Huskers Renew Rivalry with Creighton

Record (21-3, 2-1 Big 12) ? National Rankings: 7 (CB) ? 20 (BA) ? 16 (Sports Weekly) ? 8 (NCBWA)
Day Date Opp. Rank Opponent (Record) Location Time
Tues. March 29 vs. Creighton (20-5) Hawks Field 6:35 p.m.
Fri. April 1 29/NR/NR Oklahoma State (19-8, 4-2 Big 12) Hawks Field 6:35 p.m.
Sat. April 2 Oklahoma State Hawks Field 2:05 p.m.
Sun. April 2 Oklahoma State Hawks Field 1:05 p.m.
Polls are listed in the following order: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly

Pitching Probables
Tues. NU - Johnny Dorn, Fr., RHP (2-1, 1.90 ERA) vs. CU - Tony Bilek, Jr., RHP (2-0, 5.84 ERA)

Huskers Renew Rivalry with Creighton
Fresh off a series win against Kansas over the weekend, Nebraska returns to Hawks Field to host the first of three meetings with the Creighton Bluejays this Tuesday, March 29. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. for the first night game at Hawks Field in 2005, and it will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, including KLIN (1400 AM) in Lincoln, KFAB (1110 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington.

The Huskers continued to climb in the national polls, moving to as high as seventh in Collegiate Baseball’s rankings and eigth in the NCBWA poll. NU remained 20th in Baseball America and 16th in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches polls.

Tuesday’s matchup features two teams which have been on a roll, as the Huskers are 21-3 overall and winners of 13 of their last 14 contests dating back to March 6. In fact, all three of NU’s losses in 2005 have been by one run, as the Huskers are enjoying the program’s best start since the 1983 team opened the year with 26 straight wins.

Creighton also enters Tuesday’s contest playing its best baseball of the year, going 20-5 and riding a 12-game winning streak - its longest since 1999 - into Tuesday’s matchup with the Huskers.

The Huskers have enjoyed most of the success in recent years, holding a 56-39-2 lead in the all-time series. NU has won the season series in each of the past six seasons (all three games in 1998 were rained out), while Creighton has not won a season series since 1993, taking 3-of-4 from the Huskers.

Tuesday’s matchup will be the first of three contests with the Bluejays, but the only one in Lincoln this season. Tickets for the remaining NU-CU tilts at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium on April 5 and May 10, are available for purchase by calling Ticketmaster in Lincoln at 475-1212, in Omaha at (402) 422-1212 or on the Internet at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets will not be available for purchase at the Nebraska Ticket Office.

Following Tuesday’s matchup, the Huskers continue their homestand this weekend, as they begin a three-game series with Oklahoma State. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. on Friday with afternoon tilts set for both Saturday (2:05) and Sunday (1:05).

Nebraska’s strength has been a pitching staff that leads the Big 12 with a 2.29 ERA and has allowed three runs or less 18 times in 24 contests. Right-hander Johnny Dorn (2-1, 1.90 ERA) makes his fourth start of the year for the Huskers on Tuesday. The freshman from Grand Island allowed one hit and struck out a career-high six in three scoreless innings for his first save in Saturday’s nightcap against Kansas.

Leading Off

?-Nebraska’s .875 winning percentage is the nation’s best entering the week. NU is 21-3, percentage points ahead of Arkansas, Coastal Carolina and Georgia Tech, which are all 21-4 entering the week.

?-At 21-3 entering the week, the Huskers are enjoying one of their best starts in the program’s 100-plus year history. Nebraska’s 24-game start is the best since the 1983 season, when the Huskers opened the year with 26 straight wins.

Best 24-Game Starts in School History
No. 24-Game Record
1983 24-0
2005 21-3
1979 20-4
1980 20-4
1988 20-4

?-Nebraska’s game against Creighton showcases the number of players from the state in both programs. Nebraska has 18 players from the state on the 2005 roster, while Creighton has 17 for a total of 35 in-state products.

?-One Husker who has always hit well against his hometown school is outfielder Daniel Bruce. The Omaha native is hitting .457 (16-for-35) with five doubles in nine career matchups with the Bluejays.

?-Another Husker who has fared well against CU pitching is first baseman Curtis Ledbetter (Lawrence, Kan.) who is hitting .480 with a homer and nine RBIs in six career games against Creighton. Ledbetter has been on a tear recently, hitting .478 with four homers and 16 RBIs during his current 12-game hit streak.

?-The Huskers’ pitching has been a strength in the early season, as NU ranks second in the Big 12 with a 2.29 ERA. In fact, the Huskers have allowed only two opponents - USC on March 6 and Kansas on March 26 - to score more than four runs in a game this season.

?-After having just one multi-homer game in 2004, Nebraska has six in just 24 contests this spring including two each by Alex Gordon (Lincoln, Neb.) and Curtis Ledbetter (Lawrence, Kan.).

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
Gordon at Kansas-1 3/26
* - Two homers in the same inning

? - Nebraska nearly set a school record over the weekend, ending a streak of 61.0 consecutive innings without an error (dating back to March 15) in the ninth inning of Saturday’s loss to the Jayhawks. The streak was just shy of the school mark of 63.1 innings set last season. Since committing eight errors in the season-opening trip to Hawaii-Hilo, NU has committed just 11 errors in its last 19 contests.

? - Nebraska has scored three runs or more in an inning 25 times already this season, including an 11-run inning against South Dakota State on March 13.

? - The Huskers have also gotten off to quick starts, scoring at least one run in the first inning in 15 of 24 games and outscoring its opponents 28-6 in the first inning of games this season.

?-Nebraska has scored at least one run in 413 of the last 414 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 an 11-2 victory over Seton Hall on March 19. With a 104-44 record, Anderson’s .703 winning percentage is the best ever by a Husker manager.

?-Nebraska has had two players honored as Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week this season, as Alex Gordon was chosen on March 22, 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 a 6-0 mark. He 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 47-of-57 in stolen bases in the first 24 games. Last season, NU had just 35 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.

? - Joe Simokaitis (St. Louis, Mo.) saw his career-best 18-game hitting streak snapped in Saturday’s opener. It was the longest streak by a Husker since Curtis Ledbetter’s 23-game hit streak in 2003 and was one off NU’s top-10 list. Brandon Fusilier (Coppell, Texas) now has NU’s longest streak at 13 games.