Brett Sears and Drew Christo combined on a two-hitter and Nebraska defeated Purdue 6-2 in an elimination game at the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday night. Sears, 8-0 with a 2.02 ERA coming in, pitched six innings, allowing both hits and two runs (one earned). Second-seeded Nebraska, which lost 15-2 to Ohio State on Tuesday, stayed alive thanks to the dominant pitching performance and a four-run second inning that featured RBI doubles by Cole Evans and Joshua Overbeek.
China's military held exercises surrounding Taiwan on Thursday in what it called punishment for separatist forces seeking independence on the self-governed island where a new president took office this week. Beijing claims the island is part of China’s national territory and the People’s Liberation Army sends navy ships and warplanes into the Taiwan Strait and other areas around the island almost daily to wear down Taiwan’s defenses and seek to intimidate its people, who firmly back their de facto independence.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots for his first shutout of the postseason, Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final. Carter Verhaege and Sam Bennett also scored. Bobrovsky, who had six shutouts during the regular season, had the second of his career in the playoffs.