Brooks Braga and Jay Fanta led the Eagles and each tallied 2 hits for La Crosse. Pitching 6.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 9 hits with 4 walks and 5 strikeouts, Tim Verthein took the loss on the mound. The Eagles fell to 33-10 on the season, while Aurora improved to 37-8. La Crosse (33-10) faces third-seeded North Park (32-13) at 1 p.m. Thursday in an elimination game. La Crosse saw its winning streak end at 10 games.

North Park suffered an 8-7 loss to sixth-seeded St. Scholastica (34-9), who will meet Aurora (37-8) at 7 p.m. Thursday in the winner’s bracket. Verthein surrendered nine hits over 6 2/3 innings and walked four and he gave up four hits in the second inning, including a two-run single to leftfielder Josh Davidson, the No. 7 hitter in the lineup.

The Eagles managed seven hits off Gay (8-0). They hit .356, scored 32 runs in three games in the WIAC tournament, and never came up with a key hit. Gay struck out the final two hitters of the inning to strand runners on second and third, although La Crosse scored once in the sixth, on a double and two singles. In the sixth inning, La Crosse’s offense came alive briefly against Gay.

On Adam Cordova’s single, Brooks Braga hit a one-out double and moved to third base. To score Braga, Fanta followed with a double and put runners on second and third. However, to get out of trouble and maintain a 2-1 lead, Gay struck out Zach Harazin and Brett Jacobson.

Verthein allowed nine hits and four walks in the loss, as he flirted with trouble throughout his start. In the eighth inning, the Spartans’ defense helped Gay after he started it by hitting hit Braga with a pitch. Cordova popped out at home plate and he was not able to get a sacrifice bunt down. Second baseman Carlos Olavarria made a spinning tag and throw to first for a double play and Gay then got Fanta (a .420 hitter) to hit a grounder.

The Committee on Infractions has placed all 13 of the university’s athletic teams on probation until April 18, 2016 and it has come down firmly on the Union school for “major violations” of NCAA legislation Thursday, while handing the women’s basketball team a postseason ban for the 2012-13 season.

In its 26-page report, the committee has detailed how Kean had lacked institutional control and failed to monitor its women’s basketball program, leading to extra benefits and impermissible financial aid for its student-athletes. The committee essentially confirmed the charges made by former athletic director Glenn Hedden last year.

The report found that student-athletes received about 17 percent of financial aid during that period; they made up less than 4 percent of Kean’s student body in 2010-2011. The former head coach also was involved in establishing a three credit-hour course to be offered in conjunction with her team’s summer trip to Spain, without input from the athletics administration. The committee determined that because the course could only be taken by the members of the team and was not available to other students, it was an extra benefit.

The NCAA report also cited that most of the infractions cited occurred in the women’s basketball program under former head coach Michele Sharp. She had led Kean to the national Division III playoffs six times and in January, she was fired from the position. The team’s 24-5 record in 2010-2011 will be vacated as part of the penalties. At the university, Sharp was reassigned to another position and she is still employed there.

The NCAA imposed a four-year “show-cause” period that restricts Sharp’s contacts with non-athletics department personnel and also requires her to attend ethics training if she is employed by another NCAA member institution. During the four-year period if she returns to coaching, she also would be suspended from the first two conference games of each season.

Kean will be required to develop a program to educate athletes and staff on NCAA rules and submit an annual compliance report as a condition of the school’s four-year probation.

The members of the Division III Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case include Dave Cecil, director of financial aid at Transylvania State; Amy Elizabeth Hackett, director of athletics at University of Puget Sound; Keith R. Jacques, chair and attorney at Woodman, Edmands, Danylik, Austin, Smith and Jacques and Mary Jo Gunning, director of athletics at Marywood University.

Nebraska has pulled off some big wins and suffered some humiliating defeats in their first season in the Big 10. The Cornhuskers are still stinging from their upset at the hands of Northwestern as they head into this critical late season tilt with a dangerous Michigan team.

Michigan dropped a tough game to their state rivals, Michigan State and they also lost to the Big 10′s perennial giant killer, the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Denard Robinson leads the Wolverines in passing and rushing this season and his ability to scramble, get out of the pocket and run, will make it tough on the Nebraska defenders.

Nebraska is no slouch when it comes to getting down and dirty with the running game. Taylor Martinez is subject to run on every down but he has scaled back his run first philosophy this season. Martinez has 768 yards rushing and an outside chance to rush for 1,000 yards this season.

Bo Pelini and his Cornhuskers enter this game after an emotional win over the Penn State Nittany Lions and that game might have taken a lot out of this team. The Penn State game was a raw and emotional affair that proved awkward but cleansing for the Penn State players.

Both teams have one game remaining after this weekend and both will take on rivals from their neighboring state. Nebraska will face the Iowa Hawkeyes and Michigan faces the Ohio State Buckeyes. It will be interesting to see how the professional handicappers will pick these games.

With Purdue at 30/1, March Madness odds have the Buckeyes at 4/1 to win the national championship.

Until losing a game recently to 14th ranked Wisconsin, the Buckeyes were the top team in the polls. Before playing against the Buckeyes this weekend, the Boilermakers will have to take on Wisconsin.

On this game for Purdue, the game against Wisconsin will likely have a large effect. The Boilermakers will have a lot of momentum when they play against Ohio State, if they come out on top. The Boilermakers will lose a lot of momentum and they could start a losing streak, however, if they can’t pull out the victory.

The Boilermakers the 18th best team in the nation in term of assists per game, as well as they rely on a lot of ball movement for their offense. They have only allowed their opponents to score more than 80 points one time this season as well as they also have a very solid defense.

Earlier this season the one time that the Boilermakers allowed a team to score 80 was against the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes looked like the far superior team as they won the game by 23 points. This should be a great matchup and look for the Buckeyes as they may try to employ a similar strategy what they used in their last game against the Boilermakers.

Tying the school record for singles wins in a season; Quigley’s win was his 45th singles win this season. He overwhelmed Mehdi Bouras, 7-6 (2), 6-2, while Musialek topped Ed Corrie of Texas, 6-1, 7-6 (4).

In the first set, Musialek went past Corrie, 6-1 but was down 4-2 in the second when the rain came.  There was a long delay in the game and when the game started off again, Musialek held serve and then broke Corrie en route to the tiebreaker. He won it 7-4.

In the first round of the 2011 NCAA Singles Championship, the University of Louisville’s Austen Childs overpowered Georgia’s 18th ranked Wil Spencer 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. In the second round Friday, Childs will face Kentucky’s Alex Musialek.

Quigley will play junior Marcel Thiemann of Ole Miss, who earned a win over Chris Kearney of California-Irvine by a 7-6 (4), 6-1.

On Thursday at 1 p.m. ET, the second round of the NCAA Singles Championships will resume. Until the NCAA Singles final on May 30, a round of singles competition will be played each day. The doubles event begins Thursday afternoon and concludes on May 30. Until late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, times are not expected to be set.

To arrive at the National Collegiate Athletic Association title game, Michigan beat North Dakota 2-0 and Minnesota-Duluth defeated Notre Dame 4-3 last night. Minnesota-Duluth is looking for its first national title, while it will be 10th championship for Michigan since 1948.

For Duluth (25-10-6), Jack Connolly, J.T. Brown, Mike Connolly and Kyle Schmidt had scored. To reach the semifinal, Duluth overwhelmed top-seeded Yale. For the Fighting Irish (25-14-5), T.J. Tynan, Jeff Costello and Calle Ridderwall had scored goals.

In the first period, Ben Winnett scored for Michigan (29-10-4) and Scooter Vaughan supplemented with a goal with 35.8 seconds left in the game. 40 saves were made by Shawn Hunwick for his fourth shutout of the season.

Through a tense third period, J.T. Brown had a goal and an assist that helped Minnesota Duluth to hung on to beat Notre Dame 4-3 in the NCAA semifinals. This helped the team to move forward to its second national title game in school history. The Bulldogs (25-10-6) survived being outshot 15-2 in the third period and Mike Connolly, Jack Connolly and Kyle Schmidt scored to get past Notre Dame (25-14-5). To make 31 saves, Ken Reiter overcame a wobbly start.

Saturday night, UMD will face Michigan in the championship game. Since 1984, U.M.D. made the championship game for the first time, when it lost to Bowling Green in four overtimes, 5-4.

Betting odds for college hockey will feature here as soon as bookmaker prices become available.

In March Madness odds, the Las Vegas Hilton Superbook has posted the Kansas Jayhawks as an 8-point favorite, which is the heaviest in the Sweet 16. Even though Richmond has nothing to lose, the Jayhawks have been strong this year. It is conceivable that they can run away with the lead early if they get hot from three point lands.

Richmond’s three point shooters are hitting better than 40 percent and one starter that is hitting 39 percent as they have four starters that are deadly accurate. It will be obvious that Kansas will be pressuring as soon as Richmond brings the ball across back court line with big shooters from the downtown.

To game plan against, Kansas and the Morris twins are tough. In the NCAA Tournament, Marcus and Markieff are two of the toughest remaining players as well as their play under the basket may be the difference in this game. If they want to trade shots with the Spiders three point specialists, The two brothers will have to bring their “A Game”.

It will lead to the most intriguing matchup of the Sweet 16 games as the difference between these two teams is night and day. A game is between the brute force of Kansas and the finesse of Richmond. In NCCA basketball picks, the Jayhawks are favorite win this match.

When it comes to their play on defense, the two teams differ. Illinois are only ranked 175th in the country but that is much better than Michigan Wolverines which ranks a dismal 299th among NCAA Division 1 schools whereas Illinois is the better team on the boards. Michigan is averaging 32 per game whereas Illinois averages 35 rebounds per game.

This game will be no different as three point shooting is always a hit or miss affair in tournament play. Illinois is hitting 39 percent from behind the three point arc whereas Michigan is hitting 35 percent from three point territory. With a 46 percent shooting percentage at three point range, Demetri McCamey leads Illinois as well as he is the shooter of choice for Illinois in crunch time.

Illinois is the best shooting team from the field. They have the ability to take over the game when they get on a role as they rank 34th in the country in shooting percentage. Michigan has yet to win a game or shoot well against superior competition as they ranks 120th in shooting percentage.

if Illinois get hot in the first half it could be all over by the early second half even though March Madness betting Odds have Illinois favored by 3 points in this closely matched contest.

In NCAAB Odds, both teams are among the top favorites to win the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

If the Blue Devils win the rest of their games this season, they could be in line to get a top seed in the NCAA tournament as they are sitting at 26-3 on the season. This season the Tar Heels are 22-6. The Tar Heels could position themselves better in the NCAA tournament as well, with a few wins to end the season.

These teams had a great game as they played just a few weeks ago. The Blue Devils managed to walk away with a 79-73 victory as the game ended close. As each team is trying to gain some momentum entering the NCAA tournament, this game should be even closer.

Even though the Tar Heels will need Zeller to step up in this game, they rely on a number of players to put point on the board. To go along with 7 rebounds he averages just less than 15 points per game. As the Blue Devils are a very strong team, they will need him to improve on those numbers for this matchup.

In this game, Duke will need a big game from Singler. Now the Blue Devils need him to show why everyone is talking about him as he has received national recognition for his skills.

With Purdue at 30/1, March Madness odds have the Buckeyes at 4/1 to win the national championship.

Until losing a game recently to 14th ranked Wisconsin, the Buckeyes were the top team in the polls. Before playing against the Buckeyes this weekend, the Boilermakers will have to take on Wisconsin.

On this game for Purdue, the game against Wisconsin will likely have a large effect. The Boilermakers will have a lot of momentum when they play against Ohio State, if they come out on top. The Boilermakers will lose a lot of momentum and they could start a losing streak, however, if they can’t pull out the victory.

The Boilermakers the 18th best team in the nation in term of assists per game, as well as they rely on a lot of ball movement for their offense. They have only allowed their opponents to score more than 80 points one time this season as well as they also have a very solid defense.

Earlier this season the one time that the Boilermakers allowed a team to score 80 was against the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes looked like the far superior team as they won the game by 23 points. This should be a great matchup and look for the Buckeyes as they may try to employ a similar strategy what they used in their last game against the Boilermakers.