Illinois softball visits Nebraska while Illini baseball travels to Purdue.

Illinois State baseball opens a Missouri Valley Conference series against Bradley tonight in Peoria.

In high school softball, U-High defeated Prairie Central 12-2, Dwight edged Watseka 2-1 in eight innings, Eureka stayed unbeaten with a 12-1 win at Fieldcrest, Fisher hammered Tri-Point 21-1, Woodland-Flanagan-Cornell beat Peoria Christian 5-4 in 10 innings), Normal Community edged Bloomington 5-4, Central Catholic beat IVC 14-2 and Normal West routed Manual 17-0 on a five-inning no-hitter by Bailey Turner.

In high school baseball, U-High nipped Prairie Central 7-6 and Dwight beat Watseka 14-4.

The Cardinals dropped the opener of a series at Milwaukee 7-5. The Brewers homered three times while the Cards got long balls from Matt Carpenter and Jedd Gyorko, and Kolten Wong hit a bases-loaded triple in the second inning. The rematch is tonight at Miller Park as Adam Wainwright starts for the Cardinals against Milwaukee’s Wily Peralta.

The Cardinals placed infielder Jhonny Peralta on the 10-day disabled list with an upper respiratory issue, and activated left-handed pitcher Tyler Lyons from the DL.

The Cubs resume play after Thursday off with a series-opener tonight in Cincinnati. Jon Lester is on the mound for the Cubs against the Reds’ Tim Adleman.

The White Sox also had yesterday off and begin a weekend series tonight at home against the Indians. The Tribe hands the ball to Corey Kluber while the Sox counter with Jose Quintana.

The Blackhawks are out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The favorite in the Western Conference scored only three goals in the four-game sweep completed by the Nashville Predators with Thursday’s 4-1 win.

The Bulls host the Celtics in Game 3 of their NBA first-round playoff series. Chicago won the first two games in Boston.