The abbreviated Legion Baseball season begins Thursday. The Runza Seniors will open their season at home against Grand Island Home Federal in a double-header at Memorial Field. Frist pitch for game one is 5:00. Both games of today double-header can be heard on your long time home of Kearney Legion baseball, KGFW and online at KGFW.com. The Post 52 Juniors open their season at a four day tournament in Lincoln. They are taking on Lincoln Southwest at 11:00, and Papillion-LaVista at 1:30. Both of those games are being played at Den Hartog Field. The Post 52 Juniors’ first home games are Thursday, June 24th when they host Hastings in a double-header at Memorial Field. The Jerseys Seniors and Five Points Juniors open their season at St. Paul. The Juniors will take the field at 5:30, the seniors game will follow around 8:00. Five Points’ home opener is this Saturday, they will host Grand Island in a double-header at Memorial Field. The Jerseys Seniors first home game is Friday, June 26th when they host Minden. Due to current restrictions attendance at games at Kearney’s Memorial Field will be limited to immediate family members only, but that restriction will end Monday. Find more at BASEBALLKEARNEY.COM
The schedules for the UNK volleyball team, and soccer team, were released Wednesday by the MIAA.
The volleyball team’s adjusted schedule has the Lopers playing 20 conference matches, 10 at home, and 10 on the road. The NCAA’s 20-game cap at the Division II level is meant to help alleviate costs brought on by the Covid-19 crisis. Teams can play multiple matches on a date, so UNK and many other schools are aiming to combine a weekend schedule onto a single day. That would open up dates for possible non-conference action. If some switches are made the Lopers could begin the year as scheduled at the Colorado School of Mines Tournament (September 4-5) with opponents to be determined. UNK is hopeful their annual home tournament can take place the following weekend (September 11-12) but that is TBD as well. The first scheduled home match is September 18th against Emporia State. The MIAA Tournament, which was moved to Kansas City last fall, returns to campus this season. That event will be held the week of November 16-21. Currently going through voluntary workouts, the Lopers report to fall camp in mid-August.
The UNK women’s soccer team’s adjusted schedule has the Lopers opening the fall at home against the Washburn Ichabods. The Lopers will host the Bods Sunday, September 13th. The revised schedule hasn’t changed too much from the original but UNK does lose four non-conference games as well as a non-league contest vs. Emporia State. The Lopers home slate includes games against Emporia State (Sept. 25th), Newman (Oct. 2nd), Central Oklahoma (Oct. 4th), Northwest Missouri State (Oct. 9th), Missouri Western State (Oct. 11th) and Fort Hays State (Nov. 1st). Conference action will begin wrapping up Sunday, November 8th, with “Flex Weekend”, as the top eight teams in the league standings will face each other. The eighth seed will travel to the first place team, number two hosts seven etc. The four winners advance to the MIAA Tournament at the highest remaining seed on November 13 and 15. The schools that are in places nine through 12 will play on November 8th as well with the match ups based on geographic proximity. UNK currently has home scrimmages vs. Nebraska Wesleyan (Aug. 22nd) and Central C.C.-Columbus (Aug. 29th). The team, currently going through voluntary workouts that began June 1st, and will report to fall camp in mid-August.
The UNK men’s basketball team on Wednesday announced the signing Patrick Fraser. The 6-5, 190 pound wing from of Australia will have four years of eligibility remaining. Fraser prepped at the Sydney Church of England Grammar School (commonly known as the “Shore School”), located on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales. This past season he averaged 18.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.7 steals and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 77% at the line and almost 40% from behind the arc. A two-time first-team all-conference selection he also was a New South Wales Under-18 and Under-20 representative. Fraser is UNK’s fourth recruit to date. The previously announced members of the class are junior guard Myles Arnold (Fontana, Calif.), freshman forward Thomas “TJ” Fritz (Wamego, Kan.) and junior forward Darrian Nebeker (West Jordan, Utah). Fraser joins junior Matt Brien (New Zealand) as UNK’s international players in 2020-21.
Barron Miles, Jr., the son of former Nebraska defensive back Barron Miles, is joining the Huskers as a walk-on this fall. Miles Jr played both ways for nationally touted Chandler, Arizona high school but plans to play receiver at Nebraska. He is already in Lincoln. Miles missed his sophomore and junior years due to FAI hip surgeries, but returned for a portion of his senior year
Shrine Bowl officials say everything is a go for the July 11th game to be played in Kearney. With outdoor gatherings able to have a maximum of 10,000 with 75% capacity starting July 1st, the Shrine game will likely sell tickets to the public. Previously, attendance was going to be limited to family members only. The Shrine Bowl committee will decide how many tickets will be available while observing social distancing guidelines for UNK’s 5,200-seat Cope Stadium. Rosters for the 62nd annual Shrine Game will be announced soon.
