Opening Day marks a significant turn of the page in the sports calendar and guarantees wall-to-wall sports (sans Mother’s Day) until the return of football season. Today is Opening Day for MLB and MiLB clubs, and the Omaha Storm Chasers will begin their 2025 campaign against the Iowa Cubs.
In 2024, Omaha set a new single-season franchise record with 89 wins and finished the regular season as the best overall team in the International League, securing its eighth league title. Manager Mike Jirschele received the International League Manager of the Year Award for the first time. The Storm Chasers went on to the Triple-A National Championship Game but fell to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 13-6. Omaha embarks on the journey for another league championship and first national championship in Des Moines, Iowa, tomorrow.
March Madness is entering the Sweet Sixteen this weekend, and Omaha will not have any representatives for the first time in three seasons. Creighton was eliminated last Saturday in the Round of 32 by No. 1 overall seed Auburn, falling 82-70 after leading the Tigers by two at halftime. Omaha fell 83-53 to St. Johns in the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance on Thursday of the first weekend.
Creighton Women’s Basketball was also eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, falling 66-57 to Illinois on Saturday. Creighton went 26-7 on the year but came up short of a deep run in the tournament, losing in the first round after shooting just 36 percent from the floor and 27 percent from distance.
Senior Lauren Jensen is a finalist for the WBCA Coaches’ All-America team, averaging 17.8 points per game. Jensen scored 2,059 points in a Bluejay uniform, which places her third all-time in program history. She has been instrumental in the success of the Jays over the past four years and is among 50 finalists for the honor. Finding a place among the 10-player team would be a crowning achievement in her career.
Omaha Basketball and Chris Crutchfield have agreed on a multi-year contract extension through the 2029-30 season following the program’s historic year. Total compensation is not yet official but will put the head coach near the top of the Summit League in both salary and incentives.
Omaha Hockey’s Simon Latkoczy became the first player in program history to win the NCHC Conference Goaltender of the Year award last week at the annual awards celebration. The junior from Slovakia claimed the honor after going 12-8-1 on the year and posting conference-leading marks in save percentage (.926) and saves (952).
The transfer portal opened last week for college basketball and has already affected both programs in Omaha. Summit League Player of the Year and Omaha power forward Marquel Sutton entered his name into the portal and immediately becomes one of the top players available. He will be joined by teammate JJ White. Creighton’s Pop Isaacs and Mason Miller both announced plans to enter the portal as well and will most likely not be the only Bluejays to do so. However, Creighton got a huge addition and successor to Ryan Kalkbrenner with the commitment of Iowa center Owen Freeman on Wednesday. Freeman averaged 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last season for Iowa and was one of the best names of more than 700 currently in the portal.
The crosstown rivalry between Creighton and Omaha baseball Tuesday got out of hand quickly, resulting in a resounding 10-0 victory for Creighton. The Bluejays got off to a hot start with a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, featuring a two-run home run from Ben North. North’s second home run of the game came in the sixth inning before Connor Capece’s RBI single sealed the game in seven innings due to a run-rule decision. Omaha now falls to 5-17 after its hot start that featured a win over No. 3 LSU. Creighton rises to 14-6 on the year.
Another in-state rivalry took place in Omaha on Wednesday, with Papillion native Jordyn Bahl and Nebraska visiting Omaha Softball. Bahl got the start in her first collegiate game in Omaha, posting a 13-strikeout, one-hit shutout in a 5-0 win for the Huskers. A record 1,537 fans attended the game, marking the largest turnout for a game at Connie Claussen Field.
The Omaha Supernovas fell in their last game against the Indy Ignite, proving that it is in fact hard to beat a team three times in one season. After taking the first two matches of the year against the Ignite, the Supernovas lost Saturday in a sweep in front of 12,929 fans, the second-largest crowd in PVF history. Omaha will be back in action at home at 7 p.m. tomorrow against the Vegas Thrill for “Heroes Night”.
Sami Francis’ much anticipated debut for struggling LOVB Omaha was disrupted by LOVB Austin Friday, with the team losing in five sets in front of the sold-out crowd at Baxter Arena. Francis provided a needed boost to last-place Omaha, tying a team-high 15 points behind eight kills and six blocks in the match, but it wasn’t enough. She then tallied 11 points with 10 kills in Saturday’s four set loss to Houston. LOVB Omaha is last in league standings and on a nine-game losing streak. They are back in action Friday at 7 p.m. against LOVB Austin.
Upcoming Games
• Omaha Baseball vs. Northern Colorado | Series starting Friday, March 28 | 4:00 p.m.
• Creighton Softball vs. Connecticut | Series starting Friday, March 28 | 4:00 p.m.
• Creighton Baseball at Samford | Series starting Friday, March 28 | 6:00 p.m.
• Omaha Storm Chasers at Iowa Cubs | Series starting Friday, March 28 | 7:00 p.m.
• Omaha Supernovas vs. Vegas Thrill | Friday, March 28 | 7:00 p.m.
• LOVB Omaha vs. LOVB Austin | Friday, March 28 | 7:00 p.m.
• Omaha Softball vs. North Dakota | Series starting Saturday, March 29 | 1:00 p.m.
• LOVB Omaha vs. LOVB Salt Lake | Saturday, March 29 | 6:00 p.m.
• Omaha Beef vs. Idaho Horsemen | Saturday, March 29 | 6:30 p.m.
• Omaha Supernovas vs. Grand Rapids Rise | Sunday, March 30 | 3:00 p.m.
• Omaha Stormchasers vs. Louisville Bats | Series starting Tuesday, April 1 | 6:30 p.m.
