Pekarek Named Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week

Dallas, Texas ? University of Nebraska pitcher Justin Pekarek was named the Big 12 co-Pitcher of the Week for games the week of May 17-23, the league announced Wednesday morning.

Pekarek tossed 10 shutout innings in appearances over Creighton and No. 18 Oklahoma, as he enters his scheduled start against No. 1 Texas Wednesday night with 27 consecutive scoreless innings. Against Creighton last Wednesday, Pekarek went a career-long seven innings, scattering two hits and fanning a career-best nine Bluejays in a 12-1 victory. The Staplehurst, Neb., product set career bests in both innings pitched and strikeouts in a masterful performance in front of over 10,000 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium and a state-wide television audience. On Sunday, Pekarek came out of the bullpen to fire two innings of no-hit ball in a 2-1 loss to the Sooners, fanning two in his final regular-season home appearance.

On the season, Pekarek enters the Big 12 Tournament with a 7-1 record and a 3.19 ERA in 67.2 innings of work. The left-hander is tied for the team lead in wins and is second in both strikeouts and innings pitched. He earned the win against No. 1 Texas in relief in Austin on April 25, tossing three innings of shutout ball in Nebraska’s 4-3 win.

Pekarek shared the honor with Oklahoma’s Mark Roberts, who pitched the first nine innings of Nebraska’s 1-0 11-inning win on Saturday, allowing two hits and striking out eight, but left after the ninth inning. Both Roberts and NU’s Phil Shirek tossed nine scoreless innings in Saturday’s 11-inning affair.

The Huskers enter the Big 12 Tournament at Arlington’s Ameriquest Field with a 35-21 record. The Huskers, the tournament’s No. 8 seed, will take on top-seeded Texas at 8 p.m. (CDT). The game is available on the Pinnacle Sports Network with Jim Rose and Gary Sharp and a live video-stream will be shown on HuskersNside. For more information on how to subscribe to HuskersNside, visit Huskers.com.