Husker game time for NIT game with Mississippi

The Nebraska Cornhuskers will try to keep their season alive on Monday when they travel to Oxford, Miss., to take on the Mississippi Rebels in the second round of the 2008 Mastercard National Invitation Tournament. The game time has been set for an 8 p.m. tipoff and the contest will be seen nationally on ESPNU. It will be the Huskers' second telecast on ESPNU this season, as Nebraska defeated Arizona State, 62-47, in Lincoln in December on the network.

Nebraska is coming off a first-round win over Charlotte on Wednesday night. The Huskers held Charlotte to 22 points below their season average as the Niners shot less than 32 percent from the field to let Nebraska run away with the 67-48 victory. It was the eighth time this season, including the third time in the past seven games, that NU has held an opponent to less than 50 points. The Huskers, who own a 20-12 record, rank among the top 13 teams in the country in scoring defense, allowing 59.9 points per game.

Mississippi earned a chance to host its second straight NIT game after defeating UC Santa Barbara, 83-68, at Tad Smith Coliseum. Ole Miss owns a 22-10 record with the win Wednesday and is 15-2 at home this season. The Rebels are led by freshman Chris Warren's 15.5 points and 4.5 assists per game.

* BASEBALL

UNK sweeps two from New Mexico Highlands

KEARNEY The Nebraska-Kearney baseball team rallied from deficits of 5-1 and 4-0 to sweep the New Mexico Highlands Cowboys, 10-8 and 6-5 (8 innings), Thursday afternoon at Memorial Field.

This four-game RMAC series, already moved up a due to Easter, included two games Thursday because of impending bad weather Saturday.

UNK (12-13, 7-7 RMAC) has won five in a row while the Cowboys (13-15, 2-12 RMAC) see a five-game win streak snapped.

In game one, the Lopers trailed 5-1 after two innings but scored four in the third and five in the fifth to come back for the win. Junior Ryan Sheldon overcame a rocky start seven hits and five runs in the first two innings to throw his first complete game of the season.

The Kearney High graduate struck out a season-high 11 to help him work around 14 hits. He is now 4-2 on the year and among the RMAC strikeout leaders (42).

A balanced offensive attack featured 11 total hits with seven different Lopers having at least one RBI. Senior shortstop Tyler Keeble went 2 for 3 with two RBIs while senior catcher Griff Watson was 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

For the first five innings of game two, UNK was shut out by Highlands' redshirt freshman Kohoku Piho. The slight right hander from Hawaii allowed just three hits over the first five innings but the Lopers scored four in the sixth to tie things up.

After senior Jeff Foster worked a 1-2-3 eighth, UNK got something going in the bottom of the inning when senior Chris Gillaspy hit a one-out single to center. Keeble (3 for 4, two RBIs) would sacrafice him over to second and give junior Brad Hull a chance to win the game.

But, Richard Nicasio would plunk Hull and the hero for UNK would have to be Blair junior Kyle Smith.

Coming into the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the eighth, Smith blooped the first pitch he saw to short right field. The Highlands' second baseman and two out fielders converged on the ball but no one caught it, allowing Gillaspy to score the winning run.

* COLLEGE WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS

NU'S Parsons the Big 12 Co-Gymnast of the Week

IRVING, Texas Nebraska senior Emily Parsons was honored as Big 12 Co-Gymnast of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday. Parsons was recognized for the second time this year and a Big 12-record 11th time in her career, and shares the award with Oklahoma's Kiara Redmond-Sturms.

Parsons, a nine-time All-American, won four event titles against Iowa State last Friday. Parsons finished first on vault (9.95), beam (9.875), floor (9.925) and the all-around (39.525). The St. Charles, Mo., native led the 14th-ranked Huskers to a 196.175-194.15 victory over Iowa State and upped her career event crown total to 111, including 26 this season.

Redmond-Sturms cruised to her Big 12-leading ninth all-around title, leading the undefeated Sooners to their program-best 17th straight win. Her event titles were highlighted by 9.95 on floor and 9.875 on bars, and the All-American has won 36 event titles on the year, leading all Big 12 gymnasts.

In addition, OU's Kristin Smith was honored as Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week.

Nebraska travels to Penn State this Friday, March 21, for a quadrangular with the Nittany Lions, Maryland and Rutgers. Competition is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (CST) at PSU's Rec Hall.

* SOFTBALL

CNGSA announces new date, venue for clinic

The CNGSA Girl's Softball Clinic will be April 6 at the Ryder Park Softball Complex. The 5-6, 7-8 and 9-10 year old age divisions will run from 1-2:30 p.m. and the 11-12, 13-14 and 15-16 year old age divisions will be from 3-4:30 p.m. The clinic will be on Fields 1, 2 and 3. Field 1 and Field 2 are east of the Armory and Field 3 is north of the Armory.

HC drops pair of games in Arizona

Hastings College dropped a pair of games late Wednesday night at the Tucson Invitational in Tucson, Arizona. The Broncos are currently 2-4 at the Invite and 9-9 on the season.

Hastings lost to No. 1-ranked California Baptist 11-0 and then lost the nightcap to Waldorf College 5-3. Chelsey Woodside pitched game one for the Broncos while Stacey Paladino was on the mound in game two.

* COLLEGE TENNIS

NU women down Loyola Marymount

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. Playing in its first outdoor match all season, the Nebraska women's tennis team defeated the Loyola Marymount Lions 6-1 on Saturday afternoon in Newport Beach, Calif. The Huskers, who played their first 13 matches of the season indoors, adjusted well to the outdoor conditions and came away with a emphatic victory, improving their record to 13-1 on the season. The 13 wins match their win total from all of last season when the Huskers went 13-9, and is one of the best starts in team history.