“We are ready to shock the world.” That’s Taylor Martinez’s outlook as he and his Nebraska teammates prepare this week to head to Madison to take on Wisconsin. While the eighth ranked team in the country beating the seventh ranked team wouldn’t typically be considered earth-shattering, the dominance of the Badgers through their first four games, coupled with some shaky spurts in Nebraska’s first four, have the home team the heavy favorite in the first conference game of the season. For the Huskers, getting their full defense together on the field healthy for the first time could be a boost. Bo Pelini said at his press conference yesterday that Jared Crick would practice all week and play Saturday after missing last week’s game. Crick sat out as cornerback Alfonzo Dennard played for the first time after his injury.

Jhoulys Chacin still has a long way to go before he can be considered the ace of the Colorado Rockies staff, but last night, even in a losing effort, he offered something positive to take with him into next season. Chacin threw seven strong innings in his last start of 2011, but it wasn’t enough in a 3-1 Rockies loss at San Francisco. The 23 year-old right-hander allowed two runs on eight hits, striking out three and walking just one. He finishes the season with an 11-14 record and 3.62 ERA. Offense was once again hard to come by for the Rockies, with Mark Ellis’ RBI single in the top of the eighth inning producing their only run. With two more games left for the Rockies, one more loss would ensure them their worst season since 2005. The Rockies and Giants play again tonight in San Francisco, with first pitch at 9:15.

By Hilary Winter, University of Nebraska Media Relations

Lincoln- Junior Gina Mancuso was named Co-Big Ten Player-of-the-Week for the first time in 2011 on Monday after leading Nebraska to wins over two top-25 opponents, No. 5 Penn State (3-2) and No. 24 Ohio State (3-1), last week.

Mancuso averaged 3.7 kills per set with a .319 hitting percentage, along with 1.6 digs and 0.4 blocks per set in the Huskers’ back-to-back wins. She recorded a double-double against the Nittany Lions with 22 kills and 10 digs, marking the fifth double-double of her career. She also tied her career-high mark for attacks against Penn State.

The honor marks the first conference player-of-the-week award for Mancuso and makes her the first Nebraska volleyball player to earn a Big Ten weekly award. She is averaging 3.82 kills per set and 2.46 digs per set in her junior season, while leading all NU hitters in kills. Her efforts have helped NU to a 9-1 record on the season, while starting 2-0 in conference play.

The Huskers hit the road this weekend for matches at Michigan State on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. and at Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. Nebraska’s match with the Wolverines will air via tape delay on ESPN2 on Oct. 2 at 1:30 p.m.

Another victory earned Nebraska another spot in the AP and USA Today Coaches’ Top 25 polls. The Huskers moved up to the eighth spot in both polls after Saturday night’s 38-14 victory at Wyoming. Led by Rex Burkhead’s career-high 170 rushing yards and two touchdowns, the Huskers eased to the win in the second half in their first road game of the season and will enter Big Ten Conference play unbeaten. So, too, will their first ever opponent in their new conference. The Wisconsin Badgers also rolled to a 4-0 non-conference record and are ranked seventh in both major polls. Next weeks clash in Madison promises to be the marquee game on the college football schedule for the week. ESPN’s televised College Gameday program will be live from Camp Randall Stadium before Saturday night’s kickoff.

In a season that has been historic for many of the wrong reasons, the Colorado Rockies made some positive franchise history yesterday. The Rockies banged out a franchise single-game record 25 hits in a 19-3 win over the Houston Astros in Houston. Kevin Kouzmanoff hit two home runs and drove in five runs, and Chris Iannetta homered and added five RBI of his own to lead the Rockies attack. Kevin Millwood pitched seven innings of three hit ball to earn the victory, and also added to the offensive onslaught with his second homer of the season. The Rockies conclude their season with a three-game series in San Francisco against the Giants, needing to win one game to avoid a 90 loss season. ESPN Radio 1410 has game one of the series tonight, with pregame coverage at 8:30 and the first pitch at 9:15.

Nebraska opens the road portion of their 2011 schedule tomorrow night at an overflowing War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming. The ninth-ranked Huskers are making their first ever trip to Wyoming. Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini wants to make sure his team respects the 3-0 Cowboys in their final non-conference game. “Any game is trap game,” Pelini said. “You have to be ready to roll anytime you go out there and play. It’s not like we don’t have any room for improvement. We have a long ways to go as a team and I think our kids understand that. We practiced well this week and our approach doesn’t change. I don’t care who we play. Trust me, there’s no looking back or looking ahead. We talk about that every day in our program. “ Pelini said that cornerback Alfonzo Dennard will play, but may not start, while defensive tackle Jared Crick is questionable to play.