No. 4 Huskers Welcome No. 1 Texas to Lincoln

Record (26-4, 5-1 Big 12) ? National Rankings: 4 (CB) ? 27 (BA) ? 10 (Sports Weekly) ? 8 (NCBWA)
Day Date Opp. Rank Opponent (Record) Location Time
Tues. April 5 vs. Creighton (22-7) Omaha, Neb. (Rosenblatt) L, 3-4
Wed. April 6 Iowa (6-13) Hawks Field W, 6-1
Fri. April 8 5/1/1 Texas (27-5, 4-4 Big 12) Hawks Field 6 p.m.
Sat. April 9 5/1/1 Texas Hawks Field 1 p.m.
Sun. April 10 5/1/1 Texas Hawks Field 1:30 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, 2.34 ERA) vs. UT - Kyle McCulloch, So., RHP (6-2, 3.14 ERA)\
Sat. NU - Zach Kroenke, Jr., LHP (4-0, 1.93 ERA) vs. UT - Adrian Alaniz, Fr., RHP (1-0, 2.03 ERA)
Sun. NU - Brian Duensing, Jr., LHP (5-0, 1.72 ERA) vs. UT - Randy Boone, So., RHP (4-2, 2.62 ERA)

Media Information
Tickets: $8 (sold out for Texas series), $6 (adult GA), $4 (children and seniors GA); FREE (UNL students w/valid ID)
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (all 5 games) Live Stats: Huskers.com
Television: Friday (ESPN2 -LIVE); Saturday-Sunday (ESPN - Live National Telecast)
Broadcasters: Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Kyle Peterson (color)
Internet Video Streaming: None

No. 4 Huskers Welcome No. 1 Texas to Lincoln
The eyes of the college baseball world will be centered on Lincoln, Neb., this weekend as the Big 12-leading Huskers welcome the top-ranked Texas Longhorns to Hawks Field. The series, the first time a top-ranked team has ever visited Hawks Field, commences Friday evening with a 6 p.m. matchup with afternoon games set for both Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (1:30 p.m.). Tickets are going fast for this series, as all 4,400 reserve seats were sold out in advance. With good weather expected this weekend, NU could threaten its school record for largest Big 12 series attendence (18,358 vs. Baylor in 2003). The Huskers also drew over 18,000 for a three-game series with Oklahoma State last weekend.

All three games will be shown nationwide on the ESPN family of networks. Friday’s series opener will be shown on ESPNU, the new 24-hour college channel which is available on DirecTV Ch. 609, on a tape-delayed basis. Saturday and Sunday’s games will be shown live nationally on ESPN. The talent for this weekend’s televised games is Sean McDonough (play-by-play) and Kyle Peterson (color).

The entire series will also be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, including KLIN 1400 AM (Lincoln), KFAB 1110 AM (Omaha) and KRVN 880 AM (Lexington) with Jim Rose and John Bishop caling the action. Live stats for all three games will be available on Huskers.com.

Both teams have enjoyed their share of success during the first half of the season. The Longhorns, who began the season as the nation’s consensus No. 1 team, still hold the top spot nationally with a 27-5 record after edging Texas State, 3-2, on Tuesday evening. The Longhorns have only played eight games away from Disch-Falk Field, going 5-3 with the losses coming at Baylor (twice) and Arizona. Texas is 4-4 in the Big 12 after winning series against Texas Tech and Kansas State the last two weeks.

The Huskers are enjoying one of their best seasons ever, as they come into the weekend series with a 26-4 record after splitting a pair of midweek games against Creighton (L, 3-4) and Iowa (W, 6-1). Nebraska’s record is the program’s best mark after 30-game since 1983, when NU went 28-2.

Nebraska, which is 5-1 against nationally ranked teams, looks to continue a trend of success against nationally ranked teams at home. The Huskers are 24-8 against ranked opponents at Hawks Field since the park opened in 2002, and have won 15 of their last 18 home games against top-10 opponents dating back to 1988. Last season, Texas won three of the five matchups with three of the games decided by two runs or less.

Leading Off
?-At 26-4, the Huskers are enjoying one of their best starts in the program’s 100-plus year history, as only the 1983 squad - a team that opened the year with a school-record 26 consecutive wins - started better.

Best 30-Game Starts in School History
No. 30-Game Record Final Record
1983 28-2 44-15
2005 26-4 --
2004 24-6 36-23
1979 24-6 49-15

1999-2005 Records
Game 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
28 20-8 18-10 21-7 19-9 22-6 23-5 25-3
29 20-9 18-11 22-7 19-10 22-7 24-5 25-4
30 21-9 19-11 23-7 20-10 23-7 24-6 26-4
31 21-10 20-11 24-7 21-10 23-8 24-7
32 22-10 21-11 25-7 21-11 23-9 25-7

?-Nebraska’s .867 winning percentage is the nation’s best entering the weekend, just ahead of College of Charleston and Oregon State, which are both at .857 (24-4).

?-The Huskers are a perfect 16-0 at Hawks Field in 2005 and are 93-19 (.830) since the ballpark opened in 2002. The Huskers won both meetings with the Longhorns in 2003 (the third meeting was played at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium) in the only previous meetings between the schools at Hawks Field.

? - The Huskers have also gotten off to quick starts, scoring at least one run in the first inning in 18 of 30 games and outscoring their opponents 32-7 in the first inning of games this season. Over the first three innings, that number increases to 87-20.

? - The last time Nebraska knocked off the nation’s top-ranked team came last season, when the Huskers claimed a 5-2 win over the Longhorns in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament in Arlington.

?-Last weekend, Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson coached his 150th game at Nebraska, becoming only the fourth Husker coach to reach that mark in program history. His winning percentage is the second-highest among any Husker coach at the 150-game mark. Here are the totals of the other three Husker skippers at the 150-game plateau.

Husker Coaches at 150-Game Mark
Coach 150-Game Record Pct.
John Sanders 108-42 .720
Mike Anderson 106-44 .707
Dave Van Horn 100-50 .667
Tony Sharpe 92-56-2 .620

?-The Huskers’ pitching has been a strength in the early season, as NU leads the Big 12 with a 2.18 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 seven already this season, including three by first baseman/catcher Curtis Ledbetter and two by All-American third baseman Alex Gordon.

?-With complete-game shutouts by Zach Kroenke and Brian Duensing, Nebraska became the first team to hand Oklahoma State consecutive shutouts since 1976. It also marked the first time since March of 2002 that Nebraska received back-to-back complete-game shutouts (Jamie Rodrigue and Aaron Marsden).

?-Nebraska leads the Big 12 in fielding at .981 and has not committed an error in its last three contests. Last month, the Huskers nearly set a school mark with 61.0 consecutive innings without an error going from March15-27. The mark fell just shy of the school record of 63.1 set in 2004.

Since committing eight errors in the season-opening trip to Hawaii-Hilo, NU has committed just 13 errors in its last 25 contests, and one error or less in the last 22 contests.

Cutting Down on Errors

Games Errrors Fielding Pct.
1-5 8 .959
6-24 13 .986?-NU has scored at least one run in 416 of the last 417 games dating back to the 1998 season. In 2004, the Huskers were the only Big 12 team not shut out.

?-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.

?-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 has had two players honored as Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week this season. Alex Gordon was chosen on March 22, joining Joba Chamberlain, who earned the honor on Feb. 25.

Scouting Texas
The Longhorns come to Lincoln with a 27-5 record and a 4-4 mark in the Big 12. Under Head Coach Augie Garrido (362-182-1 at UT; 1,513-705-8 overall), Texas once again is on top of the national polls. The Longhorns have been challenged early on, sweeping Stanford and taking 2-of-3 from CWS participant Arizona on the road. Texas was swept by Baylor to open Big 12 play, but regrouped by sweeping Texas Tech and by taking a series win over Kansas State.

All-America candidates Taylor Teagarden and Drew Stubbs lead the Texas offense, hitting .330 and .311 respectively. Teagarden has two homers and 16 RBIs, while drawing a team-high 24 walks, while Stubbs has a team-high six homers and 21 RBIs while scoring a team-high 36 runs.

Despite losing ace Sam LeCure prior to the season, UT still ranks third in the Big 12 with a 2.67 staff ERA. Sophomore Kyle McCulloch paces Texas on the mound with a 6-2 record while right-handers Adrian Alaniz (1-0, 2.03 ERA) and Randy Boone (4-2, 2.62 ERA) round out the weekend rotation. The Longhorns have one of the Big 12’s best closers in J. Brent Cox, who is 4-1 with a Big 12 leading seven saves in 20 appearances.

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 19-14, holding the distinction of being the only Big 12 team with a series lead on Texas. The Huskers had won five straight season series (1999-2003) before Texas took 2-of-3 in Austin in 2004. The teams also split a pair of meetings in the Big 12 Tournament, as UT ended the Huskers’ 2004 season with a 6-5 win at the Big 12 Tourney.

Last Time Out
Tuesday: Creighton 4, Nebraska 3: Matt Daeges’ pinch-hit RBI double in the bottom of the ninth broke a 3-all tie, as Creighton edged fourth-ranked Nebraska, 4-3, in front of 7,012 at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium Tuesday evening. With one out, Gabe Lapito singled to left before Daeges slapped a 1-1 pitch from Husker reliever Dustin Timm down the third base line to plate the winning run. Timm suffered the loss in relief for Nebraska, while Scott Reese went 2.1 innings of shutout relief for the win. All-American Alex Gordon did most of the damage for the Huskers, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs in a losing effort. Phil Shirek pitched well in a no-decision, allowing two runs on three hits in five innings of work.

Wednesday: Nebraska 6, Iowa 1: Curtis Ledbetter went 2-for-3 with a pair of homers, powering fourth-ranked Nebraska to a 6-1 victory over Iowa Wednesday evening. Ledbetter recorded his third multi-homer game of the season, hitting a two-run homer in the second and adding a solo blast in the fourth, as the Huskers (26-4) overcame an early 1-0 deficit with six unanswered runs. The homers were the eighth and ninth of the season for the senior from Lawrence, Kan., who also drove in three runs in the victory, NU’s 16th straight at home without a loss this season. Ledbetter’s power outburst was more than enough for NU freshman Johnny Dorn, who allowed one run on three hits to earn the victory. Dorn struck out four in five innings while three relievers kept Iowa off the scoreboard.