Huskers Open Homestand vs. South Dakota State

Record (8-2, 0-0 Big 12) ? National Rankings 23 (CB) ? NR (BA) ? 23 (Sports Weekly)
Day Date Opponent Location Time
Fri. March 11 vs. South Dakota State (1-6) Hawks Field 2:05 p.m.
Sat. March 12 vs. South Dakota State Hawks Field 12:05 p.m. (DH)
Sun. March 13 vs. South Dakota State Hawks Field 1:05 p.m.
Polls are listed in the following order: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly

Pitching Probables
Fri. NU - Joba Chamberlain, So., RHP (2-0, 0.51 ERA)
Sat. G-1  NU - Zach Kroenke, Jr., LHP (0-0, 7.36 ERA)
Sat. G-2 NU - Johnny Dorn, Fr., RHP (0-1, 1.04 ERA)
Sun. NU - Phil Shirek, Sr, RHP (1-0, 0.73 ERA)

Media Information
Tickets: General admission seating and a select number of reserve seats are available for purchase on Huskers.com or at the Hawks Field Ticket Office 90 minutes before first pitch of each contest.

Live Stats: Huskers.com
Internet Video Streaming: All three games this weekend will be video streamed live on HuskersNside, for more information or to subscribe for the 2005 season, visit Huskers.com.

Radio: Sunday’s game will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network with Jim Rose and John Bishop. Sunday’s contest is the first of 39 games carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, KFAB 1100 AM in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington. A complete list is on page five of this release.

Video Streaming: All four games this weekend will be video streamed live on HuskersNside, as over 50 games will be carried this season on the site. For more information and subscription information, visit Huskers.com.

Huskers Open Homestand vs. South Dakota State
After playing its first 10 games on the road, the Nebraska baseball team finally opens the home portion of its schedule this weekend, as the No. 22 Huskers play host to South Dakota State. First pitch for the opening day tilt is set for 2:05 p.m., and Friday’s contest opens a 12-game homestand for the Huskers. The series continues with a twinbill on Saturday afternoon and concludes on Sunday afternoon.

The Huskers (8-2) extended their season-opening win streak to eight games with a 4-3 win over seventh-ranked Rice on Friday before dropping the final two games at the Round Rock College Classic. The weekend performance dropped the Huskers from 18th to 23rd in the Collegiate Baseball poll, while NU dipped from 21st to 22nd in the Sports Weekly poll released Monday.

South Dakota State (1-6) is in its first season at the Division I level and is currently in the midst of an eight-game, eight-day road trip. The Jackrabbits have already faced one Big 12 opponent, dropping a four-game series with Kansas last month.

Leading Off

?-Nebraska has won its last 26 home openers, dating back to the 1979 season.

?- Nebraska’s pitchers lead the Big 12 with a 1.64 ERA, and has held opponents to a .197 batting average. The Husker staff had an eight-game streak of holding opponents to three runs or less snapped in Sunday’s loss to USC.

?-The three one-run games last weekend was the first time the Huskers had three straight one-run games since the opening three games of the 2002 season. That ended a stretch of five-straight one-run games, as the Huskers’ final two games in 2001 were both one-run losses.

?-Husker starting pitchers have combined for a 0.96 ERA over the first 10 games of the season while not allowing a homer and just seven extra base hits (all doubles).

?-Nebraska’s 8-0 start in 2005 marked only the sixth time in school history that the Huskers opened the year with eight or more wins to open a season.

Fast Starts (Most Wins to Open a Season)

Date Season Record Away

1 1983 26-0 9-0

2. 1979 14-0 2-0

3. 1988 11-0 3-0

4. 2005 8-0 6-0

1990 8-0 4-0

1981 8-0 0-0

?-Joba Chamberlain (Lincoln, Neb.) became the first Husker to earn national player-of-the-week honors since Jed Morris in 2002 and the first Husker pitcher honored since Aaron Marsden in that same season.

?-Nebraska has scored at least one run in 399 of the last 400 games dating back to the 1998 season. In 2004, the Huskers were the only Big 12 team not shut out.

?-Alex Gordon (Lincoln, Neb.) has started the past 90 games dating back to his freshman season and has not missed an inning of action since last March 19.

?-Gordon will look to become the first position player and only the second player in Big 12 history to repeat as conference player of the year. Baylor’s Jason Jennings is the only other player to win multiple Big 12 Player-of-the-Year awards (1998-99).

?-Nebraska is only one of 11 teams nationally - and one of only two schools in the Big 12 - to have team ERAs under 4.00 in each of the last three seasons.

Scouting South Dakota State

Under the direction of first-year coach Reggie Christiansen, the Jackrabbits are in their first season at the Division I level. SDSU returned 13 letterwinners, including six starters from last season’s squad. The Jackrabbits are wrapping up an eight-game, eight-day roadtrip, which began on Sunday with an 8-5 victory over Butler, their first win as a Division I program.

Nebraska leads the all-time series between the two schools, 7-2, but the teams have not squared off since 1997, a 3-0 Husker win. Prior to that meeting, the teams had not played against each other since 1971.

Week in Review:

NU 4, No. 7 Rice 3 ? Joba Chamberlain struck out nine and allowed one unearned run over 6.1 innings, propelling Nebraska to a 4-3 win over No. 7 Rice on March 4. The sophomore right-hander improved to 2-0, holding the Owls to just four hits. Curtis Ledbetter and Brandon Fusilier had two hits apiece, as the Huskers jumped out to a 4-1 lead and held on, as Dustin Timm retired the final batter for the save.

Texas State 2, Nebraka 1 (10 inn.) ? Dominic Ramos’ 10th-inning RBI single broke a 1-all tie, as Texas State pulled out a 2-1 win over the Huskers on Saturday. The loss overshadowed an outstanding performance by the Husker pitching staff, which allowed only one run through nine innings. Phil Shirek scattered four hits and struck out three in taking a shutout into the sixth. Johnny Dorn suffered the loss, as he allowed one hit in 4.1 innings of relief. Joe Simokaitis had an RBI single in the first inning, as the Huskers were held to just three hits.

USC 5, Nebraska 4 ? Brandon Buckman went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, but No. 18 Nebraska dropped the final game of the Round Rock College Classic with a 5-4 loss to USC. Jeff Clement’s seventh-inning homer gave USC the lead for good, but Buckman’s RBI single pulled NU within 5-4. Brandon Fusilier also had two hits and an RBI for Nebraska (8-2), while NU starter Brian Duensing tossed 4.2 shutout innings, but did not factor into the decision.