MIAMI (AP) — A person familiar with the decision says the Miami Marlins have been awarded the 2017 All-Star Game, and an announcement by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is planned for this week at the team’s ballpark.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the decision, first reported by The Miami Herald, had not been announced.
Miami will host the game for the first time. The Marlins were awarded the 2000 game at Pro Player Stadium and then stripped of the honor in 1998 because of uncertainty about the franchise’s future.
The Marlins moved into their new ballpark in 2012.
The All-Star Game will be played in Cincinnati this year and in San Diego in 2016, meaning a National League team will host the game in three consecutive seasons.
CHICAGO (AP) — Little League International has stripped Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West of its national title after finding the team falsified its boundary map.
The league made the announcement Wednesday morning, saying the Chicago team violated regulations by placing players on the team who didn’t qualify because they lived outside the team’s boundaries. Little League International also suspended Jackie Robinson West manager Darold Butler from league activity.
The announcement comes after an investigation that started when a suburban coach alleged the Jackie Robinson West team violated rules by poaching top players from nearby suburbs.
Little League had said in December that an investigation into the Chicago team found no violations.
Jackie Robinson West’s championship run captured the attention of the nation and turned the all-black team into heroes in their hometown.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ty Lawson had season-highs of 32 points and 16 assists, leading Denver to a 106-96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night that snapped the Nuggets’ six-game skid.
Darrell Arthur added 15 points, and Wilson Chandler and J.J. Hickson had 13 points each for the Nuggets, whose four-game road losing streak ended.
Carlos Boozer scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Wayne Ellington added 18 points for the Lakers, who fell to 0-5 this month.
The Kobe Bryant-less Lakers were coming off an 0-4 trip away from Staples Center because of the Grammy awards. Jeremy Lin and Wesley Johnson added 12 points each.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Sam Dekker matched his career high with 21 points, and No. 5 Wisconsin built a big lead early and then held off Nebraska’s late comeback bid for a 65-55 victory on Tuesday night.
The Badgers (22-2, 10-1 Big Ten) won their seventh straight game and extended their lead in the Big Ten to three games over the four teams tied for second place. The Cornhuskers (13-11, 5-7) lost for the fourth time in five games.
Wisconsin has its best 24-game record in program history and best 11-game record in Big Ten play since the 1913-14 squad went unbeaten.
Frank Kaminsky added 13 points and 12 rebounds and Bronson Koenig had 13 points for the Badgers.
Terran Petteway had 16 of his 21 points in the second half for Nebraska, and Shavon Shields finished with 12 points.
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Hawks will have four players in Sunday’s NBA All-Star game after Kyle Korver was selected to replace Miami’s Dwyane Wade.
Commissioner Adam Silver selected Korver to the Eastern Conference team Tuesday after Wade pulled out because of a hamstring injury. The East-leading Hawks (43-10) already had Paul Millsap, Al Horford and Jeff Teague as reserves.
Korver is on pace to be the first player in NBA history to make more than 50 percent of his field goals and 3-point attempts, and better than 90 percent of his free throws. He is averaging 12.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
Korver, who turns 34 next month, is the fourth-oldest player to make his first All-Star appearance, behind Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, Sam Cassell and Anthony Mason.
The No. 22 Nebraska women’s basketball team returns home after an extended East Coast road trip to take on No. 14 Iowa on Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Tip-off between the Big Red (17-6, 7-5 Big Ten) and the Hawkeyes (19-4, 10-2 Big Ten) is set for 8 p.m. (CT), with single-game tickets available in advance at Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED. Tickets are also available the night of the game at the Pinnacle Bank Arena Box Office, beginning at 6 p.m.
The game will be televised live nationally by the Big Ten Network with Kevin Kugler and Stephanie White on the call.
Live radio coverage will be provided by the Husker Sports Network, with Jeff Griesch and Ben McLaughlin calling the action on stations across the network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln, 93.3 FM in Omaha and 880 AM in Lexington.
Nebraska looks to get back on the winning track after suffering back-to-back losses at No. 21 Rutgers and No. 5 Maryland last week. Those two road losses and a 78-72 overtime loss at then-No. 20 Iowa on Jan. 26 marked the first time since joining the Big Ten in 2011-12 that the Huskers have lost three straight road games. It also marked the only time since joining the conference that the Big Red have played three straight top-25 teams on the road.
Last week’s losses came without starting All-Big Ten point guard Rachel Theriot, who missed both games with an ankle injury. The 6-0 junior from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, ranks sixth in the Big Ten in scoring (16.5 ppg), third in assists (5.2 apg) and leads the conference with 37.5 minutes per game. She could be a game-time decision on Thursday.
Tear’a Laudermill has led the Huskers in scoring in six straight games, averaging 18.3 points per contest over the stretch. On Sunday at Maryland, she became the third active Husker to reach the 1,000-point mark in her career, joining Theriot (1,023) and senior forward Emily Cady (1,335). Cady produced 19 points and 18 rebounds in the first meeting with the Hawkeyes this season.
#22 Nebraska Cornhuskers (17-6, 7-5 Big Ten)
3 – Hailie Sample – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 7.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg
23 – Emily Cady – 6-2 – Sr. – F – 12.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg
1 – Tear’a Laudermill – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg
13 – Brandi Jeffery – 5-7 – Sr. – G – 7.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg
33 – Rachel Theriot – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 16.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg
or 30 – Chandler Smith – 6-0 – Fr. – G – 2.1 ppg, 1.6 rpg
or 5 – Natalie Romeo – 5-7 – Fr. – G – 5.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg
or 22 – Allie Havers – 6-5 – So. – C – 4.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg Off the Bench
31 – Anya Kalenta – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 4.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg
34 – Jasmine Cincore – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 1.8 ppg, 0.3 rpg
12 – Emily Wood – 5-5 – Fr. – G – 0.3 ppg, 0.6 rpg
11 – Esther Ramacieri – 5-8 – So. – G – 0.1 ppg, 0.5 rpg
50 – Darrien Washington – 6-2 – Fr. – F – Redshirting Head Coach: Connie Yori (Creighton, 1986)
13th Season at NU (258-148); 25th Season Overall (453-288)
#14 Iowa Hawkeyes (19-4, 10-2 Big Ten)
2 – Ally Disterhoft – 6-0 – So. – G/F – 16.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg
51 – Bethany Doolittle – 6-4 – Sr. – C – 13.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg
21 – Melissa Dixon – 5-8 – Sr. – G – 15.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg
22 – Samantha Logic – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 12.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg
15 – Whitney Jennings – 5-5 – Fr. – G – 9.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg Off the Bench
25 – Kali Peschel – 6-1 – Jr. – G – 4.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg
1 – Alexa Kastanek – 5-10 – So. – G – 3.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
23 – Christina Buttenham – 6-0 – Fr. – F – 2.7 ppg, 0.8 rpg
4 – Chase Coley – 6-3 – Fr. – F – 2.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg
3 – Claire Till – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 0.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg
34 – Carly Mohns – 6-1 – Fr. – F – 0.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg Head Coach: Lisa Bluder (Northern Iowa, 1983)
15th Season at Iowa (297-170); 31st Season Overall (653-312)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska football games and other university sports will be broadcast on a new group of radio stations in Omaha starting next fall.
Journal Broadcast Group and university multimedia partner IMG announced a five-year affiliate agreement Tuesday. Stations involved are KXSP (590 AM), KKCD (105.9 FM) and KEZO (92.3 FM).
The contract with the current affiliate, KFAB (1110 AM), expires June 30.
KXSP will carry football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and baseball. Football games also will be carried on KEZO. KKCD will air women’s basketball, volleyball and baseball games when there is a scheduling conflict.
KFAB had been the university’s longtime Omaha radio partner. Except for 1996 to 2001, KFAB has aired football games since the 1920s.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — College baseball has struggled for decades to find the correct balance between offense and pitching.
Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said he hopes the latest change — switching to a flat-seam ball — will finally provide some “harmony” for the sport.
The new baseball debuts on Friday, when the season begins throughout the country.
Researchers found that the flat-seam ball could travel as much as 20 feet farther in the air than the previous raised-seam ball.
On the practice field, coaches and players are seeing the same results. Almost all expect at least a modest boost in offensive production. UCLA coach John Savage said he expects to see a “significant jump in offensive numbers across the board, not just in homers.”
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (NCBWA) — Thirty-seven players have been named to the initial watch list for the 11th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball, the association announced Tuesday.
UC Irvine senior Sam Moore and UCLA senior David Berg – the national leaders in saves in 2014 and 2013, respectively – headline this year’s list of preseason nominees. Moore was a 2014 NCBWA first-team All-American and finalist for the 2014 Stopper of the Year Award after posting nation-best 23 saves and a 1.90 ERA in 42.2 innings, while Berg led the country with 24 saves en route to being named the 2013 Stopper of the Year and leading the Bruins to their first College World Series title.
Twenty-five of the 37 players on the watch list notched double-digit saves last season, including All-Americans Riley Ferrell (TCU) and Bryan Garcia (Miami). Thirteen players on the watch list also earned NCBWA preseason All-America honors: Ferrell, Garcia, Berg, Moore, Jacob Cronenworth (Michigan), Matt Ditman (Rice), Andres Gracia (Samford), Reilly Hovis (North Carolina), Skylar Hunter (The Citadel), Tyler Jay (Illinois), Brandon Koch (Dallas Baptist), Hayden Stone (Vanderbilt) and Travis Stout (Jacksonville State).
The Pac-12 and Big Ten Conferences led the way with five players each on this year’s watch list, while the Atlantic Coast, Big West and Southern Conferences each had three. Four conferences have two players apiece on the list: the Southeastern, Mountain West, Missouri Valley and Mid-American Conferences.
The 2015 Stopper of the Year watch list will be updated with a midseason release the week of April 20, including the national saves leaders. At the conclusion of the regular season, the Division I national saves leader and four other relief pitching standouts will be selected as finalists and released Wednesday, June 3, prior to start of NCAA Super Regional competition.
The NCBWA’s All-America Committee will select the winner, with this year’s recipient to be announced during the 2015 College World Series.
Texas hurler J. Brent Cox won the inaugural Stopper of the Year Award in 2005, with Don Czyz of Kansas claiming the honor in 2006 and Luke Prihoda of Sam Houston State winning it in 2007. Georgia’s Joshua Fields topped the field in 2008, San Diego State’s Addison Reed grabbed the honor in 2009 and Texas’ Chance Ruffin earned the honor in 2010. The Longhorns’ Corey Knebel won in 2011 with Southeastern Louisiana’s Stefan Lopez picking up the honor in 2012. UCLA’s Berg was crowned the winner in 2013, while Louisville’s Nick Burdi took home the 2014 honor.
The NCBWA, founded in 1962, presents the Dick Howser Trophy to the nation’s top player. It also selects All-America Teams for all Divisions, a Division I Freshman All-American team, Division I and III Players of the Week, Division I District Players of the Year and Division III Players of the Year.
After putting together a 41-21 record and a trip to the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since 2008, the Nebraska baseball team looks to build on last year’s success in 2015. The process starts on Friday, Feb. 13, at 8:05 p.m. (CT) when the Huskers open the 2015 campaign in Las Vegas, Nev., with the first game of a three-game series against the UNLV Rebels. The Huskers will be looking to avenge a series loss to the Rebels last season in Lincoln, while the Huskers haven’t played in Las Vegas since 1987.
Senior Chance Sinclair is scheduled to start the season opener, and the third-team preseason All-American (Collegiate Baseball) will be looking to pick up his 10th career win after posting a 9-1 record last year. Fellow senior Kyle Kubat is set to take the mound for game two on Saturday at 4:05 p.m., while sophomore Max Knutson is scheduled to make his first career start in the finale on Sunday at 3:05 p.m.
MIAMI (AP) — A person familiar with the decision says the Miami Marlins have been awarded the 2017 All-Star Game, and an announcement by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is planned for this week at the team’s ballpark.
