LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Quarterback AJ Bush is making a big impression on new Nebraska coach Mike Riley this spring.
With the possible exception of incumbent starter Tommy Armstrong Jr., the 6-foot-4 left-hander has been mentioned more often in the new Nebraska coach’s post-practice comments than any quarterback.
Bush was an under-the-radar prospect. No recruiting service rated him better than a two-star even though he led Norcross High to the 2013 state championship in Georgia’s top division. He was one of the last members in former coach Bo Pelini’s 2014 recruiting class.
Bush said he never seriously considered transferring after Pelini was fired. He said he’s confident Riley and offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf are giving him a fair shot to earn his way onto the game field.
LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska volleyball rising senior Alicia Ostrander is one of 36 athletes USA Volleyball has selected to participate in the U.S. Collegiate National Team (CNT) program that will train and compete in conjunction with the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships from June 21-29 in New Orleans, La.
For the fourth consecutive year, USA Volleyball will have its U.S. Collegiate National Team program (formerly known as U.S. Women’s National A2 Team) represented at the USAV Girls’ Junior National Championships.
Ostrander, a Gordon, Neb., native, is coming off a breakout season in which she notched 152 kills and averaged 2.49 kills per set to rank fourth on the team. Ostrander posted 10 or more kills in nine matches and recorded a career-high 19 kills on 25 swings against Illinois on Oct. 18. The outside hitter went through a breakout stretch in the middle of the season with double-digit kills in seven of eight matches.
“USA Volleyball is excited to bring these three dozen outstanding collegiate athletes together for the College National Team program in New Orleans,” USA Volleyball Senior Director Tom Pingel said. “It’s always beneficial to the development of our National Team pipeline to get this group in the gym during the summer, as well as in front of the juniors playing at the GJNC so they can see the next level of play. Over the past four years, our CNT athletes have served as outstanding role models for these younger athletes.”
In March, the U.S. Collegiate National Team program selected players to compete in the World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea. Husker junior Briana Holman was selected to that squad. In total, 60 athletes have been selected into the CNT program, which is part of the USA Volleyball High Performance pipeline.
This CNT program includes nine middle blockers, nine outside hitters, six setters, six opposites and six liberos. The middle blockers are Alyssa Garvelink (Michigan State University, Holland, Mich.), Krystalyn Goode (University of Michigan, River Hills, Wis.), Kayla Haneline (University of Northern Iowa, Plattsmouth, Neb.), Molly Lohman (University of Minnesota, Mankato, Minn.),Kaitlyn Oliver (Boise State University, Helena, Mont.), Tyler Richardson (Ohio State University, Ypsilanti, Mich.), Jenna Rosenthal (Marquette University, Fond du Lac, Wis.),Lauren Schad (University of San Diego, Rapid City, S.D.) and Stephenee Yancy (University of Illinois-Chicago, Aroma Park, Ill.).
Opposites selected to the program are Cody Dodd (Tennessee Tech, Cookeville, Tenn.),Canace Finley (University of San Diego, Fort Collins, Colo.), Chelsey Harris (Rice University, Houston, Texas), Hayley McCorkle (University of North Carolina, Winterville, N.C.), Kelsie Payne (University of Kansas, Austin, Texas) and Taylor Treacy (University of North Carolina, Columbia, S.C.).
The selected outside hitters are Adora Anae (University of Utah, Laie, Hawaii), Alexis Austin(University of Colorado, Houston, Texas), Kia Bright (University of Central Florida, Jacksonville, Fla.), Tiana Dockery (University of Kansas, Richmond, Texas), Erin Fairs (University of Louisville, Richmond, Texas), Katie Horton (Florida State University, Westland, Mich.), Alicia Ostrander (University of Nebraska, Gordon, Neb.), Luisa Schirmer (Ohio State University, Pittsford, N.Y.) and Azariah Stahl (Purdue Univeristy, Elkhart, Ind.).
Liberos named to the program are Heather Gearhart (University of North Carolina, Chula Vista, Calif.), Alyssa Goehner (University of Minnesota, Lakeville, Minn.), Morgan Heise (Southern Methodist University, Hempstead, Texas), Amanda Neill (Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind.),Cierra Simpson (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Cassandra Strickland(University of Washington, Huntington Beach, Calif.).
The setters are Bianca Arellano (Arizona State University, Phoenix, Ariz.), Morgan Bergren(University of Kentucky, Muncie, Ind.), Katie Brand (Kansas State University, Grand Island, Neb.), Nicole Edelman (University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.), Ainise Havili (University of Kansas, Fort Worth, Texas) and Gabrielle Simpson (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colo.).
The coaching staff for the CNT-GJNC program will be named in the coming weeks.
After the training portion of the program, the 36 athletes will be divided into three equal teams which will compete in a round-robin event June 26-29. The round-robin event may include an additional team to increase the field to four teams that would compete June 25-29.
U.S. Collegiate National Team for 2015 USAV Girls’ Junior National Championships Name (Position, School, 2015 College Year, Hometown)
Adora Anae (OH, University of Utah, So., Laie, Hawaii)
Bianca Arellano (S, Arizona State University, Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.)
Alexis Austin (OH, University of Colorado, Sr., Houston, Texas)
Morgan Bergren (S, University of Kentucky, Sr., Muncie, Ind.)
Katie Brand (S, Kansas State University, Jr., Grand Island, Neb.)
Kia Bright (OH, University of Central Florida, Jr., Jacksonville, Fla.)
Tiana Dockery (OH, University of Kansas, Sr., Richmond, Texas)
Cody Dodd (OPP, Tennessee Tech, Sr., Cookeville, Tenn.)
Nicole Edelman (S, University of Colorado, Sr., Boulder, Colo.)
Erin Fairs (OH, University of Louisville, Sr., Richmond, Texas)
Canace Finley (OPP, University of San Diego, Sr., Fort Collins, Colo.)
Alyssa Garvelink (MB, Michigan State University, So., Holland, Mich.)
Heather Gearhart (L, University of North Carolina, Sr., Chula Vista, Calif.)
Alyssa Goehner (L, University of Minnesota, So., Lakeville, Minn.)
Krystalyn Goode (MB, University Michigan, Sr., River Hills, Wis.)
Kayla Haneline (MB, University of Northern Iowa, Jr., Plattsmouth, Neb.)
Chelsey Harris (OPP, Rice University, Jr., Houston, Texas)
Ainise Havili (S, University of Kansas, So., Fort Worth, Texas)
Morgan Heise (L, Southern Methodist University, Jr., Hempstead, Texas)
Katie Horton (OH, Florida State University, Jr., Westland, Mich.)
Molly Lohman (MB, University of Minnesota, So., Mankato, Minn.)
Hayley McCorkle (OPP, University of North Carolina, Jr., Winterville, N.C.)
Amanda Neill (L, Purdue University, Sr., Lafayette, Ind.)
Kaitlyn Oliver (MB, Boise State University, So., Helena, Mont.) Alicia Ostrander(OH, University of Nebraska, Sr., Gordon, Neb.)
Kelsie Payne (OPP, University of Kansas, So., Austin, Texas)
Tyler Richardson (MB, Ohio State University, Sr., Ypsilanti, Mich.)
Jenna Rosenthal (MB, Marquette University, Fr.-R, Fond du Lac, Wis.)
Lauren Schad (MB, University of San Diego, Jr., Rapid City, S.D.)
Luisa Schirmer (OH, Ohio State University, So., Pittsford, N.Y.)
Cierra Simpson (L, University of Colorado, Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Gabrielle Simpson (S, University of Colorado, So., Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Azariah Stahl (OH, Purdue University, So., Elkhart, Ind.)
Cassandra Strickland (L, University of Washington, Sr., Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Taylor Treacy (OPP, University of North Carolina, Jr., Columbia, S.C.)
Stephenee Yancy (MB, University of Illinois-Chicago, Sr., Aroma Park, Ill.)
North Platte High School Activities Director, Marc Mroczek, has named Rick Titus as the new head softball coach for the 2015-2016 school year.
Prior to coming to North Platte High School this year, Rick has coached softball at Aurora High School and Chase County High School. Rick is currently a math teacher at North Platte High School.
Marc Mroczek, North Platte Activities Director said: “Rick is well qualified and will bring valuable experience to our coaching staff at NPHS. He has a great vision for the program and will do what is best for our student-athletes. I am excited for the future of North Platte High School Softball with Coach Titus leading the program.”
Titus takes over for Les O’Donnell, who resigned earlier this year.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton forward Leon Gilmore III is planning to transfer to a school where he can get more playing time.
Bluejays coach Greg McDermott announced Gilmore’s decision on Wednesday.
Gilmore was the only true freshman to see playing time for the Bluejays this past season. The native of Manvel, Texas, appeared in eight games and averaged 1.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in just under 5 minutes a game.
McDermott said he’s sorry to see Gilmore leave the program and that he wishes him the best.
The North Platte Community College Knights softball team will play host to National Junior College Athletic Region IX Division II foes Central Community College and Southeast Community College at Wayne Dowhower Memorial Softball Complex this weekend.
The Knights, 13 – 19 overall and 4 – 0 in the region are led in hitting by Sara Villalobos with a .440 batting average. Villalobos also has four home runs, six doubles, 23 runs batted in, 11 walks, a .504 on base percentage and a .620 slugging percentage.
The Knights are 12th in the nation in Division II in home runs with a total of 27 home runs led by Sara Runia and Brittney Odum with seven each. Shannon Lieber has five home runs and Mehana Chang has three.
Odum leads the Knights in runs batted in with 27. Chang has 14 stolen bases to lead the team.
In the ring, Lieber has a 5.38 earned run average with 56 strikeouts. Baileigh Oleson has a 5.38 earned run average with 40 strike outs.
On Friday, April 10, the Knights will host the Central Community College Lady Raiders in a double header.
The Lady Raiders are 13 – 16 on the season and 4 – 2 in Region IX Division II play. They are led offensively by Logan Zeleny. Zeleny is hitting .405 with one double and four home runs. She also has 11 runs and 22 runs batted in. Shelbi Dittmer leads the Lady Raiders in home runs with five and runs batted in with 23.
In the ring, the Lady Raiders rely on four pitchers for a team earned run average of 4.38. Jayd Roberts has a 3.79 earned run average with 30 strikeouts in 10 appearances. Morgan Uldrich is 4 – 4 with a 4.09 earned run average in 11 appearances and has 56 strikeouts. Brooke Behnk has a 3.94 earned run average in 11 appearances. Behnk has struck out 32. The fourth pitcher is Dittmer, who leads the team in appearances with 12. Dittmer has struck out 28 and has an earned run average of 5.66.
The games Friday against Central will be at 3 p.m. and 5p.m. CDT
On Saturday, the Southeast Community College Lady Storm come to town for a doubleheader. The Lady Storm are 13 – 27 on the season and 0 – 6 in region play.
They are led by Megan Hartman offensively. Hartman has a .389 batting average, five home runs, 26 runs batted in, 16 doubles and a .626 slugging percentage. Three other Lady Storm players have four home runs on the season. They are Alexis Grawe, Kristin Thomas and Ally Vrbas.
Pitching for the Lady Storm is led by Hartman. Who has a 7 – 9 record with a 5.96 earned run average. Hartman has struck out 131 hitters in 22 appearances.
Former North Platte High School Lady Bulldog Nicole Zelinski is another pitcher for the Lady Storm. Zelinski has a 9.00 earned run average with 26 strike outs.
The games Friday against Central will be at 3 p.m. and 5p.m. The games Saturday against Southeast will be at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. All times are CDT.
All four games will determine the seedings for the upcoming region tournament held in North Platte on April 24 – 26. The number one seed will receive a first round bye.
KEARNEY, Neb. – The Tri-City Storm announced dates Thursday for potential home playoff games in the USHL Western Conference Semifinal scheduled to begin next week. Single game tickets for Games 2 & 3 will go on sale Friday, April 10 at 10:00 a.m. at the Viaero Event Center Box Office.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the box office, online at stormhockey.com, or over the phone by calling 308.338.8011.
Tri-City will face either Omaha or Sioux Falls and will host Games 2, 3, and 5 in the best-of-five series.
The Storm will host Game 2 on Thursday, April 16 at 7:05 p.m. and Game 3 on Saturday, April 18 at 7:05. If necessary, Tri-City will also host Game 5 on Tuesday, April 21 at 7:05.
The Storm have also announced that Cunningham’s Journal will be hosting official watch parties for all road playoff games, starting with Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinal.
A full schedule will be available as soon as the final regular season games have been played this weekend.
Fans that purchased the ‘Pay As We Play’ ticket package can now pick up their tickets at the Viaero Event Center Box Office. Box Office hours are from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.Monday–Friday.
The Storm will finish the regular season on the road, taking on Dubuque and Des Moines. Friday’s game with the Fighting Saints starts at 7:35 p.m., while Saturday’s contest with the Buccaneers starts at 7:05.
Only one point behind first place Sioux City, Tri-City can win the Western Conference regular season title with wins in both road games this weekend.
Lincoln – Following an extra-inning win at Kansas State on Tuesday night, the No. 23 Nebraska baseball team (24-10, 3-3 Big Ten) gets back to Big Ten Conference action this weekend when it hosts the Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-17, 2-7 Big Ten) for a three-game series at Hawks Field.
The series is scheduled to open on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. and the game will be carried nationally on the Big Ten Network. Due to the Nebraska Football Spring Game on Saturday, the Huskers and Gophers will meet at 6:05 p.m.on Saturday night, before wrapping up the series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
Nebraska is 15-1 at Hawks Field this season and has outscored the opposition 92-34. At Hawks Field in 2015, NU’s pitching staff has notched 122 strikeouts compared to 34 walks.
The Gophers enter the series with a 8-15 record away from Siebert Field, including a 7-14 road record. This weekend will be the Gophers third league road series of the year and they are 1-5 on the road in league play, with the lone win coming last weekend at Rutgers.
The Huskers are set to start senior Chance Sinclair on Friday night and he will look to add to his 7-1 career record during Big Ten Play. The third-team preseason All-American has gone at least 6.0 innings in three of his last four starts. Minnesota is scheduled to start right-handed senior Ben Meyer, who is 1-4 on the year with a 5.65 ERA in eight starts. Meyer started the series finale last year against the Huskers in Minneapolis and went 6.2 innings in a no decision. The New Brighton, Minn., native allowed two runs on nine hits and one walk, while striking out four.
Senior Kyle Kubat will climb the hill on Saturday and will be in search of 20th career victory. Kubat is coming off a 4.2 innings outing at Maryland, where he gave up a career-high six runs. Kubat had gone at least 7.0 innings in five of his last six starts heading into last Saturday. The Gophers have not announced a starter for Saturday.
Sophomore Derek Burkamper will look to pick up his fifth win of the season on Sunday after taking a no decision last weekend in Maryland. Burkamper is 4-1 on the year with a 3.14 ERA over 43.0 innings. The Gophers announced that 6-7 sophomore Tim Shannon will start on Sunday. The Hopkins, Minn., native is 1-3 on the year with a 5.82 ERA in seven appearances, including six starts. In three starts during Big Ten play, Shannon is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA over 13 innings.
Friday, April 10 (7:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP Sinclair (4-4) vs. RHP Meyer (1-4)
TV: BTN
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN2Go
Radio: Husker Sports Network
Saturday, April 11 (6:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: LHP Kubat (4-1) vs. TBA
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide
Radio: Husker Sports Network
Sunday, April 12 (1:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP Burkamper (4-1) vs. RHP Shannon (1-3)
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN Plus
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lorenzo Cain hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning for his third hit and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 7-5 Wednesday night.
Cain homered off Zach Putnam (0-1), the fourth White Sox pitcher, after Alcides Escobar led off the inning with a single for his third hit.
Wade Davis (1-0) struck out two in a scoreless eighth. Greg Holland, who had 46 saves last year, worked the ninth for his first save. Royals relievers Jason Frasor, Kelvin Herrera, Davis and Holland combined for four scoreless innings, striking out five, after Danny Duffy exited.
Eric Hosmer hit a three-run homer in the third for the Royals. Homer homered after Mike Moustakas was hit by a pitch and Lorenzo Cain singled.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pinch-hitter Wilin Rosario homered in the 10th inning after being scratched from the starting lineup, leading the Colorado Rockies to a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night.
Rosario initially was in the Rockies batting order in place of Justin Morneau, who was hit in the neck by a ball while running the bases on Tuesday night. Morneau took batting practice and talked his way into the lineup, sending Rosario to the bench for the third straight game.
The big right-hander, however, hit a full-count pitch from Milwaukee closer Francisco Rodriguez (0-1) over the wall in center field, giving the Rockies a three-game sweep in the season-opening series.
Colorado closer LaTroy Hawkins (1-0) got the win despite giving up a pair of runs in the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
DENVER (AP) — Kenneth Faried scored a season-high 29 points and had 11 rebounds, Danilo Gallinari added 27 points and the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 119-101 on Wednesday night.
Ty Lawson had 16 points for the Nuggets in the matchup of teams headed for the lottery for the second straight year. Denver has the seventh worst record in the NBA and the Lakers the fourth-worst.
Rookie Jordan Clarkson had 21 points, and Ryan Kelly added 17 for the Lakers. They have lost four in a row and 17 of 21.