Huskers Open Home Season Tuesday vs. Western Illinois

Lincoln ? The Nebraska baseball team opens the home portion of its schedule Tuesday afternoon, as the Huskers take on Western Illinois at Hawks Field. First pitch is slated for 2:05 p.m. for the first of 27 home games at Hawks Field this season. The game will not be carried on the radio, but an Internet video stream will be available on HuskersNside.

For fans that don’t have season tickets, single-game tickets can be purchased 90 minutes before first pitch at the Hawks Field Ticket Office. Reserved seats, if available, are $8 apiece, while general admission seats are $6 (adults), $4 (youth and senior citizens) and free to UNL students with a valid ID.

Nebraska, which is 8-4 on the season and ranked 23rd (Collegiate Baseball), 25th (Baseball America) and 21st (Sports Weekly) in this week’s national polls after going 2-1 at the Aztec Invitational over the weekend. The Huskers topped both San Diego (5-4, 12 inn) and San Diego State (6-2) around a 4-2 loss to UCLA. Tuesday’s home opener will mark the Huskers’ latest home opener since 1978, while NU will look to extend its streak of 25 straight home opening wins. Tuesday’s game begins a stretch of 16 of the next 20 games at home for the Big Red.

Freshman left-hander Brad Furnish will make his first collegiate start against the Leathernecks in the home opener. The Lucas, Texas, native has made four relief appearances, posting a 1.35 ERA in 6.2 innings of work. In his last outing, Furnish pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the Huskers’ 5-4 12-inning win over San Diego last Friday. Senior Justin Pekarek is slated to take the mound for Wednesday’s 2:05 p.m. start. The left-hander is 1-0 with an 8.16 ERA in four appearances, including three previous starts. In his last outing, Pekarek pitched two scoreless innings in Nebraska’s 4-2 loss to UCLA. Pekarek pitched five innings of six-hit ball to earn the win against the Leathernecks last season. Offensively, the Huskers have five starters hitting above .350 and are paced by Alex Gordon, who is hitting .404. The sophomore third baseman is among the Big 12’s leading hitters, and is tied for first in slugging percentage (.809) and is tied for third in on-base percentage (.517). The middle infield duo of Jake Mullinax (.388) and Joe Simokaitis (.356) have enjoyed strong starts, while a pair of newcomers, outfielders Jesse Boyer (.362) and Colin Shockey (.353), have quickly adapted to Division I baseball. Boyer enters the week with a team-high eight-game hitting streak.

Western Illinois comes into the week with a 9-11 mark after going 1-2 at the Easton USA Challenge in Tennessee over the weekend. The Leathernecks will be facing their third Big 12 team this season after going 1-2 against Kansas State and dropping a pair of games at Missouri, including a 2-1 setback in the opener. Western will throw right-handers Pat Kohorst (1-2, 4.50 ERA) and Jon Adams (0-0, 4.15 ERA) against the Huskers. Outfielder Kyle Malan is the Leathernecks’ top hitter, batting .413 with two homers and 12 RBIs. Western will be looking for its first win in the series, as NU has won the previous 18 meetings, including 16-2 and 5-3 wins at Hawks Field last April.