SPORTS HEADLINES FROM THE
KBRX SPORTS CENTER

O'Neill Irish Legion Teams nearing Area Tournaments

Little League Consolation and Championship Postponed

New Nebraska JV Football Team Kids Club Introduced

(7/02/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The fields are being filled for area Legion Baseball playoffs.

Nothing official has come from the Lincoln office, but thus the O'Neill Irish Juniors appear to have the Ord Chanticleers to open the tournament on July 16th in Central City.

If records hold true, Aurora would play Albion at noon on that Wednesday, followed by a Wayne and Pierce match-up at 2:30PM, and placing St. Paul and Central City as the night cap at 7:30PM.

As far as the O'Neill Irish Seniors are concerned, they look to be a five seed drawing the four seed in the St. Paul Wildcats in an early evening contest.

The Class B Area Five Senior Tournament is scheduled to begin on July 22nd in Albion.

Again, the unofficial pairings would be Pierce playing Albion on the 22nd as a Bunny Bracket game.

The tournament continues on the 23rd with Aurora against Ord at 11:30AM, Harvard-Giltner against Wayne at 2PM, then O'Neill and St. Paul at 5:30PM with Central City against the winner of the Pierce/Albion game at 8PM.

Both tournaments are double-elimination and again these brackets are unofficial at this time.

(7/02/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The Little League consolation and championship games that were to be held Wednesday, July 2 have been postponed until Monday, July 7 due to rain in O'Neill. The consolation game between the O'Neill A's and the O'Neill White Sox will be at 6 pm with the championship game betweem Ewing and West Boyd will be at 8 pm. Both games will be broadcast live on KBRX 102.9 FM and on the internet at KBRX.com

(7/03/08) LINCOLN, NE -- The Nebraska Athletic Department is proud to introduce the Nebraska JV Football Team – the official kids club of the Husker football team. This new club is a fun way for kids to be involved with the football program and share in their collegiate athletic and academic careers.

The club is open to all children entering eighth grade and below, and features great benefits, including a T-shirt, gift packages at the beginning and end of the football season, e-newsletters, free admission to the Spring Game and more.  Each month’s

e-newsletter will include special inside-the-team updates and position features, written by the players themselves, along with puzzles, trivia, and a chance to have individual questions answered by select players. Annual club membership is $25 per child. 

Enroll your children, grandchildren, relatives or family friends now by printing the registration form and mailing it to the Nebraska JV Football Team, c/o Nebraska Athletic Communications, One Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, NE 68588-0154 with your check for the annual fee.

If you have any additional questions about the Team, please e-mail jvfootball@huskers.com or call Kiley at (402) 472-0795.

(thanks University of Nebraska)

(7/02/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Pony League Tournament action continued on Tuesday night with two games at Dan Putnam Field in O’Neill. 

In the 6:00 P.M. elimination game, Ainsworth picked up a 7-5 win over Atkinson behind a complete game from pitcher Derek White.  The left-hander scattered 7 hits, struck out 9, and was aided by a rare 7-3 double play that silenced an Atkinson rally in the 7th.  Nathan Kakemaster had a 2 run single in the 4th to lead the Ainsworth offense.  Lead-off hitter Tanner Osborne led the Atkinson offense by going 2-4 with a run scored. 

In the night cap, Royals pitcher Jordyn Barrett struck out 17 batters as the O’Neill team out lasted Bassett-Stuart by a score of 6-3.  He allowed 5 hits, walked 6, and gave up only 1 earned run.  Bassett-Stuart had solid pitching as well, highlighted by a stellar relief effort from TJ Sell.  He came on in the sixth and struck all six men he faced, using only 23 pitches to do so.  Michael Hedlund led the Royals offense by going 2/3 and driving in 3 runs.  The Royals were retired in order in four of their seven at bats but made the most of their other opportunities. They left only 2 runners on base for the contest while Bassett-Stuart stranded 7. 

Play resumes Thursday with two games.  The 6:00 P.M. elimination game pits Ainsworth against the O’Neill Sand Gnats.  The 8:00 P.M. winners bracket final has the Royals playing the O’Neill Indians. 

(thanks Gary Hostert)

(7/02/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The O’Neill Heat 14-under softball team completed a busy weekend as the runner-up in the 19-team District Tournament held here in O’Neill. The Heat played seven games on Saturday and Sunday, finishing with a record of 5-2.

They first game saw the Heat facing the Pierce Pacers. They started slowly, falling behind 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning. They rallied in the bottom half, however, by scoring four runs. Rachel Price, Kelsey Appleby, Jill Wallmer and Heidi Hostert all scored, with Appleby supplying a key single. The Heat added two more runs in the fifth and three in the 6th as Katie Danielson and Steph Nemec both walked and Alex Hedlund drove a double to left center. Price pitched a complete game, striking out nine Pacers and walking only two for the 9-2 win.

Next up for the Heat was Crofton. Hedlund started the game with a bunt single, stole second and was sacrificed to third. She then stole home to score the games’ first run. The Heat defense then shut down Crofton allowing only two runners to reach second base during the first four innings. Price pitched a complete game no-hitter, giving up two walks along the way. Offensively, Alex Hedlund had three hits and Hostert, Alyssa Sobotka, Kelcey Ross, Katie Danielson and Rachel Schacht had a hit apiece. Sobotka, Danielson and Schacht all had RBI’s. Defensively, Molly Shane had key put-outs in the second and fourth innings, as the Heat won 9-1.

The final game on Saturday did not turn out as well for the Heat and they lost to eventual champ Battle Creek 9-1. Hedlund and Kelsey Appleby collected the only two hits for the Heat.

On Sunday the Heat faced having to win three straight games to get back to the championship. First up was Winside, and the Heat came away 9-4 winners. The offense started hot and stayed that way throughout the game as Hostert and Ross both collected two hits and Sobotka also came in as a pinch hitter and delivered. Alex Hedlund missed hitting for the cycle due to a great catch in right, as she had a single, double and triple. Hedlund and Price shared the pitching duties, giving up only four hits, striking out 12 and walking three.

Atkinson was up next and the Heat kept the offense rolling by starting the game with a triple by Hedlund and a great two-out hit from Hostert. The Heat collected a total of 10 hits in the game with Price getting two and Wallmer, Schacht collecting one each. Steph Nemec also delivered a key double leading off the sixth. Defensively, the Heat held Atkinson to three singles. Lindsey Appleby played error free at first, recording 12 putouts. Price pitched the complete game striking out 11 and walking three.

The Heat then met Hartington and came away with a decisive 19-2 victory. Lindsey Appleby collected two hits and two RBI’s and Katie Danielson had a solid RBI double.

That put the Heat back in the championship again facing Battle Creek. The second game proved to be a mirror of the first, as Battle Creek defeated the Heat 12-1. The lone run was scored by Molly Shane in the bottom of the sixth.

The Heat will now move on to the Class C state tournament on July 11-13 in Auburn, NE.

(thanks Chuck Price)

(7/02/08) LINCOLN, NE – Following record-setting junior seasons, senior I-back Marlon Lucky and senior quarterback Joe Ganz have been named to watch lists for prestigious college football awards. Lucky has been named to the 2008 Maxwell Award watch list, which is given annually to the nation’s top player by the Maxwell Football Club. Ganz has been named to the watch list for the Jonny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the nation’s top senior quarterback.

Lucky is coming off a stellar junior campaign when he averaged 84.9 yards per game on the ground and produced the first 1,000-yard rushing season of his career at Nebraska. The North Hollywood, Calif., native was a true dual threat out of the backfield, hauling in a single-season school-record 75 passes for 705 yards, the most catches by a running back in the nation in 2007. The second-team All-Big 12 honoree amassed 1,743 all-purpose yards in 2007. It was the most yards by any player in 10 years at Nebraska and the seventh-best total in school history.

Lucky was at the top of his game late in the season, topping 100 all-purpose yards in each of the final five games. He ran 24 times for 111 yards and caught six passes on the road at Texas. Against No. 8 Kansas, Lucky caught six passes for 83 yards, including a career-long 62-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. He again caught six passes against Kansas State, including a touchdown, and also posted his fifth 100-yard rushing effort with 103 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns in the rout of the Wildcats. Lucky closed the year with 184 all-purpose yards at Colorado, rushing for 69 yards and a touchdown while catching eight passes for 115 yards.

After serving as a back-up to Sam Keller over the first eight games, Ganz was inserted in the Texas game following a shoulder injury to Keller late in the game. Quickly, Ganz lead the Huskers to a touchdown and converted a two-point conversion to pull the Huskers within three points in a 28-25 loss in Austin.

Ganz went on to start the final three games of the year against Kansas, Kansas State and Colorado. Ganz threw for more than 400 yards in all three games and produced three of the top five single-game passing records. For the year, Ganz connected on 58.6 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,453 yards and 16 touchdowns. Ganz rushed for 93 yards on 20 carries with three touchdowns.

Ganz’s 15 touchdowns in the final three games were a school record as he guided the Husker offensive assault to an average of 598.7 total yards per game. His top game came against the Wildcats of Kansas State in the Huskers’ final home game of the 2007 season. Ganz competed 30-of-40 passes for a school-record 510 yards while connecting on a school-record seven touchdowns. With the addition of 18 yards on the ground, Ganz produced the top day in school history for total yards with 528.

Nebraska has had one winner of both the Maxwell Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Mike Rozier won the Maxwell Award in 1983 after rushing for a school-record 2,148 yards. Rozier also collected the Heisman Trophy and Walter Camp Award in 1983. Tommie Frazier was the Golden Arm Award recipient in 1995 after a season that included 92 completions on 163 attempts for 1,362 yards and 17 touchdowns in the air. Frazier added another 604 yards on the ground on 97 carries with 14 touchdowns.

(thanks University of Nebraska)

(7/01/08) KBRX SPORTS -- When it comes time for playoffs in any sport, most coaches say "win and move on." That is just what Nick Meusch did on Monday at Meadow Lark Hills in Kearney.

Meusch, of Atkinson and the son of Kevin and Crystal Meusch, competed in the Nebraska Junior PGA qualifier in Kearney on Monday, and although he admitted to not playing his best golf, his round of 88 was good enough for a third place finish and a trip to Omaha.

Meusch said that he had not touched a club in eight days due to some other commitments, but third place puts him in the sectional at Stone Creek in Omaha on July 22nd and 23rd.

(7/01/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The Elkhorn Valley Pony League opened their tournament on Monday June 30th in a six team double-elimination bracket and the Indians, Royals, and Bassett/Stuart rolled on in the winner's bracket.

In the opening round and three sites on Monday, the O'Neill Indians got the best of Atkinson 13-to-three, while the O'Neill Royals defeated Ainsworth 14-to-four. The game of the day was Bassett/Stuart and the O'Neill Sand Gnats. Tied at three most of the way, Bassett/Stuart would push across the winning run in the 7th for a four-to-three win.

The tournament continues on Tuesday as Atkinson duals Ainsworth in an elimination game at 6PM, followed by a winner's bracket game between Bassett/Stuart and the O'Neill Royals at 8PM. Both games will be played in O'Neill.

The O'Neill Indians have a bye to Thursday the 3rd in the Winner's Bracket while the O'Neill Sand Gnats get a bye in the Loser's Bracket.

(7/01/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Will McCabe and Terry Laursen are both seniors-to-be at O'Neill High School, both returning football starters and are both in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Well believe it or not those three things are related if you figure in the Pigskin Classic coming up in Honolulu, Hawaii, July 1st through the 8th.

The trip includes a traditional Hawaiian Lei Greeting, exploring the Waikiki Beach area, Sightseeing Tour, the Evening Hawaiian Olympics, a Polynesian Show and Dinner, and King's Jubilee at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Oh yeah, they will play some football too.

The two will join a team from Nebraska and Montana to compete on two different days plus practices, camps and drills.

The classic is put on by ESI (Elite Sports International).

ESI is a sports organization whose sole purpose is to offer high school athletes and college coaches the opportunity to travel to some of the world's most exciting destinations while at the same time participating in the game they love.

The ESI management team has a combined 36 years experience in the international sports and recruiting industry. They have traveled with thousands of athletes just like you to England, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Hawaii.

(7/01/08) Lincoln – Nebraska volleyball star Sarah Pavan was recognized for her athletic and academic success on Friday, when she was named the Big 12 Conference Female Athlete of the Year for 2007-08.

Pavan, one of four Husker volleyball players to earn conference female athlete-of-the-year honors, is the first Husker student-athlete in history to win the award twice, and just the second athlete in Big 12 history to be a multiple honoree, joining former Texas softball player Cat Osterman.

Other Husker winners of the conference female athlete-of-the-year accolades include Greichaly Cepero (2001), Virginia Stahr (1989) and Annie Adamczak (1985) in receiving an honor that dates back more than two decades.

Pavan, who also won the award in 2006-07, wrapped up one the most decorated volleyball careers in NCAA history. In 2007, she was named Volleyball Magazine National Player of the Year, AVCA First-Team All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year, capturing the Big 12 honor for the third straight year. The senior right-side hitter led NU to its fourth-straight Big 12 title with a 19-1 league record and a 30-2 overall mark with a trip to the NCAA Regional final, where she was named to the all-tournament team.

Other career honors include the 2006-07 Honda-Broderick Cup winner and AVCA National Player of the Year. One of only four athletes in NCAA history to be a four-time first-team All-American, Pavan guided the Huskers to a 126-7 record over her career with two NCAA finals appearances and the 2006 national title. Pavan holds Nebraska school records for career kills (2,008) and kills per game (4.56).

In addition to her athletic accomplishments, the Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, native graduated in May with a 4.0 grade-point average in biochemistry. She was selected as a 2008 NCAA Today’s Top VIII Award winner and earned a 2008 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Pavan was named ESPN The Magazine’s Volleyball Academic All-American of the Year in both 2006 and 2007 and was the winner across all University division sports in 2006-07.

Pavan, who will play volleyball professionally in Italy beginning this fall, was also active in community service projects during her career. She was a spokesperson for the Lincoln Downs Syndrome Buddy Walk, a SafeQuarters to Benefit Friendship Home volunteer and a motivational speaker for the “School is Cool” Celebration.

Other female candidates were Zuzana Zemenova (Baylor tennis), Lisa Knoll (Iowa State track), Elizaveta Avdeeva (Kansas tennis), Loren Groves (Kansas State track), Adrianne Perry (Missouri gymnastics), Kiara Redmond-Sturms (Oklahoma gymnastics), Pernilla Lindberg (Oklahoma State golf), Mary Yarrison (Texas diving), Megan Gibson (Texas A&M softball) and Sally Kipyego (Texas Tech cross country and track).

Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel claimed the Big 12 Conference Male Athlete-of-the-Year award. Daniel finished fourth in Heisman Trophy balloting while leading MU to its first-ever appearance in the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game. The junior was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien, Walter Camp and Manning awards. 

Male nominees included Lars Poerschke (Baylor tennis), Brent Vaughn (Colorado cross country and track), Chris Baker (Iowa State golf), Egor Agafonov (Kansas track), Michael Beasley (Kansas State basketball), Dusty Jonas (Nebraska track), Curtis Lofton (Oklahoma football), Rickie Fowler (Oklahoma State golf), Leonel Manzano (Texas track), Ozzie Gardner (Texas A&M swimming), Graham Harrell (Texas Tech football).                                                             

(thanks University of Nebraska)

(6/30/08) KBRX SPORTS -- While the swim trials for the Olympics are under the assault of Michael Phelps, Hattie Blumenstock was tearing up the pool at Ford Park in O'Neill on Saturday.

The Blue Dolphin Swim Team invited 10 other teams to their 2008 Invitational Swimming Meet on Saturday, and Hattie Blumenstock ruled over the 10 and under girls events.

Blumenstock won the 100 Yard Individual Medley, the 50 Yard Backstroke, the 50 Yard Butterfly, and the 50 Yard Freestyle.

O'Neill would also get wins from Kylie Shoemaker in the Girls 13-14 100 Yard Freestyle, from Mark Vavra in the 13-14 100 Yard Backstroke, from Ethan Shoemaker in the Boys 6 and Under 25 Yard Breaststroke, along with several wins from the relay events.

(6/30/08) KBRX SPORTS -- O'Neill has now been named as a host site for the 2008 Amateur Baseball Class B Regionals.

O'Neill is just one of five sites across the state that will be hosting Regional Tournaments for Class B. Other sites include Cairo, Chadron, Sidney, and Tekamaha with the Class B State Tournament slated for Wakefield.

Teams in the tournament will include Tilden, Stanton, Hartington-Fordyce, Randolph, Pierce and O'Neill.

The tournament will run from Friday August 8th to Sunday August 10th.

(6/29/08) CRETE, NE -- Nebraska's running game lost power when it was needed in the final three quarters Saturday night of a 31-14 loss to Kansas in the first eight-man football all-star game between the states.

The visitors stopped Nebraska on downs three times in their territory in the second half, once at the Kansas 6, and gave up only 130 yards after falling behind 14-8 in the first quarter.

Both Nebraska touchdowns came from Taylor Dixon, who was Wauneta-Palisade's quarterback but played running back in this game. Chosen as the most valuable player on offense for Nebraska, he had 92 yards on his first 11 carries but netted 32 yards with his final 16 attempts.

An estimated 750 attended the game on a pleasantly cool summer evening at Doane College's Simon Field. Except for the clock, the scoreboard was malfunctioning in an apparent victim of recent storms.

Kansas offensive MVP Jeff Hennick, a quarterback from Wallace County, was responsible for the 15 points in the second quarter that gave Kansas its 23-14 halftime lead. From a variety of formations, he threw touchdown passes of 4 yards to Aaron Ward of Jetmore and 15 to Eric White of Greensburg. He also made a 42-yard field goal to end the first half.

In his state's all-star game earlier in the month, Hennick had thrown for 200 yards in a MVP performance.

Defensive MVPs in Saturday's game were Justin Swedburg of Axtell for Nebraska and Ethan Kuhlmann of West Smith County, a University of Nebraska at Kearney recruit, for Kansas.

The Kansans proved a superior opponent for the Pinnacle Bank-sponsored game than Oklahoma, which ended its all-star partnership with Nebraska after poundings in 2005 and 2006. Nebraska will play a return game next summer in Kansas.

Nebraska in the second half got to the Kansas 27 before Kaleb Schankie and Randall Irving turned back Dixon for a 3-yard loss, to the 6 before Layton Hickel stopped Kyle Novak of Bancroft-Rosalie for no gain and to the 46 before Kuhlmann stopped Winside quarterback Jordan Brummels for no gain.

Kansas scored an insurance touchdown on a 29-yard interception return by Kellan Tegtmeier from Hanover in the final two minutes.

Nebraska quarterbacks Brummels and Bryson Mahlberg of Elwood threw for only 27 yards. Jared Larson of Mead had 76 yards on eight carries while spelling Dixon. Hennick was 11 of 19 for 109 yards.

(thanks Omaha.com)

(6/29/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The Nebraska High School Rodeo finals concluded on Saturday in Hastings. And from the KBRX area a number of cowboys and cowgirls have qualified for the High School National Finals Rodeo which will be held July 20-26 at Farmington, New Mexico.

The Top 4 in each event qualify for Nationals.

Here's who qualified for the National Finals from our area:

Bareback Riding - Whitten Hoover, Ainsworth finished as Nebraska High School Champion

Pole Bending - Katie Kaup, Stuart Finished as runner-up

Steer Wrestling - ALTERNATE Russell Hipke, Stuart Finished in 5th Place

Team Roping - Austin Barstow, Springview and Rhyder Nelson, Doniphan fiished as State Champions.

Barrel Race - Shalee Lemmon, Amelia Finished in 4th place

Bull Riding - Whitten Hoover, Ainsworth Finished in 3rd place.

(6/27/08) NEW YORK, NY (AP) -- The graduating class of a suburban New York City middle school got an unexpected surprise tucked inside their diplomas, signed baseball cards from Joba Chamberlain.

The cards were a thank-you from the Yankee pitcher for the charity work the eight-graders at Pleansantville Middle School performed all year.

The students didn't even know Chamberlain knew about their project, collecting and donating books to the Winnebago Indian reservation in northern Nebraska. Joba is a member of the 2,600-person tribe.

The school's principal read a letter from Chamberlain at the Thursday night ceremony, but didn't reveal it was from him until the end.

Chamberlain pitched for the University of Nebraska before being drafted by the Yankees in 2008.

(6/27/08) Lincoln – Three major in-season tournaments and potentially 15 matches against NCAA Tournament teams highlight the 2008 Nebraska volleyball schedule released Wednesday.

The Huskers, who return four starters from a team that went 30-2 and reached its fourth straight NCAA Regional final, will be tested by one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2008. NU will face 2007 national semifinalists Stanford and USC on the strong docket in addition to a Big 12 slate that saw six teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament last season.

Season-ticket renewals were mailed out in May and include tickets for the Devaney Center match against LSU.Single-game tickets for all home matches will go on sale on Tuesday, Aug. 5, on Huskers.com and at the Nebraska Ticket Office, while tickets for the Runza/AVCA Showcase and the NCAA Championships are on sale now at all Ticketmaster outlets and on Ticketmaster.com.

According to Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook, the early season tests will help the Huskers prepare for the rigors of Big 12 Conference action.
"The way we look at our non-conference schedule is that it is a great motivation for our team to work hard and be prepared during the summer," Cook said. "When you go to Kansas State and host Texas in the first week of conference, you need to already be tested, and this schedule does a great job for us."

The 2008 season begins in Omaha, as the Huskers open the year at the Runza/AVCA Showcase at the Qwest Center in Omaha. NU will face NCAA runner-up Stanford in the season opener on Aug. 29 before facing national semifinalist USC on Sunday, Aug. 31. There will be no rest of the Huskers, as they wrap up the opening weekend of the year with a Labor Day match against Oral Roberts at the NU Coliseum.
The following weekend, the Huskers head on the road for a non-conference tournament for the first time since the 2005 season, as they travel to San Luis Obispo for the Cal Poly Invitational. That weekend, they will face the host Mustangs, who won 23 matches and advanced to an NCAA Regional in 2007, a Tulane squad that went 28-6 last year and Northeastern.

The Huskers’ final tournament before the start of Big 12 play will be the following weekend with the fourth-annual Ameritas Players Challenge. The opening night of the tournament will be at the Devaney Center where regional finalist St. John’s will face New Mexico at 4:30 p.m. before the Huskers take on an LSU squad that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the nightcap. The two winners will meet the following evening in the championship match at the NU Coliseum.

Nebraska opens Big 12 action on Wednesday, Sept. 17, as the Huskers travel to Kansas State for its conference opener.NU begins the home portion of its league slate on Saturday, Sept. 20, by welcoming a Texas squad that shared the Big 12 title with Nebraska in 2007. In all the Big 12 had three teams (Nebraska, Texas and Iowa State) reach the NCAA Regionals a year ago.

The Huskers will step out of non-conference play one more time on Sunday, Oct. 5, as they travel to the Qwest Center to take on the Creighton Bluejays. Tickets for that match can be purchased at Ticketmaster outlets.

Nebraska returns four starters from its Big 12 championship team, including senior outside hitter Jordan Larson, middle blocker Kori Cooper, defensive specialist Rachel Schwartz and libero Kayla Banwarth. In addition, Nebraska’s recruiting class for this season is ranked among the nation’s top incoming classes and features Utah transfer Sydney Anderson and Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selections Jordan Haverly, Kaitlynn James and Allison McNeal.

(thanks Univeristy of Nebraska)

(6/26/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Little League Semi-Finals cranked up around the Elkhorn Valley League on Wednesday and it proved to be a dandy round of baseball.

The undeafted and top seeded O'Neill White Soxs host the Ewing Tigers and this game proved to be a dandy.

Ewing would jump on the Soxs early with runs scored by Trevor Brummels, Ben Ramold and Blake Cunningham as they plated three in top half of the first inning.

The White Soxs would never lead this game but would push the contest into a five-all tie in the bottom of the fifth.

Ewing would ring the bell for the last time in the top of the sixth when Alex Thramer would score the winning run.

Blake Cunningham would put the final touches on from the hill working a two-out double by Jared Wheeler to close the contest in a six-to-five Ewing win.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the card West Boyd would post a five-to-one win over the O'Neill A's.

This sets up the Consolation and Championship Game on Wednesday July 2nd with the O'Neill A's taking on the O'Neill White Soxs at 6PM and West Boyd squaring off with Ewing for the Championships at 8PM.

Both games will be played on Tom Early Field at the Schaffer Complex in north O'Neill.

(6/26/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Just days after an early exit for the 2008 Nebraska Men's Match Play Championship, O'Neill golfer John Hurley has bounced back.

Ok so may a 7-under, 137 is a bit better than a "bounce back."

Hurley flat tore up the Willow Lakes Links at Bellevue on Wednesday.

With the win he will qualify for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, which begins July 14 at Murphy Creek in Aurora, Colorado.

New state match-play champion Brandon Crick of McCook finished one stroke behind Hurley as the first alternate. Chris Rager of South Sioux City shot a 142 and is the second alternate.

(6/26/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Two football camps will hosted by the O’Neill High Football Coaching staff at O’Neill High School on July 21st through the 24th, 2008.

Boys entering grades 5th to 8th will have a skills camp each day from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. For boys entering the 9th through 12th grades, camp will be held from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. each night.

Registration forms can be picked up at OHS in the weight-room, outside of the high school office, or from Coach Hunt.

Camp tuition is $30.00 per camper, and you can make your checks payable to O'Neill Public Schools. The tuition must accompany the completed registration form.

Each camper will receive a camp t-shirt. Proceeds from the camp will be donated to the Eagle Football Program.

Forms and fee needs to be completed and returned by July 9th.

Drop-off registration at the high school or mail to:
Mark Hunk
O'Neill Public High School
ATTN: O'Neill Football Camp
POB 230
O'Neill, NE 68763

(6/26/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The Atkinson-Stuart Country Club will host a Junior Open Golf Tournament on Thursday July 10th.

The tournament will be open to all boys and girls ages 10 to 17 in three age divisions.

Ten to 12 year-olds will play 9 holes and the cost of the round is $10.

Ages 13-and-14, and ages 15-to-17 will play 18 holes with the cost of the round at $20.

For more information call Coach Todd Hale at (402) 925-2368. To register call the club at 925-5330.

(6/25/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Well if you are looking for something to do in the O'Neill area, you are not going to have to look to hard this weekend.

If you head to the south part of town, you will find 19 softball teams busy at Carney Park in the Class C 14-and-Under Softball District. Teams from O'Neill, Creighton, Atkinson/Stuart, Ainsworth and many others will begin play on Friday with the finals to run on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, on the north side of town, the O'Neill Junior Legion Baseball Tournament opens on Saturday. Games begin at 12:30PM on Saturday as Columbus, Creighton, Valentine and O'Neill will all be in action for two days.

If you happen to perfer water to dirt, don't miss the O'Neill Blue Dolhpins as the host their swimming meet for the 2008 season. Teams from all over southern South Dakota, along with O'Neill's team will converge on the pool at Ford Park with swimming to begin at 9:30AM.

If that does not wet your whistle, remember that there are alumni events going on for both schools, while the Women's Health Conference goes on Friday, and Cruise night is scheduled for Friday night following a ribbon cutting for the new lights downtown.

Can you say "hot time in the big city?"

(6/25/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Are you ready for some football?

Yes, it seems odd to say the phrase in June, but not so much for a handful of area gridiron giants, as the Nebraska/Kansas 8-Man All Star Game comes to Doane College on Saturday June 28th.

This game two years ago, was the Nebraska/Oklahoma 8 Man All-Star game, but this year returns as the best in the Cornhusker state hook up with the best the Jayhawk state has to offer.

Among the area talent making the trip, include Jason Cameron from Chambers, Jay Reicks from Pope John, Brad Dvorak from Stuart, Brock Brewster from West Boyd, and Bradley Wright from Ewing.

You will also recognize a couple of familair faces on the sidelines as Bill Mimick of Newman Grove will be a co-head coach for the Nebraska squad,
while Ron Brummels, most recently of the Clearwater Cardinals will be on the assistant coaching roster.

The game kicks off at 7:00PM from Doane College in Crete and is sponsored by Pinnacle Bank, Cricket Sports and the Nebraska Eight-Man Coaches Association.

(6/25/08) OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Coaches say it's the people that make the College World Series, not the venue.

So although there's sentimental attachment to 60-year-old Rosenblatt Stadium, there's much excitement about the 2011 move to a downtown stadium.

Coaches say Omahans' strong support for the CWS is what makes the event special.

Florida State's Mike Martin says it's exciting to think about a modern stadium, even though there's nothing wrong with Rosenblatt.

The NCAA and city leaders recently signed a 25-year contract that keeps the CWS in Omaha through 2035.

An artist rendition of the new stadium was on display at Rosenblatt. Miami coach Jim Morris says he likes what he's seen.

(6/24/08) KBRX SPORTS -- O'Neill has now been named as a host site for the 2008 Ametuer Baseball Class B Regionals.

O'Neill is just one of five sites across the state that will be hosting Regional Tournaments for Class B. Other sites include Cario, Chadron, Sidney, and Tekamaha with the Class B State Tournament slated for Wakefield.

The tournament will run from Friday August 8th to Sunday August 10th and although the list of teams for the tournament has not been released, area officials are expecting somewhere between eight to 12 teams to be involved in the tournament.

(6/24/08) KBRX SPORTS -- O'Neill will be hosting the 2008, 14-and-Under Softball District for this area.

That means 19 teams are coming to O'Neill with games beginning on Friday June 25th at 6:30PM and continuing through the finals slated for Sunday June 27th at 2:15PM.

Teams from all over north central and north east Nebraska will converge on the area including the O'Neill Heat, Ainsworth, Creighton, Atkinson/Stuart along 13 other teams.

The O'Neill Heat begin play on Saturday at 9:45AM, while Creighton opens with Albion on Saturday at 8AM. Atkinson/Stuart begins play also on Saturday, opening at 8:15AM against Wakefield, while Ainsworth will have a bunny bracket game on Friday with Battle Creek at 6:30PM.

(6/24/08) KBRX SPORTS --The O'Neill Spartans, Creighton, Verdigre and others will be packing their traveling bags over the weekend as they head to Battle Creek for Class C 16-an-Under Districts.

13 teams will be in the field in Battle Creek starting on Saturday. Ainsworth opens at 9AM Saturday morning against X-Treme. The O'Neill Spartans will take on the Lady Tigers at 9AM as well. Creighton opens against the Sabels at 10:45AM and Verdigre opens at 10:45AM against the Stealers. Neligh is the only area team with a first round bye. They will sit on the shelf until Saturday at 4:00PM.

The tournament is double elimination and concludes on Sunday evening.

(6/23/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Area softball teams took to the road over the weekend as 18-and-Under and 12-and-Under softball districts were held around the state.

The O'Neill Shamrocks 12 & under softball team came home from District C and D action in Crofton over the weekend as the District Champions. Led by Coaches Jeanne and Amy Krotter they took the 2-day tournament with a record of 6 and 1.

In the 18 & under District Softball Tournament at South Sioux City two O'Neill teams were in the hunt for a title.

The O'Neill Blazers on Saturday defeated Coleridge 11-to-nothing and Ponca six-to-five. The two-game winning streak would be the end as they dropped a late Saturday contest to Laurel 12-to-two dropping them inton the consolation brackets. Their run would end with a loss to Crofton on Sunday.

While the Blazers blazed the O'Neill Fighting Irish were fighting on.

On Saturday they recorded wins over Crofton 9-to-8 and Fordyce 12-to-nothing locking themselves into the top half of the tournament. It semi-final action on Sunday they came away with a third win defeating Laurel eight-to-nothing. Laurel would pick up a win consolation bracket and return to face the Irish a second time. Different game, same results as they defeated Laurel again for the Championship with a two-to-one win in eight innings.

Action continues next weekend as the 16-and-Under and 14-and-Under Districts get underway on Friday June 27th.

(6/22/08) KBRX SPORTS -- A brutal running game in the second half led the West Team over the East Team in the 2008 edition of the Sertoma 8-Man All Star game in Hastings on Saturday.

The West scored 26 of their 33 points in the second half to rout the East 33-to-six.

Meanwhile the West defense was not too bad either as they held the East to seven yards on just six plays in the third quarter.

The flood gates opened from the West when Stuart's Brad Dvorak plowed in from a yard out early in the fourth quarter, making it a 13-to-six game.

Overall the West rushed for 303 yards and threw for 26 more, while holding the East to just 190 yards total offense.

From our neighborhood, Dvorak rushed for 45 yards on 11 carries, while Tyler Klabenes carried twice for four yards. Dvorak also caught one ball for five yards.

Niobrara Valley Conference Players participating in the 31st Annual Sertoma 8-Man Classic at Hastings College on Saturday, June 21st include (Back Row) West Coach Carlie Wells from Elgin, Brad Dvorak from Stuart, Jay Reicks from Pope John, Bradley Wright from Ewing;  (Front Row) Steve Rust from West Boyd, Jason Cameron from Chambers, Tyler Klabenes from Chambers and Jonathan Gunderson from Elgin. Not pictured is West Boyd Coach Steve Colfack, who is currently serving as Vice President of the Nebraska Eight-Man Football Coaches Association.

(6/22/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The 2008 Little League baseball tournament for the Elkhorn Valley Little League gets underway on Monday June 23rd.

On the slate, the O'Neill Braves hook up with the O'Neill A's at 6:00PM followed by the Chambers Coyotes and the O'Neill White Soxs at 8:00PM also in O'Neill.

Ainsworth makes the long trek to Ewing for a 7PM first pitch, while Atkinson travels to Butte to take on West Boyd at 7:00PM.

The tournament continues with semi-finals on Wednesday June 25th.

(6/20/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The run for the repeat for John Hurley has ended in unbelievable round of golf.

After Hurley took 19 holes to defeat John Sajevic of Fremont on Friday morning, the quarterfinals came calling with Lincoln golfer Ben Tewes.

The next 19 holes were not as kind.

Both golfers played solid golf as Hurley led two-up after just two holes and led one up most of the way, but a bogie on 15 cost Hurley the lead and later on the match.

When regulation play closed, both golfers were 3-under and dead even.

Back to hole one is where the duo would head to begin the playoff, and that is where Hurley slip.

He boggied the Par 5 First while Tewes would par the hole defeating Hurley one-up in nineteen holes.

One other local note to mention, Georgia Blumenstock's brother, David Easley of Lincoln, was also competing in the quarterfinals and won his match over Mike Vanier of Lincoln one-up.

Easley moves on to this afternoon's semifinals against Jordan Reinertson of Gibbon.

(6/20/08) KBRX SPORTS -- It took 19 holes, but O'Neill golfer John Hurley has moved in to the quarterfinals on the Nebraska Men's Match Play Championship.

After tearing through the course early to a six-and-five win over Matt Carsey, his next opponet John Sajevic, Fremont proved to be a bit of a bigger hill to climb.

Hurley was three-up through eleven, when the tournament was suspended due to bad weather.

When they resumed play, Sajevic when on his run while Hurley faltered a bit.

Sajevic parred 12 through 14 while Hurley bogied three of the four.

Sajevic took his only lead with a birdie on 16 but it would be very short lived as he bogied 17 and the pair came back to all square.

Hurley closed the round on the 19th with a birdie on the par five to win the round 1-Up in 19 holes.

The next task is the quarterfinal round on Friday morning as he deals with Lincoln golfer Ben Tewes.

(6/19/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Former Husker and newest Yankee starter Joba Chamberlain struck out a career-high nine and beat the San Diego Padres two-to-one on Thursday.

The Yankees set up both of their runs with stolen basese and cut down San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez twice at home plate in the first four innings.

Closer Mariano Rivera struck out the side in the ninth to seal the deal for the pinstripes, and earned his 20th save in 20 chances.

Behind the stellar effort from Chamberlain, the Yankees completed a second consecutive three-game sweep in interleague play.

(6/19/08) KBRX SPORTS -- American Legion Baseball across Nebraska has under gone some late retooling. Good news is it does not effect any area teams.

During the last several seasons, many a complaint has spurred from teams drawing out-of-state players such as Colorado, and playing in lower classes due to lower enrollments.

The Nebraska American Legion has added what is being tabbed as the "300 rule."

In it's simplest form, the rule states that your base school enrollment as well as all the other schools that a team draws players from will be added together. If that total is over 300, the team is automaticly in Class B.

With the change, several teams wondered if they would change class or area due to the redistricting and reclassification of teams.

As far as our areas are concerned, nothing has changed.

O'Neill will remain in Class B and in the Area Five Tournament. For the most part the teams remain the same with Albion, Aurora, Central City, Ord, Pierce and St. Paul all remaining in the area. The only addition is Wayne and nobody left the area.

The O'Neill Juniors will travel to Central City for tournament play while the Seniors will travel to Albion.

As for our Class C teams, there has been some change.

Ainswoth, Atkinson, Bloomfield, Creighton, Crofton, Neligh and Orchard are old hands to the C1 Area field, but the area did grow a bit with Battle Creek, Hays Springs, and Osmond being added to bring the field to eight teams for juniors and eight teams for seniors.

Class C, Area One tournaments are in Crofton for the Juniors and Ainsworth for the Seniors.

(6/19/08) KBRX SPORTS -- In the simplest of terms, John Hurley won his match today against Matt Carsey of Omaha in the Nebraska Men's Match Play Tournament at Nebraska City.

To expound on it a bit, Hurley took Carsey to the wood shed, six-and-five in 13 holes.

Hurley who admitted to having an up and down day on Wednesday during his 4-and-2 win over Nick Larson of Omaha, turned the tables totally on Thursday.

After shooting even on Wednesday, scattering boggies and birdies all over the front nine, Hurley turned up the gas today.

Six birdies and three pars on the front nine setting Hurley at six-under par and with a six-up lead on the front side left Carsey reeling.

The Omahan staved off the final blow for moments as he birdied ten while Hurley pared the hole, but Hurley would throw the final blow with a birdie on twelve, ending the day on the 13th at seven under par.

His next round will begin with a 1:30 tee time on Thursday afternoon.

He next matchup will be against John Sajevic of Fremont. He need 20 holes to handle Jayson Brueggemann, Lincoln one up.

Several area cowboys and cowgirls have qualified for the finals from around the neighborhood.

Witten Hoover of Ainsworth is the lone bareback quaifier, while Russell Hipke of Stuart is the lone neighborhood cowboy in the Steer Wrestling.

In the tie-down roping Taylor Rossenback of Ainsworth and Lane Day of Bartlett both qualified.

Tanner Olson and Trevor Kahl both of Bartlett and Justin Cunningham of Bloomfield represent the area in the saddle broncos.

In the bullriding we will be watching for four area cowboys including Riley Painter of Long Pine, Jake Gambill and Whitten Hoover both of Ainsworth and Monte Snider of Bartlett.

Among the team ropers, you will find five teams feature area headers and healers. Lane Day of Bartlett has qualified with his partner Tad Judge of Emmett. Justin Cunningham from Bloomfield joins Whitten Hoover of Ainsworth, while Ainsworth cowboy Taylor Rossenback joins Leah Widger of Hayes Center. The boys from Bartlett are the team of Monte Snider and Tanner Olson, and Austin Barstow from Springview is joined in the finals by Nelson Ryder of Donphian.

On the girls side of the rodeo, the area is filled with finalists.

In the barrel racing you will find Katie Kaup of Stuart, Kaytlyn Duden of Ainsworth, Shalee Lemon from Chambers and Kelsey Butterfield and Amelia Shane both from Atkinson.

The pole bending is also chalked full of locals including Amelia Shane and Kelsey Butterfield both of Atkinson, Shalee Lemon of Chambers, Katie Kaup and Laura Kohle of Stuart, Abby Sybrant of Bassett and Shelby Sanford of O'Neill.

Turning to the goat tying the little bawling buggers are in trouble with the likes of Cortney Pavelka of Creighton, Jessica Parker of Long Pine, Kelly Kohle of Stuart and Molly Mangelsen of Bassett.

Three breakaway ropers will make the trip. Cortney Pavelka of Creighton, Laura Kohle of Stuart and Molly Mangelsen of Bassett are among the finalists in the catagory.

The girls cutting has just one area contest in Shelby Sanford from O'Neill while Joaney Qualm of Ericson with represent the area in the Queen Contest.

While we are dropping names, let's drop to more. Our very own Scott Poese will be anchoring the rodeo broadcast for Nebraska Public Television and will be joined in the box by his stunning sister and 1991 Miss Rodeo America, Lisa Poese Jamison.

(6/19/08) Univeristy of Nebraska -- Jake Opitz’s walk-off homer provided a night of memories as three former Husker baseball players began their professional careers on June 17.

Opitz, a 12th-round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs, belted a solo homer in his first professional at-bat, lifting Boise to a 6-5 victory over Eugene Tuesday night. 

"That's a pretty special moment," Opitz told The (Boise, Idaho) Stateman following the game. "To start the summer off like that, hopefully I'll just use that momentum and ride it for a while."

Opitz, who hit .339 with 11 homers and 50 RBIs for the Huskers last spring, came into the game in the top of the seventh after starting second baseman Josh Harrison twisted an ankle.

"I wasn't expecting to get in there," Opitz said. "Being a baseball player you want to always be on the field. But if you're not out there, you have to be the best teammate you can and stay positive and when you're chance comes, take advantage of it."

Johnny Dorn took the hill for the first time as a professional, pitching for Jamestown in the New York-Penn League. A 15th-round pick by Florida, Dorn was Jamestown’s opening day starter, tossing three shutout innings, as he struck out two and scattered two hits in a no-decision. Dorn went 6-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 15 starts for the Huskers in 2008, fanning 102 over 106.2 innings to earn third-team All-America honors.

Mitch Abeita was the third Husker who made his professional debut on Tuesday, going hitless in three at-bats for the Staten Island Yankees in their New York-Penn League game against Brooklyn. Abeita, a 19th-round draft pick of the Yankees, hit .337 with 10 homers and 49 RBIs as a senior en route to first-team All-Big 12 honors earlier this spring.

Currently, 29 former Huskers are playing professionally, including current Major Leaguers Joba Chamberlain, Darin Erstad and Alex Gordon.

(thanks University of Nebraska)

(6/19/08) Lincoln --Former Nebraska wrestler Brad Vering will represent the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after winning the 84 kg (185 lb) weight class at the Olympic Trials in Las Vegas on Sunday. Vering was one of five wrestlers with ties to Nebraska competing in the trials, and will be joined on the U.S. delegation by Justin Ruiz, a two-time All-American at Nebraska. Ruiz finished second at the trials and will be the alternate at 96 kg (211.5 lbs).

Vering, wrestling in the Greco-Roman division, had an impressive showing at the Thomas & Mack Center as he dominated Aaron Sieracki in the best-of-three finals series. He won the first match 1-1, 7-0 and captured the second match 6-0, 3-0 to sweep Sieracki. His final's victory came after he won his first two matches of the day without surrending a single point. He entered the trials as the No. 2 seed after losing to Brad Ahearn at the U.S. Nationals.

Vering will look to improve on his performance at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, where he lost his only bout and did not place. He also announced he will retire from competition after the 2008 Olympics.

A native of Howells, Neb., Vering has made his mark on the international level after a standout career for the Huskers. He became the seventh national champion in Nebraska history in 2000, and finished his career fourth on NU's all-time career win chart with a mark of 124-26. He went on to earn several victories wrestling for the U.S., including a silver medal at the 2007 World Championships. The effort earned him the U.S. Olympic Committee's Wrestling Male Athlete of the Year.

(thanks University of Nebraska, Jesse Moore and John Kant)

(6/19/08) Lincoln, Ne -- The University of Nebraska Board of Regents on Friday approved a 13-year multimedia rights partnership between the Nebraska Athletic Department and IMG College worth $112.5 million ($109 million guaranteed), making it one of the largest contracts of its kind, according to research conducted by the SportsBusiness Journal in 2007.

The University retains rights to several existing corporate partners including University contracts with Pepsi and the Alumni Association affinity card, and Athletic Department agreements with adidas, Gatorade, Wimmer’s, Valentino’s and several other similar trade sponsors. Website management and television and pay-per-view broadcast rights are also retained by the Athletic Department. The total value of retained rights exceeds $2.375 million each year.

When combined with the $30.875 million that the Athletic Department is retaining in sponsorship rights over the 13-year period, the total value for this multimedia package swells to $143.4 million.

Contributing to the overall compensation are annual rights and advance fees, a signing bonus, operating support and more than $1.6 million in electronic signage upgrades for Memorial Stadium. The contract also provides for opportunities for revenue sharing through additional multimedia related sales. The new contract will begin July 2008 and run through 2021 and will include an expansion of rights currently managed by IMG College.

Under the agreement, IMG College’s Husker Sports Network will manage and market all rights associated with radio programming, coaches’ TV and radio shows, program sales, sponsorship inventory and publication printing rights. Local printers currently working with the Athletic Department will continue to be able to bid on all athletic publications under the new terms.

The Husker Sports Network radio affiliates and coverage for its stable of Husker team sports broadcasts (football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, softball and baseball) will continue or will be increased over the duration of the new contract.  All football and men’s basketball games will continue to have full statewide radio broadcast coverage, while women’s basketball and volleyball will have improved coverage with guarantees of broadcasts in Omaha and Lincoln. All current Husker Sports Network on-air talent will remain in place.

One significant element removed from the new IMG College multimedia rights package is alcohol-related advertising for athletic events. The University has removed this element indefinitely in an effort to distance Husker athletics from alcohol advertising.

“We are extremely pleased with the Board’s approval,” said University of Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne. “This contract provides a solid financial base for the athletic department through 2021.  In addition to the total revenue of $112.5 million from IMG and the retained sponsorship value of $30.875 million over 13 years, we will also have opportunities to revenue share through multimedia related sales.  The average worth of this total package over the 13 years is more than $11 million each year.

“We have enjoyed the media services provided to us by the Husker Sports Radio Network over the past 12 years and this contract provides for even better coverage for our sports, particularly for our women’s basketball and volleyball teams,” Osborne said. 

“We are looking forward to a partnership with IMG that will help us reach our full marketing potential.  We want all of our current sponsors to know that we will remain very closely involved.  We fully intend to maintain the personal connections with each of them that have meant so much to us in the past.”

“We’re honored the University of Nebraska has awarded us this extension and expansion of our partnership,” said Tom Stultz, Senior Vice President and Managing Director for IMG College. “The passion and tradition associated with Nebraska Athletics is unrivaled, and we look forward to developing unique marketing programs to maximize opportunities for Nebraska fans.”

The last multimedia rights extension was granted in 2003 to Pinnacle Sports Productions, which first obtained Nebraska’s radio rights in 1996. Pinnacle Sports was acquired by Host Communications in 2006. The following year, Host was purchased by IMG.

In addition to representing the University of Nebraska, IMG College also represents the following Big 12 institutions: University of Kansas, Oklahoma State University and the University of Texas.

(6/18/08) KBRX SPORTS -- O'Neill golfer John Hurley continued on his path toward a second Nebraska Men's Match Play championship on Wednesday with a 4-and-2 win over Nick Larson of Omaha.

Hurley, the number one seed, picked up a lead on the first hole with a birdie on the par five while Larson settled for par, but after John double bogied hole three compared to Larson's par, the duo went back to square and would remain that way through six.

On hole seven Hurley birdied a par four, and Larson slipped with a bogy and from there out it was all Aggie.

Hurley would birdie nine, ten and sixteen and sealing the win on the sixteen hole.

Hurley continues on Thursday morning when he tee's up with Matt Carsey of Omaha at 7:38AM.

(6/18/09) KBRX SPORTS -- If you plan to catch the College World Series on Friday June 20th you might check some local talent.

Not baseball talent but vocal talent.

For the afternoon game the Creighton Anthem Singers from Creighton High School will be performing the National Anthem in front of the sold out crowd in Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.

The group of 11 is made up entirely of Creighton School students including Dane Harley, Samantha Blair, Allison Von Seggren, Aaron Von Seggren, Kylee Wilmes, Alex Morrill, Riley Dohmen, Becky Laflan, Jenny Laflan, Carleen Sukup and Brandi Sorenson.

Under the direction of Crighton Vocal Music instructor Deb Van Meter, the group is not new to the big stage, as they did the honors of performing the National Anthem before the D2 State Football Final in Memorial Stadium back in November and sing at many of the Creighton events.

According to Van Meter, it all started by simply anwsering an add in the paper looking for singers for the CWS.

After sending in their audition CD, the group was selected as one of 14 finalist and made the trip to Rosenblatt in the spring to do their second audition.

Van Meter remembers it as a forty-degree morning and loads of talent in those final editions.

She credits their selection to "Staying simple and true to the song."

(6/18/09) KBRX SPORTS -- Mike Krumland of Columbus and Brandon Crick of McCook shared medalist honors at two-under par Tuesday in qualifying for the Nebraska Match Play Championship at ArborLinks. The two golfers will be seeded three and four respectively with last year's champion, John Hurley and runner-up Tom Kelley of Omaha who receive the one and two seeds.

Eleven golfers tied at 81 were involved in a play-off for six spots. Nick Larson of Omaha secured the 64th and final seed after three holes of extra play. He'll play Hurley in an 11:38 a.m. first round match.

(6/18/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The 2008 edition of the Senrtoma 8-Man All-Star game is coming to Hastings on Saturday June 21st and serveral local pigskiners will be playing in the contest.

Ben Lammers of Bloomfield is the only local athlete appearing on the East roster, however the West roster is loaded with local talent.

That list includes Jason Cameron and Tyler Klabenes of Chambers, Brad Dvorak of Stuart, Jonathan Gunderson of Elgin, Jay Rieks of Pope John, Steve Rust of West Boyd, and Bradley Wright of Ewing.

Also on the West roster, you will find Coach Carlie Wells of the 2007 D2 Runner-up, the Elgin Eagles.

Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, Sertoma is a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit international organization dedicated to “SERvice TO MAnkind”, with 20,000-plus members in more than 650 clubs across Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States. Every year Sertoma clubs raise more than $20 million for local community service projects. Through these projects, as well as grants and scholarships, Sertoma clubs return those funds to their respective communities - and they have lots of fun doing it while building life-long friendships.

(6/16/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Tuesday is the opening day and quaifier for the Nebraska men's match-play championship at Nebraska City. Area golfer John Hurley is not among the field.

No fear golf fans. It is not because he won't play, but rather that he simply does not have to.

Remember back to a year ago when John recorded the most lopsided victory in the history of the tournament?

Last year, Hurley's 11-and-10 victory in the scheduled 36-hole final, earned him an automatic spot in the field along with 2007 Runner-Up Tom Kelley of Omaha.

Hurley will be the Number One seed in the tournament when play begins on Wednesday at Arbor Links.

115 golfers have entered the 41st Nebraska Match Play Championship. First day play includes an 18-hole stroke play qualifier narrowing the field to 64 golfers. The match play portion begins June 18 concluding with a 36-hole final Saturday, June 21.

O'Neill's John Hurley hopes to pick up where he left off last season at Hillcrest Country Club and become only the second repeat champion of the tournament. Larry Sock of Lincoln last achieved the feat in 1990-91 winning at Willow Lakes Golf Course in Bellevue and Heritage Hills Golf Course in McCook.

(6/16/08) KBRX SPORTS -- A seven-run first inning and a lights out performance from the hill by Adam Dea means the O'Neill Amateurs improved to five-and-one with a 23-to-two win over Tilden on Saturday.

The Irish got seven runs in the first, five more in the second and 11 in third while banging out 12 hits, and drawing 10 walks.

While the Irish offense rolled along, Adam Dea had the mojo on the mound brewing.

Dea worked all five innings in the win, allowing two runs, on three hits, three walks and struck out nine.

Grant Doerr and Brandon Possnecker swung the hot bats on Saturday.

Doerr went three-for-four with two singles and four runs scored while Possnecker was two-for-two with two doubles, and three RBI.

The Irish continue their season when they travel to Stanton on Wednesday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Danny Muno, Alan Ahmady and Jordan Ribera launched three-run homers and Fresno State's amazing postseason run
continued with a stunning 17-5 victory over Rice in the College World Series.

The Bulldogs -- the first Number 4 regional seed to make it to Omaha -- broke open yesterday's game against their one-time Western Athletic Conference nemesis with a seven-run fourth inning.

They didn't stop there, rolling up the highest number of runs allowed by Rice this season on their way to their 12th win in 14 games.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Georgia senior Ryan Peisel was happy for the help, whatever the origin. The third baseman celebrated his 22nd birthday yesterday with four RBIs and a 3-for-5 showing in a win over Miami.

Peisel says he hoped he was going to get a lot text messages yesterday, but he wasn't sure if they'd say "Happy Birthday" or "You blew it."

His two-run homer in the sixth tied the score at 3 and he had another RBI in the Bulldogs' four-run ninth. Georgia lost two straight in its previous CWS appearance two years ago.

Peisel says he just got lucky. He doesn't know whether it wasthe birthday gods or what, but he hopes it holds up a few more days.

(6/12/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The O'Neill Amatuer Baseball Team continued their winning ways on Wednesday with a 17-to-two route of Randolph.

The Irish, improving to four-and-one on the seaons, got a lock down pitching performance from right-handed starter Brett Bosn who limited Randolph to just two runs on one hit, one walk and struck out 12 across five innings.

The O'Neill offense got rolling early as Adam Carlson led off the inning with a deep fly double, and Brett Bosn singled him home.

The Irish plated two more in the third when Bosn came through with another single driving in Brec Kracl and Preston Blackmore. After three innings the Irish led three-to-one.

They blew it open in the fourth sending 18 hitters to the plate to net 13 runs on seven hits, and a handful of walks.

With the 17-to-two win, the Irish run there record to four-and-one before hooking up with Randolph for a second time on Saturday.

(6/11/08) KBRX SPORTS -- Ewing High School’s Hayley Thramer has committed to accept a scholarship offer to play volleyball at the University of Wisconsin.  The 6’2 middle hitter is an all-state athlete in volleyball and basketball and is also a state medalist in the high jump.  Thramer led Ewing to a 30-1 record in volleyball last year and two consecutive runner-up finishes while also winning back to back state championships in basketball for the Lady Tigers. 

Thramer was also being recruited by Creighton, Nebraska, Colorado State, Ohio State, Wayne State College, University of South Dakota, and Iowa State.  Thramer, a 4.0 student, is ranked #1 in her class and is the daughter of Greg and Carm Thramer of Ewing, Nebraska.

Thramer has been playing club volleyball for the past year with the Nebraska Volleyball Academy in Lincoln.  Thramer’s club coaches are Gwen Egbert and Jake Moore and her high school coach is Suz Funk.

(6/11/08) KBRX SPORTS -- If you happen by the ballparks in north O’Neill today it may look a little like Haymarket Park in Lincoln as the Big Red Baseball Academy from the University of Nebraska has come to town to conduct a skills camp for ball players from all around the area.

Eight staff members of the Nebraska Cornhuskers Baseball team, including Coach Sal Soltero and recent Husker great and current coach Curtis Ledbetter made the trip to O’Neill last night.

At nine this morning they hit the field with 85 area kids to work their way through a full day of fielding, throwing, hitting and base running drills.

As the camp was getting under way, Tom Early, Mike Marvin and Tony Bosn with the O’Neill Parks Board presented four area men with special plaques for their help with the baseball complex in O’Neill.

Tom Hickey, Dennis Cork, Dave Larson, and Jim Goekie were all honored for their donations of time and labor to help support the ball clubs.

Tom Hickey from Great Western Gas for donating the propane and natural gas for the park board, and the St. Mary’s and O’Neill booster clubs, as well as a new grill for the park board.

Dennis Cork was honored for his several years of help with coaching, field work and up keep of the grounds.

Dave Laursen was honored for his work in building several of the batting cages used around the ball park and helping maintain the PA systems and press boxes.

Jim Gokie was honored for donating the flag poles that sit just beyond the outfield fences.

(6/11/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) will honor Millard West, Omaha Marian, Elkhorn, Lincoln Pius X, Norfolk Catholic, Kearney Catholic, and Humphrey St. Francis high schools as the second annual Cup champions. The Cup, which will be presented to the 2007-08 championship schools during the fall, is the Association’s all-activities program award.

As far as our local schools are concerned, the area faired well in the cup points.

The Crofton Lady Warriors finished 4th in Class C Girls standings 190 points.

Our class D schools faired extremely well as Ewing finished third in the standing for All-School Class D standings with 225, while Chambers finished 6th at 207.50 and Pope John finished 10th at 190 points.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - It's official. A 25-year agreement to keep the College World Series in Omaha has been signed.

Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey witnessed as NCAA President Myles Brand and College World Series of Omaha President Jack Diesing signed a
mountain of paperwork.

The contracts guarantee the College World Series will be played in Omaha through the year 2035.

The ceremony was held in a parking lot near Omaha's downtown area where the city's new baseball stadium will be built.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Three Nebraska baseball players have earned all-region honors on the American Baseball Coaches Association
teams.

Catcher Mitch Abeita is a first-team all-region selection, while second baseman Jake Opitz and starting pitcher Johnny Dorn are second-team selections.

Abeita was a 19th-round pick by the New York Yankees in last week's draft. He hit .337 with 10 homers and 49 RBIs and was named
a Johnny Bench Award semifinalist.

Dorn was a 15th-round choice of the Florida Marlins and compiled a 6-2 record and a 2.45 ERA in 15 starts this season. Opitz was a 12th-round pick by the Chicago Cubs and hit .339 with 11 homers and 50 RBIs this season, leading the Huskers in all three triple crown categories.

(6/10/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The mid summer classic is now set for 2008. The NCAA Colllege World Series in Omaha opens on Saturday June 14th and continues to Saturday June 21st, with the Championship Series on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, June 23rd to June 25th.

The field of eight this year includes Stanford (39-22-2) against Florida State (54-12) on Saturday at 2PM, followed by Georgia (41-23-1) taking on Miami (52-9) at 7PM.

Sunday's games in the opening round includes Fresno State (42-29) against Rice (47-13) at 2PM, with LSU (48-17-1) taking on North Carolina (51-12) at 7PM.

Games continue on Monday and Tuesday in the second round of the double-elimination tournament.

NEW YORK (AP) - Joba Chamberlain bounced back from a disappointing first start with the Yankees, pitching into the fifth inning to help New York beat the Kansas City Royals 6-3 yesterday.

Jason Giambi hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth and Bobby Abreu finished with three RBIs for the Yankees, who have won four of five.

Johnny Damon got two more hits after going 6-for-6 with the game-winning single in New York's 12-11 comeback victory Saturday.

Chamberlain, the 41st overall pick in the 2006 amateur draft, was a starter at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. He joined the Yankees as a reliever last year to help the team bridge the gap to closer Mariano Rivera. He opened this season in the bullpen but was stretched out over three appearances before he joined the rotation.

The 31-year-old former Nebraska player also won the tour's 2003 Monterey Peninsula Classic.

Toledo finished with a 69, and Ginn shot a 71. Garth Mulroy (67), Greg Owen (70) and Matt Every (74) tied for fourth at 10 under.

The top 25 on the money list at the end of the season will earn PGA Tour cards.

Gutschewski who was on the PGA Tour from 2005 to 2007.

(NORFOLK, Neb.) – Northeast Community College in Norfolk will host the 25th Annual Northeast Nebraska High School All-Star Classic Basketball Games on Friday, June 13.

Tip-off time for the girls’ game is 6 p.m. while the boys will tip off at 8 p.m. in the Cox Activities Center gym.   Admission is $5.00 per adult and $3.00 for students in grades kindergarten-12.

Four players, two males and two females, will be honored with the Fred Letheby Most Valuable Player Award.  Coach Letheby coached at Sacred Heart in Norfolk, Wayne, Neligh, Stanton, and Madison and amassed 612 victories, the second highest total in Nebraska high school basketball history.  In 1984, he was named the State High School Coach of the Year by the Omaha World-Herald.  He helped inaugurate Northeast’s All-Star Classic in 1984 and coached in the first All-Star Classic.

Members of the Girls’ Light Team, with Jerry Stracke, West Point Central Catholic, and Shannon Pospisil, Lutheran High Northeast, Norfolk, as coaches, include:  Rebecca Mausbach, Humphrey St. Francis;  Kristine Ortmeier, Katie Ridder, and Nicole Stieren, all of West Point Central Catholic High School;  Amber Skoglund, Lutheran High Northeast, Norfolk;  Nicole Brungardt, Norfolk Catholic High School;  Michelle Jarvi, Wayne High School;  Brittany Rosberg, Wausa High School;  Katie DeMuth, Creighton High School, and Andrea Schaaf, Stuart High School.

Members of the Girls’ Dark Team, with Chuck Ross, Wisner-Pilger High School, and Brendan Dittmer, Elkhorn Valley High School, Tilden, are:  Morgan Wilken and Nicole Van Heek, both of Crofton High School;  Nicole Schlautman, Wisner-Pilger High School;  Michelle Wragge, Plainview High School;  Lindsey Moran, Atkinson West Holt High School;  Cali Rethwisch, Elkhorn Valley High School, Tilden;  Jennifer Duff, Clearwater High School;  Bethany Davison, O’Neill High School,  and Autumn Boyer and Alexa Phipps, both of South Sioux City High School.

Members of the Boys’ Light Team, with Chuck Perone, Boone Central High School, Albion, and Jeff Messersmith, Winside High School, as coaches, include: Kraig Flanagan and Anthony Michael, both of Boone Central High School, Albion; Porter Birtell, Lutheran High Northeast, Norfolk;  Scott Mendlik and Mychael McClure, both of Wisner-Pilger High School;  Jesse Hill and Reggie Ruhl, both of Wayne High School;  Keaton Knake, Norfolk Catholic High School;  Kendal Bender, Humphrey St. Francis High School, and Luke Borst, Randolph High School.

Members of the Boys’ Dark Team include:  Nate Olson and Scott Bruening, both of Norfolk High School;  Brent Smith and Garrett Peterson, both of Ponca High School;  Corey Woslager, Pierce High School;  Michael Long and Ian Sitz, both of O’Neill High School;  Seth Wendt, Leigh High School;  Joel Nixon, Wakefield High School, and Heath Erwin, Laurel-Concord High School.

Bob Hayes of Ponca High School and Ben Ries of Norfolk High School are coaches of the Boys’ Dark Team.           

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska pitcher Thad Weber has been drafted again.

He taken after the 2007 season by the Philadelphia Phillies. On Friday, he was taken in the 16th round by the Detroit Tigers.

He's the fourth Husker pitcher taken this year. The others are Dan Jennings, selected by the Florida Marlins in the ninth round; Johnny Dorn, taken by the Marlins in the 15th round; and Aaron Pribanic, taken by the Seattle Mariners in the third round.

Also Friday, Husker catcher Mitch Abeita was drafted by the Yankees in the 19th round, and second baseman Jake Opitz went to the Chicago Cubs in the 12th.

Conor Gillaspie of Omaha, who plays for Wichita State, was taken by the San Francisco Giants in the supplemental first round on Thursday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Creighton's ambidextrous pitcher has been taken by the New York Yankees in the 2008 Major League Baseball draft.

Pat Venditte is the first Creighton University player to be drafted this year. He was also taken by the Yankees last year, in the 45th round.
On Friday he went in the 20th round.

He was 9 and 3 on the season with seven saves and had an ERA of 3.34 in 86.1 innings.

In another draft pick from the state of Nebraska, the Yankees took Husker catcher Mitch Abeita in the 19th round.

Lincoln – University of Nebraska pitcher Aaron Pribanic became the first Husker baseball player selected in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, as he was taken in the third round (No. 98 overall) by the Seattle Mariners on Thursday evening.

Pribanic, who was not drafted before coming to Nebraska, is the highest Husker taken since 2006, when Joba Chamberlain was taken in the first round. Pribanic is the fourth Husker pitcher taken in the first three rounds of the draft since 2003, joining Chamberlain (first round, 2006), Brian Duensing (third round, 2005) and Aaron Marsden (third round, 2003).

On the year, Pribanic went 3-4 with a 4.72 ERA in 17 appearances as Nebraska’s Sunday starter, ranking third in the Big 12 in both complete games two and shutouts (one). He fanned 59 over 74.1 innings and became the first Husker pitcher since Marsden in 2002 to throw complete games in his first two starts.

"It’s an unbelievable feeling," Pribanic said following his selection. "I really can’t put it into words. I couldn’t have done it without the coaching and teammates, who pushed me to be the best I could be. I grew tremendously during the past year. Coach Newman and the rest of the coaching staff was instrumental in my growth. I wouldn’t have been where I am without them."

Pribanic, who played at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College for two years, has professional baseball bloodlines, as his grandfather was former Major League All-Star Jim Coates, who pitched nine seasons in the majors.

NEW YORK (AP) - Joba Chamberlain struggled with his control, walked off the mound in the third inning and threw his glove in the dugout.

The former Nebraska pitcher's first major league start was a memorable one, all right. Just not for the reasons he'd hoped.

Chamberlain lasted 2 1/3 innings, and Roy Halladay held the New York Yankees in check despite some control problems of his own, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-3 victory last night.

Chamberlain said after the game that he wanted "to get my team a lot deeper into the game and it wasn't very good."

A sellout crowd of 53,629 that included Chamberlain's father, Harlan, roared as the hard-throwing right-hander was introduced with the starting lineup.

New York -- Depending on whom one talks to, Joba Chamberlain's first major-league start today is just another step — or a colossal event to be anticipated as much as the "Sex and the City" premiere and the Super Bowl combined.

The 22-year-old Yankees right-hander, who will face Toronto ace Roy Halladay, and manager Joe Girardi both took the former view. "I think it's just another step in his maturation process to becoming an effective major-league starter," Girardi said. "It's just another opportunity for him."

The Yankees don't want Chamberlain to be looked upon as some type of savior. He has been terrific as a reliever since his big-league debut last August, with a 1.32 earned-run average, 64 strikeouts and 28 hits allowed in 47-2/3 innings, but trying to carry that through a whole game will be a challenge.

"I understand what it's going to take and how hard it is," he said, "and I know I'm going to take my lumps."

Most are betting on success for Chamberlain, whom Hank Steinbrenner said could be the Yankees' Johan Santana in October. One big-league scout said: "He has one of the most talented arms I've seen in a long time."

Lincoln, Neb. - The 2008 NCAA Lincoln Regional has been the top ticket among the nation's 16 regional sites through the first two days of NCAA Tournament competition. Through four games, Hawks Field has welcomed a nation-leading 19,417 fans to the ballpark, including the nation's top single-game crowd of 8,646 for Nebraska's game with UC Irvine on Saturday night.

Saturday night's crowd at Hawks Field was the second-largest NCAA Lincoln Regional crowd in school history, and the seventh-largest overall attendance in Hawks Field history. It was also the third crowd of more than 8,600 at Hawks Field this season, including a season-high 8,708 for NU's regular-season game against Texas A&M on May 9, and 8,697 fans for NU's game with Kansas on April 19.

Nebraska's big crowd on Saturday night in the winner's bracket game against UC Irvine surpassed the 7,498 fans in attendance for LSU's win over Southern Miss at Alex Box Stadium in the Baton Rouge Regional. The Baton Rouge Regional also ranks second in actual attendance around the nation through four games with 18,481 fans in the stands. LSU has sold more than 7,300 tickets for each of the first four games in the regional, but actual attendance has ranged from 1,333 to 7,498 through four games. The paid attendance for LSU's win over Southern Miss was 8,012.

The Houston Regional has drawn 17,702 fans to rank third nationally through the first two days of tournament action, while the Tallahassee Regional has attracted 16,120 fans. The College Station Regional rounds out the nation's top-five draws with 14,578 fans entering Sunday's action.

Nebraska continues home action in the NCAA Lincoln Regional on Sunday when the Huskers take on Oral Roberts in an elimination game at 1:05 p.m. If the Huskers can get past the Golden Eagles, they will face UC Irvine in the first regional championship game at 6:05 p.m.

LINCOLN — A little lefty did it to Nebraska again.

Kelly Minissale wasn't in attendance Saturday night at Haymarket Park to watch 165-pound southpaw Daniel Bibona of UC Irvine silence the NU baseball team.

"I was at the steakhouse," Minissale said.

Steak or not, Minissale pitched on Sunday like he was taking diligent notes, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning as Oral Roberts vanquished the Huskers from the NCAA Lincoln regional with an 8-0 victory on Sunday before a subdued crowd of 5,106.

Oral Roberts (48-13) advanced to face unbeaten Irvine later Sunday night in need of a win and another today at 1:05 p.m. to advance.

It failed for the third time in four tries under coach Mike Anderson to win a home regional, all of which prompts more questions about the Huskers' ability to get back over the hump in the postseason.

"You're going to going to ask 63 coaches that same question," Anderson said. "There's only one who's got the right answer. I wish we had the magic formula, and someday maybe we will.

"There's more to this team and this program than just saying, 'What is the magic formula?'"

Whatever it is, NU certainly didn't have the answer.

Anderson said he worried about a hangover after the 3-2 loss on Saturday.

True to his hunch, the Huskers fell behind 6-0 when Oral Roberts first baseman Michael Notaro slammed a hanging, 1-1 curveball from Thad Weber for a three-run homer with two outs in the third inning.

Notaro's towering 10th blast of the year sailed more than 400 feet, clearing the third chain-link fence beyond right field and bouncing into a row of cars entirely outside the stadium.

"It's very tough," said Weber, who lasted 22/3 innings to mark a third consecutive start in which he didn't escape the fourth inning. "It was a chance for me to go out there and carry everybody. But you've got to give a lot of credit to ORU. They were very offensive and took advantage of my mistakes."

Nebraska got base-runners in six innings but managed just two hits.

The shutout was just the second endured by NU in seven years at Haymarket Park. Bob Zimmerman of Missouri State did it exactly five years ago Sunday in another NCAA elimination game.

That shutout came after Nebraska fought through the losers bracket with two victories to force a winner-take-all finale. This was worse.

NU showed little fight after Bibona and Irvine reliever Eric Pettis held it hitless over the final 61/3 innings of a 3-2 loss Saturday. The hitless streak reached 121/3 innings — 41 batters combined to go 0 for 37 — before Tyler Farst rolled a single past diving second baseman Juan Martinez to start the top of the seventh.

"It would have been great if that would have got us going," Farst said, "provided a little spark."

Instead, Minissale got the Huskers' next hitter, DJ Belfonte, on a double-play grounder to shortstop Adam Younger.

Minissale, a 5-9, 170-pound senior, lasted 81/3 innings. The left-hander from Murphy, Texas, struck out two, walked three and hit three Huskers in throwing 134 pitches to earn his third win in just 11 appearances.

His other victories came in complete-game fashion over Wichita State and Arkansas.

Minissale, who batted second in the Oral Roberts' lineup, normally plays center field. He pitched just twice in the past month before Sunday.

"It's a mindset, really," he said. "Go out there and get it done."

Minissale recorded 11 outs on pop flies, none of the dangerous variety.

Lincoln, Neb. - In a big NCAA Regional winner's bracket game in front of a large Hawks Field crowd of 8,646, the smallest player on the field - UC Irvine junior Ollie Linton - provided the game's biggest hit with his solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Anteaters a 3-2 win over the hosts from Nebraska on Saturday night.

Linton's fourth home run of the year provided the power to push UC Irvine to 40-16 on the year while advancing the Anteaters to Sunday's Lincoln Regional Championship Game at Hawks Field at 6:05 p.m.

The 5-8, 160-pound centerfielder from Winnetka, Calif., also knocked the top-seeded Cornhuskers into a loser's bracket elimination game against third-seeded Oral Roberts on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Nebraska slipped to 41-15-1 overall, while suffering just its fourth home loss of the season to fall to 29-4-1 at Hawks Field in 2008.

Linton's homer against Husker senior ace Johnny Dorn came with one out in the fourth, and dropped the nation's active career win leader to 6-2 on the season. Dorn scattered 11 hits and allowed just three runs over eight solid innings, but suffered his first home loss at Hawks Field since an April 21, 2007 loss to Texas.

Dorn said Linton made him pay for one of his few mistakes on Saturday night.

“I think it was a 1-2 count. I wanted to bury it and didn’t get it on the ground at all. I think it was down in the zone, but he made a good swing and made me pay for my mistake.”

Linton said he was just trying to make contact.

"I don't go up there thinking I'm going to hit a home run.  I try to put the ball on the ground and make the defense make the play," Linton said. "If I run into a few balls, I'm happy about it.  In that situation, I was trying to keep my same approach and luckily enough, I ran into a curveball that he left a bit higher than he's been during the game."

UC Irvine sophomore Daniel Bibona was the benefactor of Litton's blast, as the left-hander improved to 9-3 on the season. Bibona, who went a career-long eight innings and surrendered just a two-run home run to Jake Opitz. The second-year lefty tossed a four-hit gem and faced the minimum after giving up Opitz's third homer of the regional with two outs in the top of third.

Bibona retired the next six batters he faced after Opitz's blast, before walking Bryce Nimmo on four pitches with two outs in the top of the fifth. But the UC Irvine pitcher picked Nimmo off first to end the inning and did not allow another Husker to reach base, retiring the last nine batters he faced before giving way to Anteater All-America closer Eric Pettis.

Bibona struck out seven and walked just two in a 109-pitch effort, while Pettis worked a perfect ninth to record his 17th save of the season - the second-highest total in the nation.

Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said he was proud of the effort of the Huskers and gave credit to Bibona for a stellar pitching performance.

“I thought our effort was outstanding. The kids played hard and were very focused," Anderson said. "I thought they were exceptional. Their lefthander (Daniel Bibona) was outstanding. He located every pitch - off-speed, fastballs, you name it. The fastballs were in to right-handers; changeups were out to right-handers. Off-speed was away. He was locating just about everything. That’s pretty tough to hit when a fellow is doing that. We tip our hats to him and try to move on, but I’m pleased with the kids’ effort. I’m disappointed that we lost, but not disappointed in our kids.”

UC Irvine scored first, pushing across a run in the bottom of the second inning on Eric Deragisch's two-out, RBI double. Dillon Bell led off the inning by being hit by Dorn's first pitch. Dorn got Brock Bardeen to ground into a 5-4-3 doubleplay. UCI's Casey Stevenson restarted the rally with a single, and Sean Madigan added another single to set up Deragisch's RBI.

Dorn struck out Aaron Lowenstein to end the Anteater threat, and the Husker bats responded in the top of the third. Ben Kline laced a double to the gap in left-center and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Nimmo. Bibona struck out Jake Mort swinging, before Opitz stepped to the plate and smashed his third homer of the regional deep to right field to give the Huskers a 2-1 lead. It was Opitz's team-leading 11th home run of the season and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games.

The Anteaters found an answer in the bottom of the third despite Dorn striking out the side. Dorn opened by striking out Linton, before Ben Orloff's one-out double to right-center. Jeff Cusick followed with an RBI single to right-center, before Dorn struck out Bell and Bardeen to end the Anteater threat.

After a quiet fourth inning for both teams, Linton took Dorn deep to the right field bullpen for his fourth home run of the season to give the Anteaters the 3-2 win.

UC Irvine Coach Mike Gillespie said he was not sure Litton's home run would be the deciding blow in the game, but he did know it was a big play in a big game.

"I certainly felt that it was big.  We as a coaching staff felt that the game would figure to be a 3-2 game," Gillespie said. "Literally, the talk we had before the game was that Danny, who is capable of doing this and who has done it consistently would be able to do what he's always done, which is hold them down.  It (the home run by Linton) was the fifth inning and it made it 3-2.  I certainly did not feel like we won't get any more or we can't get any more, but on the other hand, you realize that we just got a giant hit.  We felt like we had the right guy on the mound and our best defense on the field, so we felt like we were in the best position possible to protect that kind of a lead."

(5/31/08) KBRX SPORTS -- The Lincoln Regional continues on Saturday at Haymarket Park in Lincoln.

The tournament is double-elimination format and there for Oral Roberts will play Eastern Illinois on Saturday at 1:05PM in the ellimination game.

Nebraska will hook up with UC-Irvine at 7:05 Saturday evening in Lincoln in the winner's bracket.

The tournament will continue on Sunday when the winner of the Oral Roberts-Eastern Illinois game will play the loser of the Nebraska-UC Irvine game at 1:05PM in the second elimination game.

The winner of the Sunday afternoon contest moves on to the late game on Sunday and take on the winner of the Saturday evening game between Nebraksa and UC Irvine.

Lincoln, Neb. - The NCAA Lincoln Regional opened with an offensive flurry on Friday at Hawks Field, as Eastern Illinois and Nebraska combined for 23 runs and seven home runs, as the host Huskers advanced in the winner’s bracket with a 13-10 victory in front of 6,367 fans.

Nebraska scored in seven of its eight innings at the plate, pounding 16 hits, including a season-high four home runs.  Husker Coach Mike Anderson acknowledged that it was a rare day at Hawks Field, with the ball carrying to all parts of the park.

“I've never seen the park play like this in the whole time I've been here,” Anderson said. “Some of our home runs, I was amazed that they were home runs because of how they were hit.  I would say the same thing for them.  I've never seen this ballpark play like this.  It added a lot of challenges to us today.  I'm proud of the kids. 

“We had a lead.  We lost that lead.  We got down, but once we got down, we learned how to fight back again.  At this point, I'm not overly concerned about how we do it, just that we get it done."

Senior Jake Opitz led the way with a career-high two homers while driving in three runs for Huskers. Tyler Farst and Craig Corriston also homered for NU, which battled back from a 5-3 deficit heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.

Even with the power display, it was a balanced effort for Nebraska, as every player with an at bat recorded at least one hit, while eight of the nine starters scored a run.

With the win, top-seeded Nebraska (41-14-1) advanced to Saturday’s 7:05 p.m. semifinal against the winner of Friday night’s contest between No. 2 seed UC Irvine and third-seeded Oral Roberts. Eastern Illinois (27-29) falls into Saturday’s 1:05 p.m. elimination game.

Brett Nommensen paced a strong offensive attack for Eastern Illi