The Creighton Blue Jays ultimately ran out of pitching, and thus ran out of magic. They lost to UCLA 13-5 in the regional final on Sunday night in Los Angeles, ending their surprising run into the NCAA baseball tournament. After falling to the Bruins 3-0 in the opener on Friday night, the Jays survived two elimination games. They pounded San Diego 8-2 on Saturday night, and then eased past New Mexico 7-2 on Sunday afternoon to get into the final. Creighton even struck first against the number two overall national seed with two runs in the first inning. But UCLA struck back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first, and then scored five more in the fourth to put the Jays into a hole they could not climb out of. The Missouri Valley Conference champion Blue Jays end their season with a record of 28-30.

The Husker basketball team secured its second Division I transfer for the 2012 recruiting class. 6’10” forward Walter Pitchford has committed to the Huskers after visiting over the weekend. Pitchford appeared in 13 games for Florida as a true freshman last season, but opted to transfer so that he could be closer to his sick grandfather in Michigan. The Grand Rapids native was a three-star prospect out of high school. His commitment is the fourth that new head coach Tim Miles has secured this summer, with one scholarship still remaining.

Before their victory on Sunday afternoon, the Colorado Rockies placed pitcher Juan Nicasio on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left knee. Nicasio suffered the injury while trying to avoid a comebacker in the second inning of Saturday night’s game. The young right-hander is 2-3 with a 5.28 ERA this season. Guillermo Moscoso, who went 0-2 in a pair of starts with the Rockies earlier this season, was recalled from AAA Colorado Springs to replace Nicasio on the roster, and likely on the rotation.

Carlos Gonzalez set the tone with a piece of baseball history in the Colorado Rockies’ 11-5 win over the Houston Astros at Coors Field. After hitting three home runs in last night’s victory, Gonzalez hit a three-run jack in the first inning of last night’s game, giving him four consecutive at-bats with a home run. He’s the 38^th player in Major League Baseball history to accomplish that feat. The Rockies also got a home run from Marco Scutaro and a three-RBI night from Michael Cuddyer to back Jeremy Guthrie, who worked seven innings to earn his first Coors Field win. The victory is Colorado’s fourth straight, and gave them their first series sweep of the season. The Rockies open a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight in Denver. ESPN Radio 1410 has the action, with pregame coverage starting at 7:05 and the first pitch at 7:40.

With two scholarships left to hand out for his 2012-2013 recruiting class, Tim Miles remains on the hunt for players to bolster the Husker men’s basketball team. The Huskers are expected to get a visit from 6’10” forward Walter Pitchford, who is transferring from Florida after appearing in 13 games as a freshman this past season. Pitchford was rated a three-star prospect out of Summit Christian Academy prep school in East Lansing, Michigan. He would have to sit out the 2012-2013 season, per NCAA transfer rules.

The Creighton Blue Jays shocked the Missouri Valley Conference by sweeping to a tournament championship as the lowest seed in the field. Now, as the second-lowest seed in the 64-team NCAA tournament field, they’ll look to keep the magic going. Creighton (26-28) opens tournament play tonight when they take on the second overall national seed, UCLA (42-14), in Los Angeles. The Jays are expected to start their ace pitcher, lefty Ty Blach. UCLA is projected to counter with righty Adam Plutko. First pitch is scheduled for 9 PM.

Before Thursday night’s game, the Colorado Rockies placed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin. Tulowitzki had been dealing with nagging leg injuries all season, and aggravated the groin running out a ground ball in the seventh inning of Wednesday night’s game. The two-time All Star is batting .287 with eight home runs and 27 RBI this season. He had hit safely in his last nine games with a .389 average before the injury.

(From the University of Nebraska Athletic Department – by Hilary Winter)

A total of 87 Nebraska student-athletes were recognized on Thursday as Academic All-Big Ten recipients. The list of honored Nebraska student-athletes includes 17 baseball players, six men’s golf student-athletes, three men’s tennis players, 10 softball student-athletes, four members of the Huskers’ women’s bowling team, two women’s golf student-athletes, four members of the women’s rifle team, seven women’s tennis athletes and 34 members of the Huskers’ track and field team.

To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

Among the total group of 1,154 student-athletes honored by the Big Ten Conference, at least 19 of those student-athletes have maintained unblemished cumulative grade-point averages. Nebraska boasts four of those student-athletes in Sam Stucky (Sr., Baseball, Agricultural Economics), Cami Jiskra (Gr., Track and Field, Criminology & Criminal Justice), Anne Martin (Jr., Track and Field, Elementary Education) and Katie White (Sr., Track and Field, Nutrition Science,). Stucky was the only baseball student-athlete with a perfect GPA, while Jiskra, Martin and White make up three of 12 track and field athletes.

Carlos Gonzalez homered three times, and Michael Cuddyer and Dexter Fowler also left the building as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Houston Astros 13-5 at Coors Field last night. It’s the third straight win for the Rockies, the first time they’ve done that since April 20. Cuddyer got things started for the Rockies with a grand-slam in the first inning. After the Astros battled back to tie the score at 5, Gonzalez homered to lead off the fifth. Fowler’s three-run homer and Gonzalez’s two-run jack highlighted a six-run sixth inning that broke the game open. CarGo’s third homer was a solo shot in the eighth inning. The Rockies and Astros wrap up their four-game series in Denver tonight, with the Rockies going for their first sweep of the season. ESPN Radio 1410 has all the action, with pregame coverage starting at 7:05 and the first pitch at 7:40.

The North Platte First Nationals seniors swept a doubleheader from visiting Norfolk at Bill Wood Field last night. In the opener, the First Nationals scored early and often and Kade Folchert allowed just two unearned runs in a 19-2 rout. The nightcap saw the hit parade continue as the seniors won by an 11-1 tally. The sweep moves the First Nationals to 7-4 on the season. They play a double-dip at Laramie, Wyoming on Friday.