SPORTS UPDATE 6/7/13

Ohio Valley League Baseball: After an off day, the Hoptown Hoppers return to action this evening on the road against league leader Du Bois County. First pitch for tonight’s game at 6 pm.

Other action has Owensboro at Fulton and Madisonville at Marion.

Forcht Bank/KHSAA State Baseball: Semi final action has Henderson County meeting Mercer County at 5 this evening, with Pleasure Ridge Park against Central Hardin in the nightcap.

Rawlings/KHSAA State Softball: 2^nd region representative Livingston Central is playing an elimination game late this morning against Magoffin County.

Winners bracket action saw Greenwood improve to 41-0 with a 13-0 5 inning win over Notre Dame, while Owensboro Catholic defeated Ashland 5-1. 1^st region winner Lone Oak defeated Scott County 5-1.

Play in the double elimination tournament continues throughout the day.

To keep up with all the scores, log on to khsaa.org.

Major League Baseball: The Cincinnati Reds open a weekend series with the team that has MLB’s best record, the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ballpark. Pre game coverage begins at 5:40 this evening on News/Talk WHOP.

Other National League action has the Chicago Cubs meeting Pittsburgh and Atlanta is at Los Angeles.

NFL: Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Farve says his parting with Green Bay was messy when he left following the 2007 season. Speaking with a Buffalo radio station, Farve took responsibility for how his departure took place and said his relationship with former backup signal caller and current Packers starter Aaron Rodgers has been mended.

SPORTS HEADLINES 6/7/13

Hoppers Baseball: The Hoptown Hoppers home game with DuBois County was rained out last night. The game will be made up Monday night at 7:05 at Hopkinsville High’s Tiger Field. The two teams will play this evening at DuBois County.

Also last night, the Madisonville-Marion and Fulton-Owensboro games were rained out.

Tonight in the OVL: Owensboro at Fulton and Madisonville goes to Marion.

Forcht Bank/KHSAA State Baseball: Thursday’s quarterfinal games saw Pleasure Ridge Park edge St. X 3-2 and Central Hardin defeated Harrison County 6-1.

Today’s semi finals: Henderson County meets Mercer County and Pleasure Ridge Park goes against Central Hardin.

Rawlings/KHSAA State Softball: 2^nd region representative Livingston Central lost to 3^rd region winner Owensboro Catholic 14-2 in 6 innings. Top ranked and undefeated Greenwood improved to 40-0 on the season with a 7-1 win over South Laurel, 1^st region winner Lone Oak defeated Central Hardin 4-0.

Today’s first games have Livingston Central meeting Magoffin County in an elimination game at 11 am.

Winner’s games have Greenwood meeting Notre Dame, Lone Oak against Scott County and Owensboro Catholic playing Ashland, all at 9 am.

High School Basketball: The Kentucky Junior All Star boys and girls meet their Indiana counterparts this evening in the first of a two game series. The games this evening are played at Greenfield, IN, with the Kentucky games tomorrow evening at St. X High School in Louisville. Hopkinsville’s Tra Edwards is a member of the Kentucky junior all stars.

The Kentucky-Indiana senior all star series is set for next weekend.

College Baseball: Vanderbilt and Louisville will go through final workouts today before opening Super Regional play tomorrow evening at Hawkins Field in Nashville. First pitch is at 6 pm.

Super Regional play begins today with South Carolina at North Carolina, Rice at NC State, LSU hosts Oklahoma and UCLA is at Cal State Fullerton.

College Football: Athlon Sports has released its pre season top 25 poll. Defending national champion Alabama is ranked number one to start the season, followed by Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia and South Carolina. The rest of the top 10 are: Clemson, Stanford, Texas A&M, Louisville and Notre Dame.

In all, 6 Southeastern Conference schools are in the top 25, with LSU 12^th and Florida 13^th.

Four members of Kentucky’s football team all announced plans to leave the program Thursday. Receivers DeMarcus Sweat and Bookie Cobbins, along with redshirt safety Sterling Wright and cornerback Shawn Blaylock all announced exit plans. A UK spokesman gave no reason for the players departures.

NFL: The Tennessee Titans announced Thursday they have waived veteran center Eugene Amano. Amano spent nine seasons and played 124 games for the Titans. The Titans also announced they have reached terms with third round draft pick, linebacker Zaviar Gooden from Missouri. Terms were not disclosed.

PGA Tour: Davis Love III, Stuart Appleby and Martin Flores are among six golfers tied for the lead at 4 under par 66 heading into today’s second round of the St. Jude Classic in Memphis. Former UK golfer Steve Flesch is tied for 27^th at 1 under 69, while Nashville native Brandt Snedeker is at even par 70.

The Champions Tour began its second major of the season Thursday with the Regions Tradition in Birmingham. Jeff Sluman fired a 7 under 65 to lead Fred Couples by one stroke, with Duffy Waldorf and Peter Senior two shots back.

Franklin’s Kenny Perry is tied for 9^th at 3 under 69 and Senior PGA winner, Paducah’s Russ Cochran is at one under par 71. Round 2 is scheduled for today.

HOPPERS RAINED OUT 6/6/13

The Hoptown Hoppers Ohio Valley League baseball game with DuBois County, scheduled for 7:05 this evening at Hopkinsville High's Tiger Field has been postponed due to wet grounds.  The game will be made up Monday evening at 7:05 pm.

SPORTS UPDATE 6/6/13

Hoppers Baseball:   The Hoptown Hoppers return home tonight to face the league leading DuBois County Bombers. Former Hopkinsville High and current WKU pitcher Justin Hageman is slated to start on the mound for the Hoppers.  A decision on whether the game will be played is expected by 2:30 this afternoon.

If the game is played, first pitch is set for 7:05 at Hopkinsville High’s Tiger Field, with the official Hoppers pre game show on the air at 6:45 on News/Talk WHOP and online at whopam.com.

Other OVL action this evening: Madisonville's game at Marion has been rained out, with no decision made on Owensboro's home game with Fulton.

Forcht Bank/KHSAA State Baseball Tournament: Today’s quarterfinal games have a battle of Louisville as Pleasure Ridge Park meets St. X, with Central Hardin meeting Harrison County at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington.

Rawlings/KHSAA State Softball Tournament: Play begins today at Jack Fisher Park in Owensboro. Opening round games have 2^nd region winner Livingston Central meeting 3^rd region winner Owensboro Catholic at 7 pm.

5 pm games include 1^st region winner Lone Oak meeting 5^th region winner Central Hardin and top ranked and undefeated (39-0) 4^th region winner Greenwood meeting South Laurel.

College Football: The website CatsIllustrated.com reports Kentucky sophomore linebacker Demarius Rancifer will not return this fall. Rancifer’s high school coach says Rancifer was told by the UK coaching staff he would not see playing time this season. Rancifer says he intends to transfer.

Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive tells ESPN he will make a decision on how much longer he will stay on the job in the next few months. Slive says he will talk with his family and the SEC presidents before making a decision on retirement plans. Slive—who has been commissioner for 10 years—turns 73 July 26^th.

Major League Baseball: The St. Louis Cardinals wrap up a series with Arizona this evening, while the Atlanta Braves open a series at Los Angeles. Cincinnati and the Chicago Cubs both have the day off.

SPORTS HEADLINES 6/6/13

Hoppers Baseball:   The Hoptown Hoppers got on the winning ways for the 2013 Ohio Valley League season last night with a 5-2 win at Fulton.

Riley Sanderson allowed just one hit over eight innings, walking 1 and striking out 7 in getting the pitching win. Three Hoppers had multiple hit games as Mason Colquitt, John Beary and Brandon Boggetto each had two hits.

The Hoppers go to 1-2 on the season with the win, while Fulton falls to 1-3. Hoptown is scheduled to host DuBois County tonight at 7:05 at Hopkinsville High’s Tiger Field, with pre game coverage at 6:45 on News/Talk WHOP and online at whopam.com.

Elsewhere in the OVL last night: Madisonville improved to 3-0 on the season with a 17-9 win over Owensboro, while DuBois County improved to 4-0 with a 15-4 win over Marion.

Tonight’s games have Fulton at Owensboro and Madisonville at Marion.

Former Hopkinsville High and current Western Kentucky pitcher Justin Hageman will learn today if he is selected in the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft. Hageman has been bothered during his just completed season in Bowling Green by a shoulder injury, but threw very effectively in his last several starts of the season. If you remember, three years ago Hageman was selected in the 32^nd round by the Kansas City Royals.

Forcht Bank/KHSAA State Baseball Tournament: Quarterfinal action saw Henderson County shut out Collins High 3-0 and Mercer County defeated Prestonsburg 6-2. Henderson County meets Mercer County in the first semi final game Friday in Lexington.

Today’s quarterfinal games have a battle of Louisville as Pleasure Ridge Park meets St. X, with Central Hardin meeting Harrison County.

Rawlings/KHSAA State Softball Tournament: Play begins today at Jack Fisher Park in Owensboro. Opening round games have 2^nd region winner Livingston Central meeting 3^rd region winner Owensboro Catholic at 7 pm.

5 pm games include 1^st region winner Lone Oak meeting 5^th region winner Central Hardin and top ranked and 4^th region winner Greenwood meeting South Laurel. The double elimination tournament goes through Saturday.

College Basketball: The Lexington Herald Leader reported Wednesday the son of the University of Kentucky’s track coach will be a walk on next season. E. J. Floreal played last season for Dunbar High School after transferring from California, when his father Edrick left Stanford to become Kentucky’s track coach.

The 6-5 Floreal averaged 12.9 points and 10.5 rebounds in his senior year for Dunbar. He had interest from several schools including Tennessee.

Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean has admitted the Hoosiers have had a hard time finding a replacement for Kentucky on its basketball schedule. Inside the Hall reported earlier this week that Crean said not having UK on the schedule doesn’t help because Crean doesn’t want too many non conference road games.

The teams have not played since 2011 when Indiana won on a last second shot by Christian Warford. The series had been played every year since the 1969-70 season.

College Football: Kentucky gets its 11th football commitment for 2014 as Blinn Junior College linebacker Ryan Flannigan made his pledge Wednesday. Flannigan signed with Texas Tech out of high school. The 6-3 230 pound Flannigan is considered a three star prospect and ranked as the 2^nd best outside linebacker prospect in the nation.

Austin Peay named its new athletics director Wednesday. Derek van der Merwe comes to Clarksville from Central Michigan University, where he served as deputy athletics director and chief operating officer. van der Merwe replaces long time AD Dave Loos, who had those duties along with being men’s basketball coach. Loos relinquished the AD duties earlier this year.

van der Merwe is the second person from CMU to come to Austin Peay this year, joining new Governors football coach Kirby Cannon, who was an assistant coach at CMU.

Golf: The Tennessean reports Nashville native Brandt Snedeker has been diagnosed with a rare bone disorder. It’s a condition called low bone turnover which is causing Snedeker to crack his ribs.

Snedeker, who has battled rib injuries in the past, was diagnosed three months ago. He is self injecting himself with the drug Forteo daily. The drug is based on a natural human hormone which stimulates cells to cause bones to grow. The PGA Tour has approved the drug’s use. Snedeker is competing in the St. Jude Classic in Memphis beginning today.