Sports – Page 448 – North Platte Post Archive

Santana Homers Again in KC, Helps Indians Win

Posted on August 30, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Carlos Santana, who homered five times at Kauffman Stadium in a series last month, hit a two-run homer as the Cleveland Indians topped the Kansas City Royals 6-1 Friday night.

The loss cut the Royals’ lead to a half-game over Detroit in the AL Central.

Santana connected in the ninth inning for his 22nd home run, helped Cleveland win for the fifth time in six games.

Boosted by his big four-game set in July, Santana is 14 for 26 with six homers, 13 RBIs and a 1.269 slugging percentage this year in Kansas City.

Danny Salazar (5-6) pitched four-hit ball for five shutout innings. He didn’t come back out after a 44-minute rain delay in the bottom of the sixth.

Jason Vargas (10-7) gave up 10 hits and four runs in six innings. In his past two starts, both losses, he has allowed 21 hits in 12 innings.

Huskers Fall to No. 13 FSU in Season Opener

Posted on August 30, 2014

Lincoln – Junior Alicia Ostrander enjoyed a career night, but the seventh-ranked Nebraska volleyball team fell in a hard-fought battle to No. 13 Florida State, 3-1, in front of 8,569 fans Friday night, the largest crowd under the current Devaney Center seating configuration.

The Huskers won the opener 25-18, before Florida State won the next three sets, all by two points. The Seminoles took set two 27-25 and won sets three and four by identical 25-23 margins. With the loss, Nebraska fell to 0-1 on the season, while FSU improved to 1-0.

Ostrander led Nebraska with a match-high 18 kills, more than tripling her previous career high of five kills. Ostrander produced 18 kills after totaling 19 kills all of last season. Sophomore Amber Rolfzen also finished in double figures with 13 kills, as did junior Meghan Haggerty, who hit .421 while putting down 10 kills on 19 swings. Sophomore Kadie Rolfzen led Nebraska with 18 digs – tying her career high – while classmate Cecilia Hall tied for match-high honors with five blocks.

Despite the loss, Nebraska produced more kills, more assists, more blocks and a higher hitting percentage than the Seminoles, while the teams each recorded 72 digs. The Huskers hit .182 in the match and recorded 12 blocks.

Florida State hit .176 and was led by Nicole Walch, who bounced back from a slow start to tie Ostrander for match-high honors with 18 kills. Katie Horton added 17 kills, while Katie Mosher was outstanding at libero, producing 33 digs.

FSU was the first team to lead by more than two in the opening set when a pair of blocks helped the Seminoles win four straight rallies to take a 9-6 advantage and force an early Husker timeout. The timeout did wonders for NU, as Nebraska won 10 of the next 12 rallies, capping the 10-2 run by taking a 16-11 lead. NU closed out a 25-18 victory when Ostrander delivered her fifth kill on the Huskers’ second set point. Nebraska held Florida State to an .018 attack percentage in the opening set, recording four blocks and 32 digs.

The Seminoles turned the table on Nebraska in set two, turning an early three-point deficit into a 14-10 advantage on the strength of a 9-2 run. The Huskers pulled back within two at 19-17 to force an FSU timeout then capped a 5-0 run by taking a 20-19 lead. Ostrander’s 10th kill of the match kept Nebraska on top 21-20 before FSU won the next three rallies. Nebraska then fought off three Seminole match points before a Kiara Wright kill wrapped up a 27-25 Florida State win. FSU hit .263 in the second set, led by seven kills on 11 swings from Walch, who was held to a -.077 percentage in set one.

Florida State won the first three rallies of set three and didn’t trail until Nebraska won back-to-back rallies following 12 consecutive sideouts to earn a 12-11 lead. The Seminoles regained the lead at 15-14 then stretched their advantage to 20-17. Consecutive kills from each of the Rolfzen twins pulled Nebraska back within one before Horton delivered a thundering kill and Mosher served an ace to force a Husker timeout with Florida State in front 22-19. Nebraska won the first three points following the break to tie the set and force a Seminole timeout. Horton ended the run with a kill and Sarah Wickstrom followed with an ace to give FSU two set points. An Ostrander kill fought off one set point, but Florida State earned a 25-23 win on Horton’s 10th kill of the match.

Nebraska won the first five rallies of set four and seven of the first eight but could not hang on to the early advantage. NU built the lead to 9-2 on kills from six different Huskers. Florida State came right back with a 7-1 run to pull within one at 10-9. The Seminoles pulled even at 11 and grabbed their first lead at 18-16 on three consecutive kills from Horton. Nebraska won the next two rallies to tie the set but Florida State answered with consecutive points of its own. The Seminoles stretched the lead to 22-19 on a Husker hitting error. NU came back to win three of the next four rallies and tie the set at 23, but back-to-back hitting errors gave Florida State the match with a 25-23 victory.

Nebraska returns to action on Sunday, when the Huskers host third-ranked Stanford at Noon. The match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. The Cardinal opened its season with 3-0 sweep at Iowa State on Friday.

Flynn’s Late Goal Propels Huskers to 1-0 Win

Posted on August 30, 2014

Lincoln, Neb. – With the score tied 0-0 in the 83rd minute, sophomore Caroline Flynn scored from 30 yards out to help Nebraska (2-1) pick up a 1-0 victory over Butler at the Nebraska Soccer Field on Friday night.

Goalkeeper Kelly Schatz preserved the shutout with two saves over 90 minutes, both of which she earned in the second half. Butler did not take any shots in the first half, while the Huskers managed seven over the first 45 minutes.

From the start, Nebraska controlled the game offensively, taking 17 shots for the game, nine of which were on goal. Sophomore Jaycie Johnson took six shots, four of which were on goal.

Sydney Miramontez and Mayme Conroy each managed three shots, while Flynn and Haley Hanson each took two and Caroline Gray shot one.

Flynn’s second goal of the season came from the right side of the field and sailed over the Bulldogs’ goalkeeper before landing in the top left corner of the net. With the clock winding down to the final seconds, Johnson made one final attempt to score, but her shot went wide.

The Huskers travel to Milwaukee, Wis., to face Marquette on Sunday at Valley Fields at 1 p.m. (CT). Next weekend, NU returns home to host Oklahoma on Friday, Sept. 5 at 5:30 p.m., before battling North Dakota on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed on the Big Ten Digital Network.

Kansas City Royals Cut LHP Bruce Chen

Posted on August 30, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals have designated left-hander Bruce Chen for assignment after six seasons with the team.

Friday’s move came one day after he gave up six runs in the 10th inning of an 11-5 loss to Minnesota.

The 37-year-old Chen is 2-4 with a 7.45 ERA in 13 games this season. He was in the Royals’ rotation when the season began, but went on the 60-day disabled list with a back injury.

The Royals recalled right-hander Louis Coleman from Triple-A Omaha to take Chen’s spot in the bullpen.

Chen won 35 games from 2010-12. He had a 47-43 record with a 4.53 ERA in six seasons with Kansas City.

Chen’s salary for 2014 is $3.25 million, with an option of $5.5 million for next year and a $1 million buyout.

Broncos Find Cuts are Harder to Make This Year

Posted on August 30, 2014

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — It’s a good bet that some of the players who’ll be asked to turn in their playbooks in Denver will be scooped up by other teams this weekend.

The roles were reversed not long ago and the Broncos were the ones scouring the waiver wire to plug holes in their roster.

Then, GM John Elway lured Peyton Manning to Denver in 2012, and together they’ve helped attract several other notable free agents. This year’s class includes DeMarcus Ware, T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib, Marvin Austin and Emmanuel Sanders.

The AFC champs have reached that enviable point in which scores of scouts attend their preseason games to scope out players on the Broncos’ bubble.

Chiefs Turn Attention to Roster, Regular Season

Posted on August 30, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — After four preseason clunkers, the Chiefs know things are about to get real.

General manager John Dorsey and coach Andy Reid were planning to meet Friday to discuss final roster cuts, which are due Saturday afternoon. Then, a chance to sign waived players on Sunday and the start of preparations for the regular-season opener against Tennessee.

Dorsey and Reid have several difficult decisions to make.

They are enamored of all four quarterbacks on their roster, though Reid can’t recall ever keeping that many when he was in Philadelphia. And with suspensions and injuries at wide receiver, the Chiefs could be keeping some around simply out of necessity.

The Bulldogs Split in Hastings

Posted on August 29, 2014

The North Platte Bulldogs split its double header against Omaha Gross and Omaha Skutt in Hastings Thursday.

North Platte played Gross in the first game and came away with a 3-2 win. The Cougars of Omaha Gross struck first with a run in the top of the first inning, but the Lady Dawgs quickly responded by scoring two runs in the bottom half of the first to go up 2-1. Gross tied the game in the second inning with an unearned run. The go-ahead run for North Platte came in the fourth inning. Jenny Keck tripled with one out to get into scoring position. One out later Rachel Kosmacek came to the plate and stroked a double to left-center field to score Keck, who ended up being the winning run. Kosmacek said she knew she could drive in the run.

“I was up to bat, two out, and I just said I can and hit the ball,” Kosmacek said. “Had a really good hit, probably my best hit in a really long time so it felt really good.”

Marisa Ramos led the way for North Platte against Gross. Ramos pitched a complete game to earn the win and gave up just two unearned runs on three hits. She also struck out five batters and walked two. She also added an RBI single at the plate and scored a run. Willow Chitty went 2-3 for the Dawgs with an RBI.

In the second game of the day North Platte lost to Omaha Skutt 5-3. Skutt took the early lead with two runs in the second inning thanks to four straight singles to lead off the inning. The Bulldogs responded by batting through the order and scoring three runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 3-2 lead. The 3-2 score held going into the seventh inning when Omaha Skutt scored to tie the game then two North Platte errors allowed Skutt to take a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. The Lady Dawgs got their first two batters on in the bottom of the seventh but a great double play turned by Skutt second baseman Katie Perkins put a stop to the rally and the third-ranked team in Class B beat North Platte.

Keck pitched the complete game and gave up five runs, two earned, on six hits. She also struck out four batters and walked one. Katie Franzen led the way at the plate by going 2-4 with a run scored.

North Platte is now 2-1 on the season and will next play Saturday at the LPS Classic Tourney in Lincoln. The Dawgs are in a pool with Fremont, Lincoln Southwest and Lincoln Pius X. They play Fremont at 11:00 Saturday morning, Lincoln Southwest at approximately 3:00 pm and Pius X at approximately 5:00 pm. All three games can be heard on ESPN Radio 1410.

No. 22 Cornhuskers Open Against Florida Atlantic

Posted on August 29, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska opens its 125th football season Saturday when Florida Atlantic visits Memorial Stadium.

Coach Bo Pelini says he expects the Cornhuskers to be better on both sides of the ball. He has a second-year starter in quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr., the nation’s top returning rusher in Ameer Abdullah and one of the Big Ten’s best receivers in Kenny Bell.

The Huskers also have what could be one of the conference’s top defensive lines.

Florida Atlantic of Conference USA has a new coach in Charlie Partridge. Partridge takes over after Carl Pelini, Bo’s brother, was forced out with a month left in the 2013 season.

The Huskers were 9-4 last season; Florida Atlantic was 6-6.

Schafer Drives in 4, Twins Top Royals 11-5 in 10th

Posted on August 28, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jordan Schafer tied a career high with four RBIs, including a two-run single in the 10th inning Thursday night as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Kansas City Royals 11-5.

Bruce Chen (2-4), the sixth pitcher for the AL Central-leading Royals, gave up five hits and walked two in the 10th.

Eduardo Nunez singled home the go-ahead run and Brian Dozier added a two-run double. Kurt Suzuki capped the burst with an RBI double, his third hit of the game and second double.

Schafer had three hits and extended his hitting streak to eight games.

Anthony Swarzak (3-1) picked up the victory.

Broncos Top Cowboys 27-3 in Preseason Finale

Posted on August 28, 2014

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Brock Osweiler led four scoring drives in the final tuneup for his third season as Peyton Manning’s backup, and the Denver Broncos beat Dallas 27-3 Thursday night.

The loss gave the Cowboys their fifth winless preseason in franchise history.

With Manning and Dallas’ Tony Romo watching in uniform from the sidelines, Osweiler played an efficient three quarters, directing three possessions that ended in rushing touchdowns.

Romo’s backup Brandon Weeden came out before halftime of his second ragged game in four preseason outings. He threw an interception that led to Denver’s first touchdown.

The Cowboys (0-4) missed the playoffs three of the other four times they didn’t win in the preseason.

Kapri Bibbs rushed for two second-half scores for the Broncos (3-1).