The Colorado Rockies are on an honest-to-goodness winning streak. The long ball and some small ball led the Rockies to a 5-3 victory over the Miami Marlins at Coors Field last night. It’s the fourth win in a row for the Rockies, all coming at home. The Rockies clawed their way back from a 3-1 deficit to take the lead late. Michael Cuddyer celebrated his first game back off the disabled list by hitting a tying two-run homer in the sixth inning. Two more runs came in the seventh. Rookie Josh Rutledge delivered a pinch-hit triple and then scored on a squeeze bunt by Eric Young Jr. The Rockies stellar bullpen duo of Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt took care of things from there, with Betancourt earning his 22^nd save. The Rockies and Marlins are back at it tonight. ESPN radio 1410 has the action, with pregame coverage at 7:05 and the first pitch at 7:40.

Chicago, Ill. – The Nebraska volleyball team was selected as the favorite to win the Big Ten Conference title in the coaches’ preseason volleyball poll released Thursday afternoon by the conference office. The defending Big Ten Champion Huskers were voted to finish first, while Penn State was voted to finish second and Purdue third. Minnesota, Illinois and Ohio State rounded out the rest of the top six.

The conference office also announced its Preseason All-Big Ten Team on Thursday, with three Huskers being honored, including unanimous selections seniors Lauren Cook and Hannah Werth. Cook and Werth were joined by senior Gina Mancuso, as the Huskers were one of four schools with more than two honorees.

Cook will lead the Husker offense in 2012 after she was a first-team All-Big Ten and AVCA honorable mention All-America selection in 2011. She took over at setter as a junior after sharing the position with two-time All-American Sydney Anderson in NU’s 6-2 rotation in 2010. Cook helped the Huskers hit .300 or better in 10 matches in 2011, including two matches over .400. She also led NU with 18 double-doubles on the year.

Werth will guide the Husker defense as a senior after earning AVCA honorable mention All-America and first-team All-Big Ten honors as a junior. She recorded 10 double-doubles in 2011, while averaging 2.80 kills per set and 3.11 digs per set on the season. Werth notched at least 10 kills in 18 matches, while recording at least 10 digs in 19 matches in 2011. She also posted a streak of eight matches where she recorded at least 10 digs.

Mancuso produced a stellar junior campaign and closed the season with an AVCA first-team All-America honor. Elevating her play in her third year with the Huskers, she led the team in kills and points in 2011 and was also a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection. She averaged 3.60 kills per set, 2.66 digs per set and was continually ranked in the top 10 in the Big Ten Conference for total kills during the season. She totaled 406 kills in 2011 and notched at least 10 kills in 27 matches.

— Hilary Winter, Nebraska Sports Information

Lincoln – Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles announced Thursday that the Huskers have signed an agreement with ESPN to participate in a trio of in-season exempt tournaments over the next three years, beginning in the 2013-14 season.

The three-year agreement begins in November of 2013, when the Huskers will travel to Charleston, S.C., to participate in the Charleston Classic, which takes place from Nov. 21-24 at the TD Arena. The following year, the Huskers will spend the holidays in paradise, as Nebraska will take part in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. The tournament is slated for the week of Dec. 20 at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawaii campus. In 2015, the Huskers will head to California to participate in the Anaheim Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29.

All three events will give the Huskers national exposure, as the games are carried on the ESPN family of networks, as well as providing high-level non-conference opponents prior to the start of Big Ten play. This is in addition to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge which the Huskers annually participate in. Nebraska’s most recent in-season tournament was the 2010 Puerto Rico Tipoff, while Nebraska has not played in Hawaii since the 2006-07 season.  The Huskers will host the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic this November.

“I’m excited about our agreement with ESPN to play in the Charleston Classic, the Diamond Head Classic and the Anaheim Classic in the coming years,” Miles said. “They will provide excellent competition and exposure for our program.  We have been successful in these types of events when I was at Colorado State, winning the Cancun Governor’s Cup in 2010, and hope we can be highly competitive in these tournaments.

“These are also great events because you have three games in three or four days, and you will see contrasting styles. One day, you may face a zone team and then you may see a pressing team. That is good for your team to make those adjustments in a tournament format.”

“This is just one way of Coach Miles working on increasing the brand of Nebraska basketball,” Marc Boehm, Nebraska’s Executive Associate Athletic Director, said. “He didn’t have to schedule us in these tournaments, but he understands the importance of positioning a team for postseason play and also getting the program more exposure on a national level. It also shows the belief that other people have in Coach Miles to turn Nebraska basketball into a winner.”

— Shamus McKnight, Nebraska Sports Information

Linebacker D.J. Williams was absent from the Denver Broncos’ practice Thursday morning, a day after being convicted on two charges in a Denver court. Williams was found guilty of driving while ability-impaired and driving without his headlights, the offense that prompted police to stop him near downtown Denver about 3 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2010. Already facing a six-game drug suspension to start the season, Williams is subject to further punishment from the NFL because of his conviction on the impaired driving charge. The league said it will review the matter. Williams hasn’t been working with the starters during camp, and he missed a practice earlier this month for personal reasons. The Broncos are gearing up for their preseason home debut Saturday night against the Seattle Seahawks. ESPN Radio 1410 will have the action, with the pregame show at 6:05 and kickoff at 8:00.

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Football is king in Nebraska, though a squad of 13 boys is threatening to unseat the Cornhuskers as the state’s most popular team.

The mashers from the Midwest made their historic debut Thursday night at the Little League World Series as Kearney, Neb. lost to Goodlettsville, Tenn. 12-1.

The Kearney kids are the first team from Nebraska to ever play in the tournament. Catcher Cole Staab said his team is getting emails and text messages from family, friends and new-found baseball fans from all over Nebraska.

Some players have been wearing red Nebraska Cornhusker T-shirts in practice. Coach Monte Dakan said that while Huskers football is a “religion” back home, the Kearney boys are becoming household names, too.

Japan, Chinese Taipei and California won the other games on the opening day of the tournament.