No. 9 Huskers Open Big 12 Slate at KU

Record (19-2, 0-0 Big 12) ? National Rankings: 9 (CB) ? 20 (BA) ? 16 (Sports Weekly)
Day Date Opponent (Record) Location Time
Wed. March 23 vs. Western Illinois Hawks Field W, 6-3
Fri. March 25 at Kansas (20-8, 0-0 Big 12) Lawrence, Kan. (Hoglund Ballpark) 3 p.m.
Sat. March 26 at Kansas Lawrence, Kan. (Hoglund Ballpark) 1 p.m.
Sun. March 27 at Kansas Lawrence, Kan. (Hoglund Ballpark) 1 p.m.
Polls are listed in the following order: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly

Pitching Probables
Fri. NU - Joba Chamberlain, So., RHP (4-0, 0.83 ERA) vs. KU - Mike Zagurski, Sr., LHP (4-2, 3.72 ERA)
Sat. NU - Zach Kroenke, Jr., LHP (2-0, 2.04 ERA) vs. KU - Sean Land, So., LHP (2-1, 5.03 ERA)
Sun. NU - Brian Duensing, Jr., LHP (3-0, 1.61 ERA) vs. KU - Kodiak Quick, Jr., RHP (7-1, 2.66 ERA)

Media Information
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (Fri., Sat., Sun.)
TV: None
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Internet Video Streaming: None

Huskers Open Big 12 Slate at Kansas this Weekend
Lincoln -- Nebraska hits the road for the first time in three weeks, as the Huskers begin the Big 12 portion of the 2005 schedule with a series at Kansas this weekend. All three games are afternoon starts, as the series opens Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. and continues with 1 p.m. starts on both Saturday and Sunday.

All three games will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, including KLIN 1400 AM (Lincoln), KFAB 1100 AM (Omaha) and KRVN 880 AM (Lexington). None of the three games this weekend will be available live on HuskersNside.

The Huskers come into the weekend riding an 11-game winning streak and are 19-2 on the year - the second best start in program history - as only the 1983 team’s 26-0 start is better than the 2005 edition of the Huskers. Nebraska wrapped up a successful homestand on Wednesday, defeating Western Illinois, 6-3, in the only game of the series (Tuesday’s game was rained out).

The Huskers, who are ranked anywhere between ninth (Collegiate Baseball) and 20th (Baseball America) in the three national polls, have enjoyed offensive balance early on, with three players driving in at last 20 runs, led by Brandon Fusilier’s (Coppell, Texas) 30 RBIs. Fusilier, who missed all of last season, has been on a tear of late, hitting .455 with six homers and 22 RBIs during his 12-game hit streak that dates back to NU’s loss to No. 18 USC on March 6. All-American third baseman Alex Gordon (Lincoln, Neb.) tops the Big 12 in hitting with a .427 average while hitting seven homers and driving in 22 runs. Gordon, who got off to a slow start during NU’s season-opening trip to Hawaii-Hilo, is batting .466 in his last 16 contests and leads the Big 12 in both slugging (.840) and on-base percentage (.566).

Nebraska’s strength has been a pitching staff that leads the Big 12 with a 1.92 ERA and has allowed three runs or less 17 times in 21 contests.

The Huskers will run into one of the hottest teams in the Big 12, as the Jayhawks bring a seven-game winning streak into their conference opener. Kansas is 20-8 on the season with five losses coming to nationally ranked Mississippi State and Stanford. The Jayhawks have won their last seven contests, while a mid-week game at SMS was rained out. Nebraska leads the all-time series, 136-89-2, and has won 15 of the past 19 meetings dating back to 1999.

Following this weekend, the Huskers return home to begin a four-game homestand, as they take on Creighton on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. before hosting defending Big 12 Tournament champion Oklahoma State next weekend.

Leading Off
? - At 19-2 entering the weekend, the Huskers are enjoying one of their best starts in the program’s 100-plus year history. Nebraska’s 21-game start is the best since the 1983 season, when the Huskers opened the year with 26 straight wins.

Best 21-Game Starts in School History
No. 21-Game Record
1983 21-0
2005 19-2
1979 18-3
1980 17-4
1988 17-4

?-The Huskers’ pitching has been a strength in the early season, as NU leads the Big 12 with a 1.92 ERA. In fact, the Huskers have allowed only one opponent - USC on March 6 - to score more than four runs in a game this season.

? - After having just one multi-homer game in 2004, Nebraska has had four in the last eight contests after Bryce Nimmo’s (Cheyenne, Wyo) two-homer game last Saturday. Curtis Ledbetter (Lawrence, Kan.) and Brandon Fusilier (Coppell, Texas) became only the third and fourth Huskers to ever homer twice in an inning on March 13.

The duo joins Matt Hopper (2000) and Marc Sagmoen (1993) as the only Huskers to belt two homers in the same inning.

2005 Multi-Homer Games

Player Opponent Date
Ledbetter vs. New Mexico 2/25
Fusilier vs. South Dakota State * 3/13
Ledbetter vs. South Dakota State * 3/13
Gordon vs. Northern Colorado 3/15
Nimmo vs. Seton Hall 3/19
* - Two homers in the same inning

? - Nebraska is fielding at a .990 clip over the last 11 games and committed only one error in the last six games. In fact, NU has gone 53.0 consecutive innings without an error, which is closing in on the school record of 63.1 consecutive error-free innings set last season. NU has committed just eight errors in its last 16 games (.987 fielding percentage) after committing eight in five games at Hawaii-Hilo during the first weekend of the year.

Cutting Down on Errors
Games Errrors Fielding Pct.
1-5 8 .959
6-21 8 .987

? - Nebraska has scored three runs or more in an inning 23 times already this season, including an 11-run inning against South Dakota State on March 13. Western Illinois became the first opponent to score more than two runs in an innning against NU this year on Wednesday, scoring all three of their runs in the fifth inning of a 6-3 loss to NU.

? - The Huskers have also gotten off to quick starts, scoring at least one run in the first inning in 12 of 21 games and outscoring its opponents 25-6 in the first inning of games this season.

?-Nebraska has scored at least one run in 410 of the last 411 games dating back to the 1998 season. In 2004, the Huskers were the only Big 12 team not shut out.

?-Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson became only the fourth Husker baseball coach to reach 100 wins in last Saturday’s 11-2 victory over Seton Hall. With a 102-43 record, Anderson’s .703 winning percentage is the ever best by a Husker manager.

?-Senior shortstop Joe Simokaitis (St. Louis, Mo.) enters the weekend with a 18-game hitting streak dating back to Feb. 18. He is one game away from tying Will Bolt (2002) and Justin Cowan (1999) for the ninth-longest hitting streak in school history.

School Best Hitting Streaks

No. Games Player, Year

1. 38 Francis Collins, 1996

2. 28 Ken Ramos, 1987

3. 25 Derek Dukart, 1994

4. 23 Paul Myers, 1986

23 Curtis Ledbetter, 2003

6. 20 John Cole, 2001

20 Jeff Hedman, 1999

20 Darin Erstad, 1994

9. 19 Will Bolt, 2002

19 Justin Cowan, 1999

11. 18 Joe Simokaitis, 2005

18 Jeff Leise, 2001

18 Francis Collins, 1997

18 Jed Morris, 2002

?-Husker first baseman/catcher Curtis Ledbetter (Lawrence, Kan.) takes on his hometown team this weekend, as he is hitting .294 with two RBIs in five career games against KU. Two years ago, Ledbetter hit .385 in four games against the Jayhawks, while he suffered a shoulder injury in the 2004 series opener, missing the final two games of the series.

?-Nebraska has had two players honored as Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week this season, as Alex Gordon was chosen on Monday, joining Joba Chamberlain (Lincoln, Neb.), who earned the honor after striking out 15 over seven scoreless innings against New Mexico on Feb. 25. Gordon was honored after hitting .560 (14-for-25) with four homers and 10 RBIs in leading the Huskers to 10 straight wins. Gordon is the first Husker position player honored by the publication since All-American Jed Morris in 2002.

? - Nebraska has been efficient on the basepaths, going 45-of-52 in stolen bases in the first 21 games. Last season, NU had just 27 stolen bases at this point of the season.

?-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 Kansas
The Jayhawks, who are directed by third-year coach Ritch Price (86-67 in three years at KU), are 20-8 on the year and come into the weekend series on a seven-game winning streak.

Kansas has one of the league’s top offensive attacks by hitting .318 and averaging nearly 8.5 runs per game. Seven starters are hitting over .300, while A.J. Van Slyke tops KU in both homers (six) and RBIs (28). On the mound, KU is led by senior left-hander Mike Zagurski, who is 4-2 with a Big 12-leading 55 strikeouts. Zagurski is joined by junior transfer Kodiak Quick, who leads the Big 12 with a 7-1 record in 10 appearances.

Nebraska leads the all-time series 136-89-2, taking the season series in each of the past six seasons. NU took 2-of-3 games in Lincoln last spring, winning the opener by a score of 3-2 before splitting a doubleheader (9-12, 13-3) two days later. In fact, poor weather has forced the teams to play doubleheaders in each of the past three seasons.

Last Time Out:  Wednesday: NU 6, Western Illinois 3: Brandon Fusilier’s three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh broke a 3-all tie, as ninth-ranked Nebraska downed Western Illinois, 6-3. Fusilier’s homer, his team-high eighth of the season, proved to be the decisive blow, as the Huskers improved to 19-2 on the season with their 11th straight win. In the seventh, a hit batter and a walk put two runners on for Fusilier, who belted a 3-2 pitch from Tim Navin over the fence in left center to give NU the lead for good. The three-run cushion was more than enough for the Husker bullpen, as three relievers combined to fire four innings of no-hit ball, as only one Leatherneck reached base in that span. Freshman Tony Watson earned his third win of the season with two shutout innings, while Brett Jensen notched his Big 12-leading fifth save with a perfect ninth.  Joe Simokaitis went 2-for-3 with an RBI to extend his hit streak to 18 contests, while Curtis Ledbetter had a 3-for-4 afternoon as Nebraska totaled 11 hits.

Gordon’s Gone Wild
Probably no player enjoyed the Huskers’ recent homestand more than third baseman Alex Gordon. The first-team All-American hit .561 (23-for-41) with five homers, 16 RBIs and 20 runs scored in 11 contests. He had four three-hit games in that stretch, raising his average from .265 to a Big 12-best .427. Gordon was named Big 12 and National Player of the Week on March 21 after hitting .560 with four homers, 10 RBIs and 11 runs scored in six games.