Thursday State Sports Briefs: Stricker shoots two-over par in first round of Masters

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AUGUSTA, Ga. - Steve Stricker of Madison was two-over-par after eight holes this morning, as the Masters golf tournament got underway at Augusta National in Georgia.

Stricker parred his first six holes, but he bogeyed the seventh-and-eighth holes to drop into a tie for 36th by late morning. Martin Kaymer and Henrik Stenson had the early lead at two-under. Pewaukee native Mark Wilson was scheduled to begin his first round late this morning, with thunderstorms in the forecast starting this afternoon.

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The Milwaukee Brewers are getting ready for their regular season opener tomorrow afternoon against the Saint Louis Cardinals at Miller Park. The Cards are already 1-0, after christening Miami’s new stadium last night with a 4-1 victory over the Marlins. Kyle Lohse took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and David Freese had three hits for the Redbirds – including a two-run single in the first inning. Jaime Garcia will start tomorrow for Saint Louis against Brewers’ right-hander Yovani Gallardo. The 26-year-old Gallardo will become only the fourth pitcher in Brewers’ history to start at least three Opening Day games. Ben Sheets has the team record with six, including four straight from 2002-through-’05. Jim Slaton and Teddy Higuera were the only other Brewers’ hurlers to start on three Opening Days.

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It appears that Wisconsin’s Peter Konz has affirmed his status as the top center in next month’s NFL Draft. That’s after he put on a solid audition yesterday in Madison which attracted scouts and offensive line coaches from 16 NFL teams. The scouts had to wait to see what Konz could do. He dislocated his left ankle last November – and as a result, he had a sub-par performance in February’s NFL Combine. At last month’s UW Pro Day, Konz was limited to making snaps for Russell Wilson in quarterback drills. But now, Konz says he’s finally able to do all of the required workouts and demonstrations. About the only thing he didn’t do is run a 40-yard dash. He said it would have put added strain on his ankle. Konz said his goal was to prove that he’s functional on the offensive line. There’s been talk that Green Bay might pick him up. But now that the Packers have signed veteran Jeff Saturday, it appears that Konz will be going somewhere else. Konz is projected to be a late first-round or early second round pick.

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The Milwaukee Admirals will try to sweep their two-game road series at Charlotte tonight. The Admirals moved to within two points of a playoff spot with a 4-0 victory over the Checkers on Tuesday night. Admirals’ goal-tender Jeremy Smith has won five-of-his-last-six starts. But he’ll sit out tonight, as he serves a one-game suspension for his role in a bench-clearing brawl last Sunday against Rockford. Ryan Flynn and Mark Van Guilder each have three-game scoring streaks for Milwaukee.

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The University of Wisconsin softball team improved to 17-12 after sweeping a double-header at Loyola of Chicago, 3-1 and 8-4. Kendall Grimm singled home the winning run in last night’s opener, and Molly Spence provided an insurance run with a solo homer. In the nightcap, the Badgers overcame a 4-1 deficit with the help of a two-run homer by Spence and a grand slam from Whitney Massey. Wisconsin out-hit Loyola 14-8 in the twin bill, as the Ramblers fell to 10-16.

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