Monday April 1st Local Sports

TONIGHT:

== AM-1300 KGLO — NCAA women’s Elite Eight — Iowa vs. Baylor — pre-game 5:45, tipoff 6:00

 

 

GREENSBORO — The Iowa Hawkeye women bid for a trip to the Final Four tonight when they play top ranked Baylor in Greensboro. The Hawks earned their first trip to the Elite Eight since 1993 by rolling to a win over North Carolina State.

That’s Iowa coach Lisa Bluder. The Hawkeye interior duo of Megan Gustafson and Hannah Stewart face a difficult challenge against Baylor.

Gustafson hopes Iowa’s veteran nature is a plus against a team as talented as Baylor.

You can hear the Iowa-Baylor game on AM-1300 KGLO starting with the pre-game at 5:45, with the tipoff scheduled for 6 o’clock.

 

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Fred Hoiberg, the former NBA player who coached Iowa State and the Chicago Bulls, was hired Saturday to coach a Nebraska team that had big hopes this season but finished with a 19-17 record.

He has strong ties to the school, which announced his hiring four days after seventh-year coach Tim Miles was fired.

Hoiberg, dismissed by the Bulls in December, agreed to a seven-year contract paying a total of $25 million.

The 46-year-old Hoiberg was born in Lincoln and grandfather Jerry Bush was the Cornhuskers coach from 1954 to 1963. Another grandfather was a professor at Nebraska and his parents are graduates of the school.

Hoiberg went 115-155 from 2015-18 with the Bulls. Before that, he had a successful five-year run as Iowa State’s coach with an up-tempo, spread-the-floor offense. He went 115-56 and led the Cyclones to four straight NCAA Tournaments and two Big 12 tournament titles from 2010-2015.

Nebraska’s most recent regular-season conference championship came in 1950. The Huskers remain the only Power Five conference program to have never won an NCAA Tournament game.

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nelson Cruz hit his first homer with Minnesota, Michael Pineda was stellar in his first pitching appearance since 2017 and the Twins beat the Cleveland Indians 9-3 on Sunday.

Pineda had Tommy John surgery after his previous start in July 5, 2017 while with the New York Yankees, and this was his first time back on a big league mound. Pineda pitched four scoreless innings, striking out five with one hit and one walk.

Cruz, Byron Buxton and Willians Astudillo each drove in two runs for the Twins.

Carlos Santana had four hits for the Indians, including a three-run double. Cleveland hitters struck out 39 times in the three-game series.

Twins starters allowed one earned run in 17 1/3 innings in the season-opening series. Jose Berrios pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings Thursday, and Jake Odorizzi allowed one run in six innings Saturday. Berrios struck out 10 and Odorizzi 11, making Minnesota the second team since 1893 to open the season with their first two starts each striking out at least 10.

 

 

BOONE — The NIACC baseball team split a conference doubleheader on Sunday at DMACC in Boone. The Trojans pounded out 13 hits in the opener, scoring seven of their runs in the first three innings of a 13-4 win. Gabe Denton was 2-for-4 with a homer and three runs batted in, while Kyle Pike and Fox Leum each knocked in two. Michael Oh went six innings to pick up the win, striking out four. NIACC dropped the nightcap 9-8. NIACC is 10-11 overall and 3-3 in the conference and will play the third and fourth games of the series this afternoon.

 

 

ESTHERVILLE — The NIACC softball team opened up conference play Sunday with a doubleheader sweep at Iowa Lakes. In game one, Kaci Sherwood and Tayler Schmidt were each 3-for-4 with two runs batted in while Kaitlyn Carlson was 2-for-2 with two RBI in a 9-5 win. Kristen Peka picked up the victory, striking out 11. In game two, NIACC had seven runs in the second and three more in the third in a 15-9 victory. Sherwood was 2-for-5 with four RBI and picked up the win in the circle, going the first four and a third innings, striking out five. Alyssa Laxson was 2-for-4 with a homer and four runs batted in while Morgan Kelley and Ciana Sonberg also had home runs. NIACC is 10-6 overall and 2-0 in the conference and will travel to Iowa Central this afternoon before opening up the home portion of their schedule on Wednesday hosting Kirkwood.

 

 

WOODRIDGE, ILLINOIS — The North Iowa Bulls fell in the semifinal round of the Fraser Cup Tournament on Saturday in Woodridge Illinois. The Bulls made it into the semifinals after an 8-2 win over Helena to wrap up pool play on Friday night. Jarod Blackowiak scored twice while Carter Wagner had three assists. North Iowa then fell to eventual tournament champion Texas 3-1 in the semifinals on Saturday. Bryce Runyan had 34 saves to lead the Brahmas, while Blackowiak had the lone goal for the Bulls in the contest. The Brahmas went on to win the tournament, beating Lewiston/Auburn 2-1 in the championship game on Sunday.

 

 

AMES — Iowa State coach Matt Campbell says a solid foundation is in place and now it is about taking the next step. The Cyclones are coming off a second straight eight win season.

Campbell says taking the next step is about the little things.

Spring drills for Iowa State will conclude on April 20th, with this year’s spring schedule not including a spring football game.