High School Baseball-Thursday scores: Hopkinsville doubled up Russellville 14-7, Springfield, TN defeated Todd Central 15-1, Trigg County run ruled Madisonville 12-0 in 5 innings, Caldwell County over Hopkins Central 5-1, Crittenden County over Lyon County 11-6, Henderson County blanked Owensboro 10-0, Henry County, TN defeated Calloway County 4-1, Murray defeated Marshall County 4-2, Paducah Tilghman defeated Ballard Memorial 8-2 and Hickman County 11-5.

Today’s games: Christian County meets Franklin County, with Union County playing Ryle, Henderson County meeting Pleasure Ridge Park, Muhlenberg County meeting Whitefield Academy and Lone Oak going against Lexington Christian at the Louisville Invitational Tournament.

Hopkinsville hosts Clarksville Northeast, University Heights travels to West Creek, TN, Logan County plays West Jessamine and Grayson County at the South Warren Invitational, Dawson Springs at Lyon County, Madisonville hosts Bowling Green, Crittenden County goes to Murray.

High School Softball-Thursday scores: 18^th ranked Madisonville defeated 9^th ranked Christian County 7-3, University Heights over Logan County 8-3, Hopkins Central run ruled Fort Campbell 18-0 in 3 innings, Todd Central run ruled McLean County 14-1 in 5 innings, Livingston Central shut out Murray 2-0, Henderson County run ruled Webster County 12-2 in 5 innings, Marshall County shut out Calloway County 10-0, Mayfield won a pair from Fulton County 1-0 and 5-4, Paducah Tilghman defeated Hickman County 3-1, Muhlenberg County over Grayson County 5-2.

Today’s games: University Heights hosts McLean County, Hopkinsville at Webster County, Fort Campbell goes to Dawson Springs, Caldwell County is at Crittenden County, Russellville at Hart County, Logan County hosts Ohio County, Todd Central meets Russell County, Calloway County hosts Carlisle County, Henderson County hosts Evansville Reitz, Paducah Tilghman hosts Lone Oak.

Christian County is ranked 9^th in the latest Kentucky Softball Coaches Association Top 25, which has Greenwood first again this week. Owensboro Catholic is 4^th, Lone Oak 5^th, Reidland 8^th, Bowling Green 14^th, Marshall County 16^th, Madisonville 18^th, Livingston Central is 20^th, with Henderson County 25^th.

Lone Oak is 9^th and Henderson County is ranked 10^th in the newest Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association Top 25, where Central Hardin is ranked first this week.

The first KHSAA Bass Fishing State Championship is getting underway today at KenLake Marina in Hardin. 45 teams advanced from the four regional tournaments to the state competition which concludes tomorrow.

College Basketball: The Courier Journal reports Western Kentucky signed two junior college players Thursday. Aaron Adeoye comes to the Hill from John A. Logan College in Illinois. The Marion, IL native played his first year of college hoops for Ball State and will have two years eligibility remaining.

Daouda Soumaoro comes to Bowling Green from Western Iowa Community College. He is a native of Mali, but has sat out the last two years because of ACL issues.

The Courier Journal reports Louisville coach Rick Pitino will announce the hiring of a new assistant coach today. Kareem Richardson left the program to become the head coach at Missouri-Kansas City. The front runner is reportedly Mike Balado, who was an assistant on Richard Pitino’s staff at Florida International.

College Baseball:   Austin Peay plays an Ohio Valley doubleheader today at Eastern Kentucky, Murray State opens an OVC series at Tennessee Tech, Western Kentucky opens a Sun Belt series at Arkansas Little Rock.

Minor League Baseball: The Bowling Green Hot Rods opened a three game set with Burlington with a 4-2 win. Game two is this evening at Bowling Green Ballpark.

The Nashville Sounds defeated Memphis in the first of a four game set 5-2, with game two this evening at Greer Stadium.

NHL: The Nashville Predators lost at Detroit 5-2, giving the Predators their ninth loss in the last 10 games. Nashville closes out the season tomorrow night at Columbus.

NFL: This year’s draft will be remembered as the draft of the linemen. The Tennessee Titans used their first round pick to select Alabama offensive lineman Chance Warmack. Warmack is the first offensive lineman taken in the draft by the Titans since selecting Brad Hopkins with the 13^th overall pick in 1993.

NFL: The 2013 draft begins this evening in New York and many experts say they don’t have a feel on who will be the number one pick. The Kansas City Chiefs have the first overall pick, with the Tennessee Titans having the 10^th overall pick. Titans general manager Ruston Webster is like many other GM’s in trying to figure out who he will take with his first selection.

MLB: Games this evening include the Cincinnati Reds opening a weekend series in the nation’s capital against the Washington Nationals and the Chicago Cubs take on the Miami Marlins.

Minor League Baseball: The Bowling Green Hot Rods open a three game series with the Burlington Bees at Bowling Green Ballpark, while the Nashville Sounds open a weekend series with the Memphis Redbirds at Greer Stadium.

NBA: Three games are on the playoff schedule this evening. Eastern Conference action has Miami taking on Milwaukee, where the Heat lead the series 2-0. Brooklyn meets Chicago, with the Nets and Bulls tied one game each.

Western Conference play has the LA Clippers visiting Memphis, with a 2-0 lead in the series.

PGA Tour: First round play is underway at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans being contested at the TPC of Louisiana.

High School Baseball: Hopkinsville travels to Russellville, Fort Campbell entertains Houston County, TN, Trigg County welcomes Madisonville, Todd Central goes to Springfield, TN, Caldwell County at Hopkins Central, Lyon County at Crittenden County, Graves County at Lone Oak, Marshall County hosts Murray, Mayfield hosts St. Mary, Livingston Central at Heath, Henderson County hosts Owensboro, Calloway County goes to Henry County, TN.

High School Softball: 7^th ranked Christian County hosts Madisonville, Hopkinsville goes to Russellville, University Heights hosts Logan County, Fort Campbell is at Hopkins Central, Trigg County welcomes Crittenden County, Todd Central hosts McLean County, Caldwell County hosts Lyon County.

Livingston Central at Murray, Webster County goes to Henderson County, Muhlenberg County at Grayson County, Calloway County is at Marshall County, Mayfield hosts Fulton County in a doubleheader, Paducah Tilghman at Hickman County, Graves County hosts Ballard Memorial,

College Basketball: The Kentucky New Era reports former Christian County player Nick Riley will play his last two collegiate years for Division Two Fort Hays State College in Kansas.

Riley was a member of the 2011 state championship Colonel team, who originally signed with Nesdai Junior College in Minnesota. Riley played one season there before transferring to Northwest Technical College in Kansas last year, where he averaged almost 11 points, 6 ½ rebounds and four assists last season.

A member of Louisville’s national championship team announced Wednesday he will return for his senior season. Russ Smith was the Cardinals leading scorer at 18.7 points per game. Smith said after much deliberation, he decided it was best to come back for his senior year and get his degree.

Coach Rick Pitino said when Smith leaves Louisville, he will be remembered as one of the most successful Cardinal players.

College Baseball: Austin Peay won a doubleheader over Evansville 3-1 and 3-2. Former Christian County pitcher Cole Isom started the first game for Evansville, going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs-2 earned on five hits. Isom struck out five and walked seven in taking the loss. Isom is now 2-5 on the season.

College Softball: 19^th ranked Kentucky avenged an earlier loss to Louisville in defeating the 8^th ranked Cardinals 2-1. UK ended Louisville’s 15 game win streak. Former Christian County standout Griffin Joiner went 0-3 in the game.

Minor League Baseball: The Bowling Green Hot Rods were unable to sweep Fort Wayne last night, falling 3-2. The Hot Rods open a three game series with the Burlington Bees at Bowling Green Ballpark this evening.

Following an off day, the Nashville Sounds open a four game series with the Memphis Redbirds this evening at Greer Stadium.

NHL: The Nashville Predators begin their final road trip of the season with a game in Detroit against the Red Wings this evening. First puck drops at 6:30.

NFL: The 2013 draft begins tonight in New York and as it does, Tennessee Titans general manager Ruston Webster is playing out mock drafts in his head. Webster tells the Tennessean he’s still not sure what players he will draft. The Titans have the 10^th overall pick in the first round.

The University of Louisville national champion basketball team will have one of its standouts return for his senior season. Russ Smith announced at a news conference this afternoon he will come back and help defend the national title.

Smith was the Cardinals leading scorer this past season at 18.7 points per game. Smith’s father had said following Louisville’s win over Michigan that he would turn pro. The younger Smith said at the news conference he wanted to be the first in his family to graduate from college.

Coach Rick Pitino said when Smith leaves U of L, he will be remembered as one of the most successful Cardinal players ever.

High School Baseball/Softball: Pairings for the Forcht Bank/KHSAA State Baseball and the Rawlings/KHSAA State Softball tournaments were announced Tuesday.

Baseball: The 2^nd region winner will play the 14^th region winner Monday June 3^rd at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington, with game time to be announced later. Also on that day, the Region 3 winner would play the 12^th region winner.

The 4^th region winner plays the 7^th region winner on Tuesday June 4^th, with the 1^st region winner to play the 5^th region winner. Times will be announced later.

The quarterfinals will be played Wednesday June 5^th and Thursday June 6^th, with the semi finals Friday June 7^th and the final on Saturday June 8^th.

Softball: All first round games will be played Thursday June 6^th at Jack Fisher Park in Owensboro. The 2^nd region winner meets the 3^rd region winner at 7 pm, with the 1^st region winner playing the 5^th region winner and the 4^th region winner plays the 13^th region winner at 5 pm. The tournament continues with winner and loser bracket games on Friday June 7^th, with the championship game to be played Saturday June 8^th.

MLB: Games this afternoon include Cincinnati hosting the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis at Washington and Atlanta at Colorado.

NBA: There’s three more playoff games are on tap this evening, starting with the defending Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder looking to build off a lopsided Game 1 win over the Houston Rockets. The Atlanta Hawks will try to pull even with the Indiana Pacers, while the nightcap features the San Antonio Spurs hosting the Los Angeles Lakers. San Antonio won the opener of that series on Sunday.