CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — Some school districts have canceled classes and others have delayed the school day’s start after around 2 feet of snow fell in the northwest corner of Nebraska.
Art Hutcheon, of the National Weather Service in Cheyenne, Wyoming, said Monday the 2 feet fell in the area between Harrison and Chadron, starting Saturday and ending Sunday afternoon. Hutcheon says up to 15 inches of snow was reported in the Chadron area.
Six to 10 inches fell in the Scottsbluff area, which Hutcheon says easily eclipsed the May total average of about an inch over the past 30 years.
School was canceled in Hay Springs and Crawford on Monday, and late starts were planned for Chadron State College and schools in Rushville and Gordon.
DETROIT (AP) — Greg Holland worked out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the bottom of the 10th inning, and the Kansas City Royals held on for a 2-1 win over the Detroit Tigers early Monday in a game that was delayed 103 minutes by rain.
Omar Infante’s sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th put the Royals ahead, but Holland allowed a single and two walks to start the bottom half. Hernan Perez — batting because Miguel Cabrera had been removed for a pinch-runner the previous inning — bounced into a 5-2-3 double play, but another walk to Victor Martinez loaded the bases again.
Holland then struck out Yoenis Cespedes for his sixth save in six chances.
Jason Frasor (1-0) got the win, working out of a bases-loaded jam of his own in the ninth.
TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska prison officials say two staff members were assaulted and two inmates have been injured in an ongoing disturbance at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.
A press release from a Department of Correctional Services spokesman says the incident started Sunday afternoon. When staff members attempted to disperse a gathering of inmates in front of a housing unit, two workers were assaulted and one inmate was shot.
The statement says other incidents then took place in “multiple housing units,” resulting in small fires and property damage. A second inmate was injured.
The statement says the exterior of the facility is secured, and staff members are working to secure “all areas.” All workers are accounted for.
The statement gives no further details. Corrections department representatives couldn’t immediately be reached.
The Lincoln Journal-Star reports smoke rose from two housing units late Sunday.
Today: Areas of frost before 10am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 56. Breezy, with a northwest wind 17 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph. Tonight: Widespread frost after 1am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 29. North northwest wind 13 to 18 mph becoming light and variable in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Tuesday: Widespread frost before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 73. Breezy, with a south wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 17 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph. Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49. South southeast wind 13 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 73. Breezy, with a south wind 13 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Wednesday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
ThursdayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 74.
Nebraska will face Arizona State at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. (Photo Courtesy Nate Olsen/NU Media Relations)
A strong finish has earned the Nebraska softball team an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers were one of 32 teams to earn an at-large bid when the 64-team field was announced live on ESPNU Sunday night.
Nebraska is headed to Baton Rouge, La., for one of the nation’s toughest regionals, which features three teams who have been ranked in the top 20 this season. The Huskers will face No. 24 Arizona State on Friday. LSU, the No. 5 national seed who spent several weeks as the nation’s top-ranked team, hosts the regional at Tiger Park. The eighth-ranked Tigers will face Texas Southern in the first round. Outside of Texas Southern, each of the other three teams in the Baton Rouge Regional have made it to the Women’s College World Series in the past three seasons.
LSU, Arizona State and Nebraska all earned at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, while Texas Southern earned an automatic bid after winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament. LSU (44-11) finished fourth in the SEC Conference, which features seven of the top 14 teams in the NFCA coaches’ poll. The Tigers have also defeated Nebraska this season. Arizona State ended the regular season with a 34-20 record, and the Sun Devils finished fourth in the Pac-12 Conference, which has six teams ranked in the top 25. Texas Southern (25-21) won its second straight SWAC Tournament to qualify for its second consecutive NCAA Tournament.
An NCAA Tournament berth perhaps seemed unlikely just one month ago, when Nebraska’s record stood at 20-18 and the Huskers came in at No. 62 in the first NCAA RPI rankings. Nebraska climbed more than 20 spots in the RPI rankings by winning won 14 of its last 17 games, including a run to the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament, where Nebraska fell to No. 3 national seed Michigan. The Huskers will bring a 34-21 record into the NCAA Tournament after finishing in third place in the Big Ten Conference.
Head Coach Rhonda Revelle is taking her alma mater to the NCAA Tournament for the 19th time in the past 21 seasons. Revelle, who owns the fifth-most NCAA Tournament appearances of any active Division I coach, is looking forward to the Huskers’ second straight trip to Columbia.
“I’m very proud of this team. This group continued to work together every day to get better, and they truly earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament with the way they performed in the last month of the season,” Revelle said. “We’ve had some success in the postseason the last few years and our goal is to continue to represent Nebraska to the best of our ability.
“I truly believe we are playing our best softball right now, but we know this team can perform at an even higher level. We are heading to a regional with outstanding programs, and we expect that the strong competition we will face this weekend will bring out the best in this team.”
The Huskers are making their 23rd all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, which ranks 10th in NCAA history. Nebraska has won back-to-back NCAA Regional titles, one of 11 teams nationally who have advanced to NCAA Super Regional play each of the last two seasons. Overall, the Huskers have won eight regional titles, one super regional crown and advanced to the Women’s College World Series seven times.
NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Schedule
Friday, May 15
Nebraska vs. Arizona State, 3:30 p.m. (Game 1)
Texas Southern at LSU, 6 p.m. (Game 2)
Saturday, May 16
Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, TBA (Game 3)
Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, TBA (Game 4)
Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser, TBA (Game 5)
Sunday, May 17
Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, TBA (Game 6)
Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser (if first loss), TBA
Kyle Kubat tied a career high with nine strikeouts (Photo Courtesy Stephanie Carpenter/NU Media Relations)
Lincoln – Following a three-hour and 20-minute rain delay for first pitch on Sunday afternoon, Nebraska (34-18, 9-11 Big Ten) and Purdue (16-34, 3-17 Big Ten) started the second game of their three-game series. After notching nine runs on 13 hits in the series opener, the NU offense went cold on Sunday, as it was limited to one run on four hits in a 2-1 defeat.
Senior Kyle Kubat made his 41st career start on and struck out a career-high tying nine over 7.2 innings, but fell to 4-4 on the year. Since posting his 19th career win against Michigan on March 21, Kubat has been in search of win No. 20 over his past seven starts. In the seven starts, Nebraska’s offense has scored an average of 2.0 runs per game. Kubat is now tied with Zach Kroneke, Josh Bullock and John Lepley for fifth place on the Nebraska career starts list.
Purdue’s Gavin Downs allowed one run on four hits over 7.0 innings. The junior right hander let his defense work behind him with only two walks and two strikeouts. Matt Frawley worked a pair of no-hit scoreless innings of relief behind Downs for his first save of the season.
The Huskers had the tying run on base to start the bottom of the ninth when Tanner Lubach was hit-by-pitch. Frawley came back and struck out Austin Darby looking before ending the game with a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Austin Christensen.
Just like in the opener on Saturday, the Boilermakers took the first lead of the game. Kyle Johnson started the second with a triple to center field and quickly scored when Brett Carlson followed with a single. Kubat limited the damage with a double-play ball and a 6-3 groundout.
Downs retired the first six Huskers he faced before Christian Cox started the bottom of the third with a single up the middle. The senior left fielder took second on a wild pitch by Downs and moved to third on a groundout off the bat of Jake Schleppenbach. Nebraska’s No. 9 hitter, Jake Placzek, stepped in with one down and drove in Cox with a RBI single that evened the game, 1-1.
The Boilermakers quickly jumped back in front with a run on two hits in the fourth. Kyle Wood roped a one-out double and Kubat was in position to strand him at second, but Carlson picked up his second RBI of the game with a single to center field that put Purdue ahead, 2-1.
Nebraska has a runner on in the fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth innings, but was never able to tie the game.
The Huskers will play their final regular-season game of the year at Hawks Field tomorrow afternoon when they conclude their series against the Boilermakers at 1:05 p.m.
DENVER (AP) — After 4 inches of snow were cleared from Coors Field, the Los Angeles Dodgers used Justin Turner’s tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning to beat the Colorado Rockies for the eighth straight time, 9-5 Sunday.
The grounds crew spent the morning shoveling the outfield following an overnight storm. The snow was removed from the stadium in small bulldozers.
The series finale began on time after the first two games were affected by the wet weather that has socked Colorado for a week. The gametime temperature was 41 degrees and it dropped to 39 degrees in the ninth.
Turner’s two-run homer highlighted a four-run burst in the eighth. Adrian Gonzalez hit two doubles and drove in four runs as the Dodgers extended their winning streak over Colorado dating to last season.
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw failed in his fourth bid for his 100th regular-season win. He gave up five runs in 5 2-3 innings.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has the fifth-highest birth rate in the nation.
New U.S. Census data shows that Nebraska trails only Utah, South Dakota, Alaska and North Dakota with its birth rate.
Iowa also ranks high with the 14th-highest birthrate in the nation.
In Nebraska, there are 72 births per 1,000 women of child-rearing age.
David Drozd with the University of Nebraska at Omaha says the relatively high birthrate may help Nebraska retain all three of its U.S. House seats when they are redistributed after the 2020 Census.
BRIDGETON, N.J. (AP) — A southern New Jersey man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his father and burying him under the back porch of their home.
Dreu Ferguson Jr. was convicted of aggravated manslaughter in March by a Cumberland County jury that also acquitted him of murder. The 39-year-old Millville man was also found guilty of tampering with evidence and desecrating or concealing human remains.
Authorities have said Ferguson killed his 58-year-old father, Dreu Ferguson Sr., in May 2009 after they argued over the lid of a teapot.
Prosecutors argued at trial that Ferguson buried his father in lime and fertilizer under their back porch. But a forensic pathologist testifying for the defense said the man may have died of natural causes.
BEAVER CROSSING, Neb. (AP) — A year after tornadoes caused significant damage to Beaver Crossing, residents say the eastern Nebraska town is still recovering.
Village Clerk Shannon Chesnut said he’s still finding glass and nails in his yard even after five clean-up efforts.
Pastor Tamara Holtz of Beaver Crossing United Methodist Church says the Seward County town has mostly started to feel like itself.
The town of about 400 people lost 30 buildings in the storm last Mother’s Day, but fewer than 10 families left. About 20 of the homes that were lost have been or are being rebuilt.
Most homes in town now have new roofs and windows. Chesnut says Beaver Crossing is working to help anyone who is short on money for repairs.
CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — Some school districts have canceled classes and others have delayed the school day’s start after around 2 feet of snow fell in the northwest corner of Nebraska.
