Sports News-September 20, 2012
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Another night, another milestone for Derek Jeter. The New York Yankees shortstop led off the bottom of the first inning of last night's nightcap against the Toronto Blue Jays with a single, giving him 200 hits for the season. This is Jeter's eighth career 200-hit season, tying him with Lou Gehrig for the most by a Yankee. The first-inning single also extended Jeter's hitting streak to 13 games. Jeter, 38, is the oldest player to collect at least 200 hits in a season since Paul Molitor did so at age 40 in 1996. Jeter is the sixth-oldest player to reach the 200-hit plateau. He's also just the fourth player to record a 200-hit season 14 or more years after doing it for the first time. Ty Cobb, Molitor and Pete Rose are the others. Teammate, Ichiro Suzuki went 7-8 in the doubleheader and had a go-ahead single in the eighth inning to help the Yankees complete the sweep of the Toronto with a 2-1 win that ensured they remained atop the American League East. Suzuki made a difficult catch with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of the opener to preserve a lead for Andy Pettitte in a 4-2 victory.
The third ranked Nebraska volleyball team fell to the fourth ranked Penn State Nittany Lions 3-1 last night in State College, Pennsylvania. Scores of the match had the Nittany Lions winning 23-25, 28-26, 25-17, 26-24. In the first Big Ten showdown of the season, Gina Mancuso led the Huskers with twelve kills on the night. Meghan Haggerty notched eleven kills, Hayley Thramer recorded ten kills, and Hannah Werth tabbed eight of her own. Lauren Cook had 44 assists as the Huskers hit just .209 as a team. Werth led Nebraska with 16 digs. Penn State notched a .315 team hitting percentage. The Nittany Lions improve to 11-1 and are 1-0 in the Big Ten while N-U drops to 8-2 overall and are 0-1 in conference play. The Huskers return to action on Saturday as they travel to Ohio State to face the Buckeyes at 6:00.
The Creighton volleyball team fell to Kansas in five sets last night in Lawrence, Kansas. Scores of the match in favor of the host Jayhawks were 27-25, 25-21, 21-25, 19-25, 15-13. The Bluejays had its six-match win streak halted while falling to 10-2 on the year, while Kansas improved to 12-2 on the year. Creighton was paced by 15 kills and eleven blocks from sophomore Kelli Browning, her third double-double of the season. Teammates Leah McNary & Heather Thorson each had 14 kills, while Kate Elman recorded 21 digs and Melanie Jereb had 20 digs. The Bluejays had 62 kills, 78 digs and 20 blocks on .221 hitting, but were held without an ace for the first time in 2012. Creighton returns to MVC action this Saturday when it hosts Drake in a 5:00 match at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini says he'd rather not play Idaho State because of the disparity in the level of competition. Even the most optimistic Idaho State fan probably doesn't hold out much hope the FCS-level 1-1 Bengals can keep up with the 25th ranked 2-1 Huskers on Saturday. Idaho State coach Mike Kramer says he doesn't want his players to act like tourists, but he compares going to Nebraska for a football game to visiting Yellowstone or Mount Rushmore. Idaho State/Nebraska is one of more than 100 games this year matching a Football Championship Subdivision team against one from the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Bengals will earn 5% of their $12 million athletic budget in one afternoon. Nebraska gets a seventh home game to help balance its $83 million budget.
Following a 1-1 showing in the Creighton Invitational last week, the Creighton men's soccer team moved down to seventh in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll yesterday. The Jays remained the top-ranked team in the NSCAA Midwest Regional Rankings. The remaining four national polls have the Jays in varying spots throughout the Top-15. Creighton is ranked twelfth by College Soccer News, eleventh by Soccer America, and seventh by Soccer Times and TopDrawer Soccer. This week the Jays host Saint Louis on Saturday at 7:00.
Omaha Central basketball star Akoy Agau, a 6’9 forward and one of the state’s most sought-after prospects in more than a decade, has given his oral commitment to Louisville according to the Lincoln Journal Star. Agau said yes to Louisville coach Rick Pitino during an in-home visit last night. For now, this recruiting loss will certainly sting for Nebraska fans sensing that coach Tim Miles may have been closing in on Agau, who had a long list of scholarship offers and showed signs of significant interest with the Huskers. Agau has chosen a program that's won two national championships and been to nine Final Fours over a program that's still searching for its first NCAA Tournament victory. He averaged twelve points and seven rebounds last season in leading Omaha Central to a third straight Class ‘A’ State Championship. Agau can make his decision official by signing a letter of intent in November, the beginning of the early signing period.
The Norfolk Panthers boys & girls cross country teams have appeared in the Week Three Nebraska Cross Country Coaches Association Rankings. In the boys standings, Lincoln Southwest is number one while the Panthers are tenth. In the girls criteria, Kearney is in the top spot while Norfolk is tied for tenth.
The Omaha World Herald has updated its high school softball rankings. Millard West remains first in the “Nebraska Top 10” & Class “A” while Omaha Skutt is once again first in Class “B”. In Class “C”, Fairbury is the new number one and Wayne slips from fifth to sixth.
Local Schedule: Nfk High Vs. Lincoln High-5:00; Vs. Columbus-6:00 (Lincoln High VB Tri.); Nfk High at Yankton Inv. (CC-4:40); Nfk High at Lincoln East Inv. At Highlands GC (GG-8:00 AM); Nfk Cath at Wayne Inv. (GG-9:00 AM).
Friday Night: The top ranked in Class “C-1” 4-0 Norfolk Catholic football team visits Omaha World Herald second ranked 3-0 Wahoo High at 7:00. Pregame coverage at 6:30 on 106 KIX & 106KIX.com.
Saturday Morning: Sportstalk on 106 KIX & 106KIX.com from 9:00-10:00 AM from Hy-Vee West. Get the lowdown with the coaches.
Local Scores: Creighton 2 South Dakota St. 1 (W. Socc.).
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Minnesota 6 Cleveland 4
Final Detroit 6 Oakland 2
Final Tampa Bay 13 Boston 3
Final Kansas City 3 Chi White Sox 0
Final Texas 6 L.A. Angels 2
Final Baltimore 3 Seattle 1, 11 Innings
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Washington 3 L.A. Dodgers 1 (first game)
Final L.A. Dodgers 7 Washington 6 (second game)
Final Milwaukee 3 Pittsburgh 1
Final Atlanta 3 Miami 0
Final Philadelphia 3 N-Y Mets 2
Final Cincinnati 6 Chi Cubs 5, 11 Innings
Final St. Louis 5 Houston 0
Final Arizona 6 San Diego 2
Final San Francisco 7 Colorado 1
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