Hastings takes baseball doubleheader from Northern State

Hastings College swept Northern State on Tuesday afternoon at Duncan Field in Hastings. The Broncos 11-10 and 7-6.

David Bates started on the mound for the Broncos in game one while Mike Randone got the win for Hastings as he closed out the game. Pat Morey had two hits and two RBIs while Bret Compliment had two RBIs on one hit. Joe Piscitelli had the big hit on the day for the Broncos as his grand slam in the second inning game the Broncos a 6-2 cushion to start the game. Piscitelli recorded 5 RBIs in the game.

Matt Berning was the starting pitcher for the Broncos in game two. Chris Denny received the win while Tim Stroman got the save as he struck out two batters in the seventh inning. The Broncos totaled six hits in the game while Josh Mondragon had two RBIs.

Hastings is now 6-9 on the year and will head south to Oklahoma for six games.

The Broncos added a game with the University of Nebraska-Kearney to their schedule. Hastings will play UNK at 4:30 p.m. April 1 at Kearney in one 9-inning game.

UNK-Wayne State game set for today canceled

KEARNEY The Nebraska-Kearney/Wayne State baseball game scheduled for Wednesday at Memorial Field has been canceled and will not be made up.

UNK (7-11, 3-5 RMAC) is slated to host Colorado Mines this weekend in a four game RMAC series.

Lopers earns split with Chadron State

KEARNEY Senior catcher Molly Langerak hit a one-out, two-run walk-off homer to help the Nebraska-Kearney beat Chadron State, 3-2, in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday at Dryden Park.

The Eagles, behind 12 strikeouts from Australian Casey Williams, won the first game, 1-0.

UNK remains at .500 (7-7) for the year and is now 6-4 in RMAC play. The Eagles are also at .500 (4-4-1) and are 2-4-1 in league games.

In the second game, UNK ended an 18-inning scoreless streak, dating back to Sunday's first game with Mesa State, by scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

However, the damage could've been much worse for Chadron as the Lopers had the bases full with no outs. Williams, in relief of Cassie Humphrey, plunked freshman Cassie Keck (Blair) to load the bases, then walked freshman Kelsey Smith (Blair) to finally put UNK on the board.

Reverting to her first game form, Williams struck out the next three Lopers to keep the score 2-1 Chadron.

The Lopers finally got to Williams in the seventh as McCook senior Michelle Gaunt (2 for 4) led off with an infield single and was sacrificed to second by Lincoln sophomore Alissa Larsen.

That brought Langerak (Erie, Colo.) to the plate, who hit a team-high 12 homers last spring but was still looking for her first round tripper of 2008. The homerless streak would end at 14 games as Langerak (2 for 3, two runs) managed to hit a ball to left center that just got out of the park.

Freshman Jessie Thomas moved to 3-0 as she threw two innings of scoreless relief. The Yutan native had a sixth inning similar to Williams as she entered the game with runners on first and second and no outs. After walking a batter, Thomas got two strikeouts and a fielder's choice to end threat.

In the first game, junior Erica Colbert hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to provide the winning margin. Williams, a transfer from Division I Coastal Carolina (S.C.), gave up just three hits and two walks to win her third game of the year.

Keck (3 for 3) was the only Loper to get a hit off of Williams with sophomore Laura Gormley (Omaha Northwest) getting hitting twice to officially end the game 0 for 1.

Senior Amanda Bell fell to 3-5 despite allowing only five hits. She fanned seven and walked one before giving way to Thomas after 5.1 innings.

UNK plays four games at Adams State this weekend, then heads to Hays, Kan., next Tuesday for a doubleheader with West Texas A & M.

Three former Huskers on ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame

The National Football Foundation (NFF) announced today the names of 75 players and eight coaches who comprise the 2008 Football Bowl Subdivision Ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. Among the players included on the ballot are former Nebraska greats Trev Alberts, Will Shields and Grant Wistrom.

The ballot will be mailed this week to more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers, and those votes will be submitted to the NFF's Honors Court. The Hall of Fame Class will be announced on ESPN News on May 1, and inducted at the National Football Foundation's Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 9 in New York City.

To be eligible for the ballot, players must have been named a First Team All-America by a major/national selector as recognized and utilized by the NCAA for their consensus All-America teams; played their last year of intercollegiate football at least 10 years prior; played within the last 50 years and cannot be currently playing professional football.

Once nominated for consideration, all player candidates are submitted to one of eight District Screening Committees, depending on their geographic location, which conducts a vote to determine who will appear on the ballot and represent their respective districts. Each year, 15 candidates, who are not selected for the Hall of Fame, will be named automatic holdovers and will bypass the district screening process and automatically appear on the ballot the following year.

Nebraska is well-represented in the College Football Hall of Fame with 13 former players and six former coaches enshrined. The Huskers' most recent inductee was 1983 Heisman winner Mike Rozier who became the 19th Husker honoree in 2006.

GISH varsity and JV games rescheduled

Because of some field construction in Lincoln, the Grand Island varsity and JV baseball games with Lincoln Southeast, scheduled for March 20, have been moved to March 18th. The varsity doubleheader will be at 5 p.m. at Sherman while the JV will play one game at 5 p.m.

G.I. Power wins 15-and-under national qualifier

The G.I. Juniors G.I. Power 15 volleyball team won the 124-team tournament in that age group at the Colorado Crossroads Junior Olympic National Qualifier in Denver. The win qualifies the team for the 2008 USA Volleyball Junior Olympics Girls Volleyball Championship to be June in Dallas.

The team won the championship match of the gold bracket Monday in dramatic fashion, claiming a 26-28, 25-22, 16-14 victory over Oklahoma Peak. Oklahoma Peak had four match points with a 14-10 lead in the decisive game, only to see the G.I. Power reel off the final six points.

G.I. Power finished 11-0 in the three-day tournament including a 25-3, 25-0 win over Austin Performance in pool play. The team won four matches in bracket play Monday, including a 25-17, 25-14 win over Club Utah of Salt Lake City, before eliminating Florida's Champions Elite 25-23, 25-12 in the semifinals.

The team is made up of Grand Island Central Catholic players. The players on the team were Bailey Baxter, Katie Brand, Steph Brand, Kadee Korgel, Liz McGowan, Jamie Partington, and Jessica Wojcik. The team is coached by Shauna Birchard and Jody Gavers.

UNK adds another athlete to NCAA Indoor meet

KEARNEY The Nebraska-Kearney track and field team will now be sending six athletes (four women, two men) to the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships this Friday and Saturday at Mankato, Minn.

The initial list of qualifiers came out early last week. A few qualifiers couldn't make the trip to Minnesota so senior distance runner Jacquelyn Dibbern, picked as an alternate in the initial list, will compete in the meet instead.

The York native met the standard this year at 5,000 meters in a school-record time of 17:35.03 and will compete at 6 p.m. Saturday.

HC basketball game coverage announced

Hastings College will play in the first round of NAIA Division II national tournament at 2:15 p.m. Thursday. Coverage of the game will be available on HCworldnews.com and HCTV, Channel 6, (Charter Communications in Hastings) The game will also be broadcast on KFKX, 90.1 FM.

The Broncos are a No. 2 seed and will face the Tornados from King College, Bristol, Tenn., in the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa.