No. 21 Huskers to Play Six Games in Six Days

Nebraska Baseball: Record (12-2, 0-0 Big 12)
National Rankings: 21 (CB) ? 23 (BA) ? 21 (Sports Weekly)

Day Date Opponent (Record) Location Time
Tues. March 15 vs. Northern Colorado (4-13) Hawks Field 1:05 p.m.
Wed. March 16 vs. Northern Colorado Hawks Field 1:05 p.m.
Thurs. March 17 vs. Northern Colorado Hawks Field 1:05 p.m.
Fri. March 18 vs. Seton Hall (3-6) Hawks Field 2:05 p.m.
Sat. March 19 vs. Seton Hall Hawks Field 1:05 p.m.
Sun. March 20 vs. Seton Hall Hawks Field 12:05 p.m.
Polls are listed in the following order: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly

Pitching Probables
Tues. NU - Brian Dunsing, Jr., LHP (2-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. UNC - Jon Leines, Jr., RHP (1-0, 7.84 ERA)
Wed. NU - Tony Watson, Fr., LHP (1-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. UNC - Craig Ayers, Sr., RHP (0-4, 13.78 ERA)
Thur. NU - Luke Wertz, Fr., RHP (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. UNC - Tyler Pearson, So., RHP (1-1, 5.82 ERA)

Media Information
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (Fri-Sun.)
TV: None
Live Stats: Huskers.com
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 the first pitch of each contest.

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

No Spring Break: No. 21 Huskers to Play Six Games in Six Days
Nebraska continues its 12-game homestand this week, as the Huskers play six games over six days. The Huskers, who moved up to No. 21 in the Collegiate Baseball and Sports Weekly polls and made their 2005 debut in Baseball America’s poll at 23 on Monday, take on Northern Colorado for a three-game series beginning Tuesday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. before hosting Seton Hall for a three-game set this weekend.

The Huskers (12-2) continued their best start since 1988 by sweeping South Dakota State over the weekend. Nebraska scored 54 runs in the four games, reaching double figures in each of the final three games of the series.

Northern Colorado comes to town with a 4-13 mark, but have won three of their last five games after a 1-11 start that included three losses to No. 11 Arizona. The Bears have also squared off with Kansas, with two of the games decided by one run.

The Huskers will throw junior left-hander Brian Duensing in Tuesday’s opener. The Omaha native is 2-0 on the season and has not allowed a run in 13.2 innings of work. Duensing worked a scoreless inning of relief in Saturday’s nightcap and will make his first Hawks Field start in two years on Tuesday. It will also mark the one-year anniversary of the Tommy John surgery on his left elbow.

A pair of Husker freshmen while make their first starting assignments against Northern Colorado. Redshirt freshman Tony Watson (1-1, 5.40 ERA) will take the hill on Wednesday, while Parker, Colo., native Luke Wertz (0-0, 0.00 ERA) gets the starting nod on Thursday.

Leading Off
?-Nebraska pitchers lead the Big 12 with a 1.58 ERA and have held opponents to four runs or less in 13 of 14 games.

?-The Huskers could nearly field an entire starting lineup of Colorado natives against UNC with seven players from the state of Colorado on the roster. The list includes infielders Brandon Buckman (Monument), Jake Opitz (Littleton) and Tyler Vaughn (Colorado Springs), outfielders Jesse Boyer (Littleton) and Nick Sullivan (Arvada) and pitchers Jon Klausing (Greeley) and Luke Wertz (Parker).

?-Husker starting pitchers have combined for a 1.18 ERA and did not allow a homer until South Dakota State’s Tony Lane hit a second-inning homer on Sunday.

?-Curtis Ledbetter (Lawrence, Kan.) and Brandon Fusilier (Coppell, Texas) became only the third and fourth Huskers to ever homer twice in an inning during Sunday’s 11-run fourth inning. The duo joins Matt Hoppper (2000) and Marc Sagmoen (1993) as the only Huskers to belt two homers in the same inning.

?-The 11 runs was the most by a Husker team since 2002, while the five homers in the inning set a school and conference record.

?-While Nebraska’s power surge was the primary story on Sunday, Nebraska batters also drew eight walks without striking out, marking the first time in 244 games that Nebraska hitters did not strike out.

?-Alex Gordon (Lincoln, Neb.) saw one streak come to an end during the second game of Saturday’s twinbill. Gordon sat out the final three innings on Saturday, ending a streak of 496.2 consecutive innings in the field. Gordon had played in every inning of every game dating back to March 20, 2004.

?-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 consecutive wins.

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 403 of the last 404 games dating back to the 1998 season. In 2004, the Huskers were the only Big 12 team not shut out.

?-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.

?-Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson played three seasons at Northern Colorado (1984-86) before graduating from the school in 1990. He ranks ninth on UNC’s career hitting list with a .386 average and is second on the Bears’ all-time chart with 70 stolen bases.

Scouting Northern Colorado
Under the direction of Coach Kevin Smallcomb (67-57 in three seasons), the Bears are 4-13 onthe season while playing 12 of their first 17 games away from home, including three games at No. 11 Arizona to open the season.

UNC, which was third nationally in hitting in 2004, is hitting just .236 as team with only three starters hitting over .300. Senior Jarrod Chacon paces the Bears with a .333 average with two homers and seven RBIs, while Phil Delich is at .308 with two homers and a team-best 14 RBIs.

On the mound, Northern Colorado has struggled, posting a 8.72 team ERA while giving up at least 10 runs eight times in 17 games. Right-hander Craig Ayers, who went 8-4 and tossed a complete game in a losing effort in Lincoln last season, has gotten off to a slow start, going 0-4 with a 13.78 ERA in five starts.

The Huskers hold a 16-2 lead in the all-time series against Northern Colorado. Last season, Nebraska scored three runs in the ninth to earn a 4-3 victory in the first meeting before completing the sweep with a 13-7 victory the following afternoon.

Week in Review:
Friday: Nebraska 7, SDSU 2: Joba Chamberlain allowed one run and fanned nine over seven innings, as Nebraska topped South Dakota State, 7-2, in the series opener. Chamberlain, who improved to 3-0 with his third straight win, struck out nine and took a no-hitter into the sixth. The right-hander was back by a Husker offense scored four runs in the first inning to take command. Daniel Bruce provided the game’s big hit, a two-out, two-run triple to center off SDSU starter Tyson Bothof. Brandon Fusilier went 3-for-4 with a homer, his third of the year, while Brandon Buckman had a pair of hits. In all, six Huskers had at least one RBI, as NU won its 27th straight home opner.

Friday: Nebraska 7, SDSU 2: Joba Chamberlain allowed one run and fanned nine over seven innings, as Nebraska topped South Dakota State, 7-2, in the series opener. Chamberlain, who improved to 3-0 with his third straight win, struck out nine and took a no-hitter into the sixth. The right-hander was back by a Husker offense scored four runs in the first inning to take command. Daniel Bruce provided the game’s big hit, a two-out, two-run triple to center off SDSU starter Tyson Bothof. Brandon Fusilier went 3-for-4 with a homer, his third of the year, while Brandon Buckman had a pair of hits. In all, six Huskers had at least one RBI, as NU won its 27th straight home opner.

Saturday: Nebraska 15-15, SDSU 1-3: Alex Gordon and Andy Gerch combined to go 10-for-12 with three homers, 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored, powering No. 22 Nebraska to a sweep of South Dakota State The Huskers finished the day with 32 hits, as both games were shortened to seven innings because of the run rule. Gerch went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer in the opener before going 2-for-4 with a homer and a career-high five RBIs in the nightcap. Gordon posted identical 3-for-3 efforts in both contests, including a homer and three RBIs in the nightcap. While the Husker bats erupted, Nebraska starters Zach Kroenke and Johnny Dorn turned in solid efforts to pick up the wins. Kroenke took a no-hitter into the sixth in the opener before allowing a single to Tony Lane and an RBI double to Greg Geary to break the shutout bid. The left-hander pitched six strong innings, striking out seven and retiring 15 in a row during one stretch. Dorn picked up his first collegiate win in the nightcap, allowing one run on four hits over four innings to even his record at 1-1.

Sunday: Nebraska 17, SDSU 4: Curtis Ledbetter and Brandon Fusilier tied a NCAA and school record with two homers in an inning, as No. 22 Nebraska completed a sweep of South Dakota State with a 17-4 victory. Ledbetter and Fusilier became the third and fourth players in school history to hit two homers in an inning, as both players homered twice in an 11-run fourth for Nebraska. The Huskers set a school and Big 12 record with five homers in an inning, while the 11 runs were their highest single-inning output since 2002. Ledbetter went 4-for-6 with two homers, two doubles, four RBIs and four runs scored, while Fusilier went 3-fo-3 with two homers and a career-best five RBIs. Phil Shirek (Minot, N.D.) was the beneficiary of the offensive explosion, allowing two runs over five innings to pick up his second win of the season. Shirek scattered seven hits and struck out four Jackrabbits.