has taken part in four of the last five FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup tournaments, but have never advanced past the quarter-final stage.

Mexico failed to survive the group phase in 2002 (Canada), 2006 (Russia) and 2008 (Chile), before winning its group at the 2010 World Cup in Germany, but lost in the quarter-final stage to Korea Republic.

New Faces

Of the nine true freshmen on the 2012 squad, six have seen action this season, including four who have started.

Katie Kraeutner, Jaylyn Odermann and Caroline Flynn have each started the Huskers’ first two games of the season, while Alex Massey also started NU’s season opener at Oklahoma. Emily Taylor and Chesli Rohloff have each seen time off the bench for Head Coach John Walker this season.

More Shots, No Wins

Through two games this season the Huskers have outshot their opponents in each game, but haven’t been able to pick up a win.

Last season, NU was .500 (5-5-1) when they outshot the opposition and 2-5-0 when its opponent got off more shots.

— Jeremy Foote, Nebraska Sports Information

UNDATED (AP) – There are three day games being in Major League Baseball this afternoon. In Detroit the Tigers are looking to gain some ground on idle Chicago in the American League Central race as they face the Blue Jays. The Tigers, who have 12- game winner Justin Verlander on the mound, start the day two games back of the Sox.

The other two matinee affairs are in the National League as Colorado plays the Mets in New York and St. Louis is home to Houston. The first game doesn’t mean much but the second game features one of the two teams currently holding down a National League Wild Card spot. The Cardinals, at 67 and 56, are a half game up on Pittsburgh and a game in front of the Braves for a wild card berth.

The rest of the schedule is being played this evening and the best matchup has Atlanta playing the Giants in San Francisco. The Giants are fresh off a three game sweep of the arch rival Dodgers, while the Braves just dropped two of three to the Nationals in Washington. The Giants currently lead the NL West by 2 1/1 games over the Dodgers, while the Braves are 6 back of the Nats in the East.

Your remaining games tonight have Minnesota playing at Texas, Cincinnati at Philadelphia, the Angels at Boston and Tampa Bay at home to Oakland. The Rays can gain ground on idle New York in the AL East. Starting the night, the Rays are just three games back of the New Yorkers.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee has indefinitely suspended star wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers for an unspecified violation of team rules.

Rogers was an all-Southeastern Conference selection last year with 67 catches for 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns.

The junior from Calhoun, Ga., doesn’t appear on the depth chart Tennessee released Thursday for its Aug. 31 season opener with North Carolina State at the Georgia Dome. Cordarrelle Patterson, a transfer from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, likely would start in Rogers’ place.

Rogers was expected to team up with Justin Hunter to form the SEC’s top receiving tandem as Tennessee attempts to bounce back from a 5-7 season. Hunter caught 17 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns last year before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Sept. 17.
FedEx playoffs begin

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) – The first stop of the FedEx playoff starts today with the opening round of The Barclays at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y. Tiger Woods, with three wins this year on the PGA Tour, tops the 125 qualifiers for the opening event. Jason Dufner, second in the regular-season points list, is skipping the event while No. 3 Rory McIlroy is taking part.

For the first round, Woods and McIlroy are playing together for the first time in a PGA event.

The top 100 after The Barclays will be eligible for the Deutsche (DOY’-cheh) Bank next week in Norton, Mass.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Toronto at Detroit 12:05 p.m.
L.A. Angels at Boston 6:10 p.m.
Oakland at Tampa Bay 6:10 p.m.
Minnesota at Texas 7:05 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Colorado at N-Y Mets 12:10 p.m. (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)
Houston at St. Louis 12:45 p.m.
Cincinnati at Philadelphia 6:05 p.m.
Atlanta at San Francisco 9:15 p.m.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON
Green Bay at Cincinnati 6:00 p.m.
Jacksonville at Baltimore 6:30 p.m.
Arizona at Tennessee 7:00 p.m.

The Maxwell Wildcats can’t wait to get back on the gridiron and build on their playoff season from last year. Having their rivals from Brady waiting for them on Friday night certainly adds to the excitement. Hear from Wildcats head coach Ryan Jones about his impressions of his team leading up to the season opener in this week’s Maxwell sports update!