Sports – Page 255 – North Platte Post Archive

Wilson’s Upset Sparks Huskers in Session I

Posted on March 19, 2015

St. Louis, Mo. – Junior Austin Wilson (165) knocked off No. 2 seed Michael Moreno of Iowa State and five other Huskers posted wins in Session I of the NCAA Championships at the Scottrade Center on Thursday.

Wilson, making his third NCAA Championships appearance, raced out to an early 5-0 advantage over Moreno after scoring near fall points in the first period. He notched a 7-5 decision over the Cyclone to pick up his 17th win of the season.

Top-seeded Robert Kokesh (174) opened his tournament with a 9-0 major decision over Michigan’s Taylor Massa to improve to 34-0 this season. Kokesh, a two-time All-American, will face Purdue’s Chad Welch in the second round tonight.

Three-time All-American James Green (157) also picked up bonus points along with No. 9 seed Anthony Abidin (141) and 16th-seeded TJ Dudley (184). Abidin and Dudley each shut out their opponents for major decisions. Green notched a 13-4 major decision over Markus Scheidel of Columbia.

Sophomore Aaron Studebaker posted a 3-1 decision over West Virginia’s Jake Smith at 197 pounds. Tim Lambert (125), Eric Montoya (133) and Collin Jensen (HWT) also wrestled for the Huskers, but each of them fell to top-10 opponents in the opening round.

As a team, Nebraska is tied for fifth with 10 points after the first session. Ohio State leads the team competition with 13.5 points, while Penn State is second with 11.5 points.

Session II starts tonight at 6 p.m. (CT). ESPNU will televise the championship bracket matches and ESPN3 will stream all bouts.

NCAA Championships
March 19-21, 2015
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, Mo.

125 pounds
First Round: #2 Nahshon Garrett (CORN) by dec. over Tim Lambert (NEB), 10-6

133 pounds
First Round: #6 Earl Hall (ISU) by dec. over Eric Montoya (NEB), 7-4

141 pounds
First Round: #9 Anthony Abidin (NEB) by major dec. over Nick Lawrence (PUR), 8-0

157 pounds
First Round: #4 James Green (NEB) by major dec. over Markus Scheidel (COL), 13-4

165 pounds
First Round: Austin Wilson (NEB) by dec. over #2 Michael Moreno (ISU), 7-5

174 pounds
First Round: #1 Robert Kokesh (NEB) by major dec. over Taylor Massa (MICH), 9-0

184 pounds
First Round: #16 TJ Dudley (NEB) by major dec. over Ophir Bernstein (BRO), 9-0

197 pounds
First Round: #15 Aaron Studebaker (NEB) by dec. over Jake Smith (WVU), 3-1

Heavyweight
First Round: #6 Adam Coon (MICH) by pin over Collin Jensen (NEB), 4:29

Huskers Host Michigan to Open Big Ten Play

Posted on March 19, 2015

After playing 20 non-conference games to start the season, the Nebraska baseball team (14-6, 0-0 Big Ten) is set to open Big Ten Conference play this weekend when they host the Michigan Wolverines (11-8, 0-0 Big Ten) for a three-game series at Hawks Field.

Friday’s series opener is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., Saturday’s game is set for 2:05 p.m. and the series concludes on Sunday at 11:05 a.m.

The Huskers and Wolverines have played 15 games all-time and the Huskers hold a 8-7 advantage in the series. 11 of the 15 games have come since 2012 when the Huskers joined the Big Ten Conference, and during that time frame the Huskers are 7-4 against the Wolverines, including a 2-0 record at the Big Ten Tournament.

This weekend’s match comes right in the middle of Nebraska’s 16-game home stand and the Huskers enter Friday a perfect 7-0 at Hawks Field this year. The Wolverines have played all 19 of their games away from Ann Arbor, as they won’t play their first home game until Tuesday, March 24, against Bowling Green. The Wolverines are 4-4 in true road games this year, with 11 of their 19 games played at neutral sites.

Senior Chance Sinclair is scheduled to start for the Huskers on Friday night and he will face sophomore lefty Brett Adcock. Last season, Sinclair pitched the second game of NU series at Michigan and gave up just one unearned run over 7.1 innings in a 3-1 win. Adcock saw 1.0 inning of relief in the series finale, giving up two runs on two hits, while striking out two.

Senior Kyle Kubat is set to start on Sunday and will look to improve to 4-0 all-time against the Wolverines. The 6-1 Kubat started each of Nebraska’s two wins over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament, including a career-high 8.2 inning outing last season in Omaha. Michigan is set to counter with freshman right hander Ryan Nutof. A native of South Elgin, Ill., Nutof is 1-1 on the year in five starts with a 2.67 ERA over 27.0 innings of work. Nutof has given up 15 hits and walked 15, while striking out 19.

Sophomore Derek Burkamper will start on Sunday for the Huskers, it will be his sixth career start and his first during league play. Burkamper has gone at least 6.0 innings in each of his last three starts and will be looking for his second straight win. The Wolverines have yet to announce a starter for Sunday.

Friday, March 21 (6:35 p.m.)

Probable Starters: RHP Sinclair (2-3) vs. LHP Adcock (2-2)

TV: None

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Wednesday, March 22 (2:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters: LHP Kubat (3-0) vs. RHP Nutof (1-1)

TV: None

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Sunday, March 23 (11:05 a.m.)

Probable Starters: RHP Burkamper (2-1) vs. TBA

TV: None

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide

Radio: Husker Sports Network

NPCC Knights Softball to Host Williston State

Posted on March 19, 2015

The North Platte Community College Knights softball team will host the Williston State College Lady Tetons in a doubleheader on Friday, March 20 at the Wayne Dowhower Memorial Softball Complex.

The Knights, who are 10 – 14 on the season, are led at the plate by Sara Runia with a .452 batting average and a .729 slugging percentage. Runia has six doubles and five home runs, which is currently tied for 13^th in the nation. Brittney Odum leads the Lady Knights in home runs with six, which is tied for 10^th in the nation.

The Knights as a team has hit 20 home runs in 24 games. The 20 home runs is seventh in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division One team home runs.

The Knights pitching staff has a 6.13 earned run average and is led by freshman Baileigh Oleson with a 4.37 earned run average. Sophomore Shannon Lieber has a 5.81 earned run average and has struck out 40 opposing hitters, which is tied for 31^st in the nation.

The Lady Tetons are 5 – 7 on the season. They are led in hitting by Myria Riffel with a .463 batting average. Riffel has two doubles and one triple along with five runs batted in. Martina Marquardt and Emily Cairns lead the Lady Tetons in home runs with two each. Cairns also leads the team with 15 runs batted in.

The Lady Tetons pitching staff has a 3.22 team earned run average. They are led by Jalen Creech with a 3.00 earned run average in 39.2 innings pitched. Creech has two wins and two losses on the season.

The times of the games have changed from the printed schedule to noon and 2:00 p.m. The games may be seen on www.coachesaid.com.

As a reminder, the games on Saturday between the same two teams have been cancelled.

Yard Goats is Rockies Affiliate Hartford’s New Minor League Team Name

Posted on March 18, 2015

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Hartford’s new minor league baseball team will be the Yard Goats.

Team and city officials announced the name Wednesday, complete with two goats, after a contest to rebrand the former New Britain Rock Cats.

The Colorado Rockies’ Double-A affiliate will begin playing in Hartford next year in a new ballpark just north of downtown.

About 6,000 fan suggestions were winnowed down to the railroad name for an engine the moves cars in a rail yard. The team said that fits a minor league team that works “away from the big city lights” to keep a major league affiliate on track.

Anthony Castora, a UConn graduate from New Jersey, entered the winning name, which he said he heard from his railroad buff father-in-law.

The other finalists: Hedgehogs, Praying Mantis, River Hogs, and Whirlybirds.

Nebraska’s Riley Must Pick and Choose what Offense Can Do

Posted on March 18, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — New Nebraska coach Mike Riley says he has a hunch the entirety of his pro-style offense won’t be game-ready come fall.

Riley said Wednesday that he and his staff will spend next week’s spring break studying practice video and paring back the number of plays they’ll work on the rest of the spring practice.

He said he wants to head into the fall with his offense “pretty good at a few things and not average at a whole bunch of stuff.”

Riley said the quarterbacks need to complete a higher percentage and cut down on interceptions.

Presumptive starter Tommy Armstrong Jr. stood on the sideline for Wednesday’s practice because of tightness and spasms in his lower back.

Husker Offense Continues Learning Curve

Posted on March 18, 2015

Lincoln, Neb.- The Nebraska football team completed its seventh practice of the 2015 spring football season on Wednesday afternoon. The Huskers practices for just over two hours outside on the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields in full pads.

Nebraska Head Coach Mike Riley spoke with media members following practice, as he mentioned that the Husker quarterback corps has been doing really well learning all of the new commands in Riley’s offense.

“I think the quarterbacks have done a nice job of having a lot to learn and making some plays. I guess it’s remarkably like practice for me, some of it looks good, some of it doesn’t,” he said. “You go back and look at the film, but you know what, for the most part considering learning a new language—even the stuff as simple as a new cadence—I think they have done ok.”

Riley added that the Husker quarterbacks need to cut down on some of their interceptions before the annual Red-White Spring Game. Riley mentioned that location of the football and making good choices with the football are the keys to cut down on the interceptions and make good quarterbacks.

During practice Wednesday, things got a little chippy during the scrimmage portion of the Husker practice. Riley loved the team’s intensity during practice, but said that the team needs to be smart, as some of their actions can result in personal foul penalties.

“I like the spirit, but I think that you have to practice self-control because that is a penalty plus you get kicked out,” Riley said. “You are just practicing something that is bad for your team, so we don’t have that.”

Junior quarterback Tommy Armstrong sat out practice Wednesday. According to Riley, Armstrong has been battling a minor back injury that should not keep him off the field for long.

“He has had some lower back (spasms) so he has had a hard time, he has struggled through a couple of practices with it, so we just decided to keep him out today,” Riley said.

Overall, Riley said he is pretty impressed with the Huskers spring practice season so far, noting the team still has a long way to go, as the evaluation process continues.

“I think that it is interesting, I am impressed with a lot of the volume that we have in, I am not yet impressed with how we execute it all yet. I think we are going to now have to be very selective on the rest of spring and what we do for fall camp.”

Nebraska returns to the practice field on Friday for its eighth workout of the spring. Check back at Huskers.com for updates.

Huskers Sweep Sycamores, Improve to 7-0 at Home

Posted on March 18, 2015

Lincoln – The Nebraska baseball (14-6, 0-0 Big Ten) team hung on to a one-run lead for the second straight day, as they completed a two-game sweep of the Indiana State Sycamores (8-9, 0-0 MVC) on Wednesday afternoon with a 3-2 victory. The Huskers are now 7-0 at Hawks Field and continue their 16-game homestand on Friday at 6:35 p.m.when they open Big Ten play with a three-game series against the Michigan Wolverines.

Hits and base runners were at a premium on Wednesday, with the two teams combining for 15 hits. Junior catcher Taylor Fish led all players with three hits, his second career three-hit game. Both pitching staff pounded the zone, as each team issued just one walk. Three Husker freshmen combined for 10 strikeouts on the afternoon, including five from starter Zack Engelken, who went 4.1 innings. Jake Meyers earned the win in 2.2 innings of relief, while Nate Fisher tossed a scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts.

Senior Josh Roeder shut the door for the second straight day to notch his seventh save of the season. Roeder is now seven saves away from breaking Brett Jensen’s NU career saves record of 31.

The Huskers scored all three of their runs in the fourth inning, capped by a two-run homer from Austin Darby that landed in the visitor’s bullpen beyond the right-field wall. It was Darby’s first home run of the season and snapped an 0-for-9 slump for the senior right fielder. Scott Schreiber got the Huskers on the board earlier in the inning he delivered a deep fly ball to left field that scored Blake Headley, who led off the inning with his seventh double of the year.

The Sycamores broke in the scoring column in the fifth when Manual Estevez led off the inning with a home run. Two batters later, Meyers took over for Engelken with the tying run at the plate and promptly got a pair of outs to keep the Huskers in front 3-1.

Tyler Friis led off the eighth with a double for the Sycamores, and the Huskers turned the ball to Fisher, who gave up a RBI single to Landon Curry. Fisher then retired three straight batters, including back-to-back strikeouts to end the eighth. Roeder took the mound in the ninth and sat down Indiana State’s 6-7-8 hitters in order to complete the two-game sweep.

Following Friday’s series opener, the Huskers and Wolverines will meet at 2:05 p.m. on Saturday before wrapping up the series at 11:05 a.m. on Sunday.

NPCC Knights Softball Team Travels to McCook

Posted on March 18, 2015

The North Platte Community College Knights Softball team will travel to play the McCook Community College Lady Indians at the Jaycee Sports Complex on Thursday, March 19.

The game has been designated as a Purple-Out softball game. The McCook Community College chapter of Phi Theta Kappa has teamed up with Abbee Terry and her family, the Lady Indian and Knights softball teams to make this event happen. They will be selling bracelets, hair ribbons and t-shirts. They will be auctioning off a signed softball from both McCook Community College and North Platte Community College. This will be a silent auction, so you must be present to win. There will be a donation jar at the game. All proceeds will go to the Epilepsy Foundation. Abbee will throw out the first pitch of game one.

The Knights are 10 – 14 on the season and 4 – 0 in Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference play. The Lady Indians are 20 – 6 on the season and 6 – 0 in the conference.

The Knights are led offensively by Sara Runia. Runia is batting .429 with six doubles, five home runs and 23 runs batted in. Sara Villalobos is batting .403 with three doubles, three home runs and 16 runs batted in. Brittney Odum leads the Knights with six home runs on the season. The Knights, as a team have hit 20 home runs in 24 games and have a .433 team slugging percentage.

The Knights pitching staff has a team earned run average of 6.13, led by freshman Baileigh Oleson with a 4.37 earned run average and sophomore Shannon Lieber with a 5.81 earned run average.

The Lady Indians started the season 4 – 6 but have reeled off 16 straight wins. They are led offensively by sophomore Miranda Santiago with a .482 batting average. Santiago also has seven doubles, two home runs and 30 runs batted in. Robin Harrison leads the Lady Indians with four home runs.

The Lady Indian pitching staff is led by Harrison who has a 1.87 earned run average in 15 appearances. McKenzie Bilger with a 2.39 earned run average in seven appearances. The Lady Indians have a team earned run average of 2.49.

Game times are at 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. CDT and may be seen on www.coachesaid.com.

NPCC Knights Softball Game Time Changes against Williston

Posted on March 18, 2015

The game times between the North Platte Community College Knights softball team and Williston State College on Friday and Saturday have been changed.

The Friday games have been moved to noon and 2:00 p.m.. The games on Saturday have been cancelled. The games will not be made up.

Storm To Don Special Jerseys For Concrete Cares

Posted on March 18, 2015

KEARNEY, Neb. – The Tri-City Storm will wear specialty jerseys Saturday against the Des Moines Buccaneers as part of Concrete Cares Night presented by Kearney Concrete.

The uniforms, which will be auctioned on EBay, were designed by Kyle Poff of Kearney Concrete. Proceeds from the auction will go to Concrete Cares of Nebraska, which helps cancer stricken patients in the state of Nebraska who are in need of assistance.

Kearney Concrete is also sponsoring a puck giveaway for the first 1,000 fans through the doors of the Viaero Event Center on Saturday night.

Now in its second year, Concrete Cares of Nebraska has raised nearly $10,000, mostly coming through an annual event at The Archway in Kearney.

The original vision for the organization came from Mike Murray with Decorative Concrete Supply Company in Shawnee, Kan. He hoped to raise awareness of breast cancer by placing pink concrete nationwide, in hopes that by installing something pink and permanent, the concrete industry could show how much they care.

Earlier this month, Kearney Concrete was awarded the 2015 Concrete Cares Award by the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association.

The Poff family is preparing for a third-annual event this September, once again at The Archway in Kearney.

Unfortunately Poff himself is struggling with the disease, currently undergoing treatment for an acute leukemia blood cancer known as AML. Poff underwent a blood transplant nine days ago and is unable to attend the game.

The EBay auctions for the Concrete Cares jerseys are scheduled to run from Friday until Monday, March 23 at 12:00 p.m. The Storm will provide more information on the auction this weekend via the team’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Tri-City has a chance to clinch a playoff berth this weekend, facing Des Moines in a two-game series. Friday’s contest begins at 7:30 p.m., while Saturday’s is at 7:05.

For more information and to purchase tickets, contact the Viaero Event Center Box Office at 308.338.8011 or visit www.stormhockey.com.