Huskers Host Creighton Tonight

This Week

Season Record (26-9, 7-5 Big 12)
National Rankings (20/22/16 - as of April 19)

Tues. (April 20) vs. Creighton (19-14, 9-2 MVC) Hawks Field 6:35 p.m.

Fri. (April 23) at No. 1/1/1 Texas (38-5, 11-3 Big 12) Austin, Texas 6:15 p.m.
Sat. (April 24) at Texas Austin, Texas 3 p.m.
Sun. (April 25) at Texas Austin, Texas 1 p.m.

Note: All rankings are listed as follows: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly-ESPN Coaches

Pitching Matchups

Tues. - NU (Brad Furnish, Fr., LHP, 1-0, 3.44 ERA) vs. CU (Teddy Ogilvie, Fr., RHP, 0-0, 1.59 ERA)

Fri. - NU (Zach Kroenke, So., LHP, 6-0, 1.84 ERA) vs. UT (J.P. Howell, Jr., LHP, 8-1, 1.83 ERA

Media Information

Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network
TV: Sat. (Fox Sports Net)
Live Stats: Huskers.com

Internet Video Streaming: Tuesday’s game will be video streamed live on HuskersNside, which is a subscription-based service of the Nebraska Athletic Department. Nearly every 2004 Husker baseball game, except for this weekend’s series at Texas, will be shown live on HuskersNside. For more information on how to subscribe, visit Huskers.com.

Lincoln -- Coming off a thrilling 11-10 win at Missouri on Sunday, the Huskers make a quick return home on Tuesday to play host to Creighton in the second installment of the three-game series with the Bluejays. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. and tickets for the matchup are available by calling 800-8-Big Red or at the Hawks Field Ticket Office at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The game will be carried throughout the state on the Pinnacle Sports Network with Jim Rose and Gary Sharp calling all of the action. Tuesday’s game will also be streamed on HuskersNside, as nearly every 2004 contest is available to watch live on the Internet. The game will not be televised

The Huskers, who are ranked between 16th (ESPN/Sports Weekly) and 22nd (Baseball America) in this week’s polls, have several streaks on the line in the second matchup of the year between the state’s two Division I programs. First, the Huskers have won the last six meetings over the Bluejays, including a 7-3 win in Omaha last month. A win on Tuesday would clinch the season series for the sixth consecutive year over CU (weather prevented all three matchups in 1998), as the teams will wrap up the series with a meeting at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium on May 18.

Second, the Huskers are a perfect 3-0 at Hawks Field against the Bluejays, with two of the wins coming in the Huskers’ final at-bat. In the ?Jays last visit to Hawks Field last April, Phil Shirek and Justin Pekarek combined on an three-hit shutout in an 8-0 Husker win. NU owns a 55-38-2 lead in the all-time series, as Creighton’s last win in Lincoln came on April 24, 2001, when CU stunned then top-ranked Nebraska, 11-8 in 10 innings. NU has won 11 of the past 13 meetings between the two programs

Creighton enters Tuesday’s contest with a 19-14 mark after winning 3-of-4 over Illinois State over the weekend, capped by a 14-inning marathon in the finale. The Bluejays are alone in second place in the MVC race with a 9-2 mark, as Wichita State leads the league at 15-1.

Following Tuesday’s contest, the Huskers will hit the road again, traveling to No. 1 Texas for a three-game series beginning Friday night.

Pregame Ceremonies to Honor NCAA Champs
Nebraska will honor its NCAA individual and team champions from the winter sport season in pregame ceremonies. Wrestler Jason Powell (125 pounds), track athletes Priscilla Lopes (60-meter hurdles) and Ineta Radevica (Triple Jump) all won individual titles during the winter, while the Husker bowling team won the first-ever NCAA title in Houston earlier this month.

Saturday’s Game at Texas on Fox Sports Net
Saturday’s game at Texas has been picked up for television by Fox Sports Net. The game, which was originally scheduled for a 2 p.m. start, has been moved to 3 p.m., and will be carried in Big 12 markets.  The next scheduled NETV broadcast is Saturday, May 1, when Texas A&M comes to Hawks Field with a first pitch at 2:05 p.m. The game will also be tape delayed and aired on College Sports TV on Sunday, May 2, at 4:30 p.m. (CT). NETV will also telecast the Huskers’ game against Creighton at Rosenblatt Stadium next month.

Leading Off
? - At the season’s midway point, the state’s two programs were among the nation’s top defensive teams. Creighton led the nation with a .980 fielding percentage, while Nebraska was third with a .978 percentage in last week’s rankings. Despite committing nine errors at Missouri last weekend - including a season-high five in Saturday’s loss - NU is still on pace to break the school record of .971 set in 1994 and 1995. The Huskers are a perfect 14-0 this season when they play errorless baseball and have a pair of stretches of at least 45 innings without an error, including a stretch of 63.1 innings - the longest stretch in at least 20 years - last month.

? - The Huskers have been perched in the national polls for the past 78 weeks, dating back to April of 2000. To put that in perspective, the only current Husker to have been on a team that was unranked in his career is fifth-year senior Justin Pekarek, who was redshirting in 2000.

*- The Huskers enjoyed strong weeks by corner infielders Alex Gordon and Curtis Ledbetter. Gordon hit .500 (8-for-16) with two homers and 10 RBIs in four games, including four-RBI efforts against Wichita State on Tuesday and and Missouri on Saturday, raising his season totals to .388-13-55. Ledbetter, who is on a team-high 13 game hitting streak, posted a team best .563 (9-for-16), including his third career four-hit day on Saturday, to raise his season average to .328. Ledbetter is hitting.429 with five homers and 19 RBIs since March 31.

*- Colin Shockey’s relief win over Missouri on Sunday marked the first time a Husker position player earned a win since the 1997 season (Jarod Bearinger vs. Hastings College, 4/15/97), as Bearinger made eight starts in the field that season. Shockey had made two relief appearances before tossing the final 1.1 innings vs. Missouri.