Huskers Look to Bounce Back at Texas Tech

Record (39-11, 14-7 Big 12) ? National Rankings: 3 (CB) ? 6 (BA) ? 5 (Sports Weekly) ? 3 (NCBWA)

Day Date Opp. Rank Opponent (Record) Location Time
Tues. May 10  vs. Creighton Omaha, Neb. (Rosenblatt Stadium) L, 3-5
Fri. May 13  at Texas Tech (30-18, 8-11 Big 12) Lubbock, Texas 6:30 p.m.
Sat. May 14  at Texas Tech  Lubbock, Texas 6:30 p.m.
Sun. May 15  at Texas Tech  Lubbock, Texas Noon
Polls are listed in the following order: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly

Pitching Probables
Fri. NU - Joba Chamberlain, So., RHP (6-2, 2.01 ERA) vs.  TT - Billy Carnline, Jr., RHP (6-2. 4.27 ERA)
Sat.  NU - Johnny Dorn, Fr., RHP (7-1, 1.85 ERA) vs.  TT - Brian Wyatt, Jr., RHP (4-4, 5.43 ERA)
Sun. NU - Zach Kroenke, Jr., LHP (5-2, 3.24 ERA) vs.  TT - Adam Lawford, Jr., RHP (2-6, 6.06 ERA)

Media Information
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (Jim Rose and John Bishop) 
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Television:  None
Internet Video Streaming: None

Huskers Look to Bounce Back at Texas Tech
The Nebraska baseball team looks to remain in the hunt for its third Big 12 title in five years, as the third-ranked Huskers travel to Texas Tech for an important three-game series with the Red Raiders beginning Friday evening.

The series in Lubbock commences Friday evening at 6:30 p.m., with tilts set for Saturday (6:30 p.m.) and Sunday (Noon). All three weekend games will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, KFAB 1110 AM in Omaha and KRVN 880 in Lexington while live stats will be available on Huskers.com. There is no television and the game will not be video-streamed.

At 39-11 on the season, the Huskers will not only take their second crack at a sixth 40-win season in seven years, but try to close the gap on Big 12 leader Baylor, which is playing against Texas A&M in a split series with the final two games taking place in College Station. The Huskers are 14-7 in the league, while Baylor sits at 15-6 heading into the final two weeks of the regular season. The Huskers will also look to rebound after losing to Creighton, 5-3, in front of a crowd of 20,011 at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium on Tuesday evening.

With a series win this weekend, it would mark the first time that Nebraska has won every Big 12 road series in a single season. In fact, the last time NU was .500 or better in every road conference series was in 1985, as they won two road series and split a four-game series at Oklahoma State.

Texas Tech (30-18, 8-11 Big 12) is fighting for its postseason life, as the Red Raiders enter the week in seventh place in a jumbled race for the final spots in the eight-team Big 12 Tournament. Just two games separate fifth from ninth place. The Red Raiders have played well at home, going 21-7 at Dan Law Field but are playing under .500 on the road.

The Huskers lead the all-time series with the Red Raiders, 15-13, and have taken five of the last six meetings at Dan Law Field dating back to 2001.  Last season, Texas Tech won the three-game series in Lincoln by taking the final two matchups.
The weekend matchup features two of the league’s premier offensive players in Nebraska third baseman Alex Gordon (.402-14-43, 19 SB) and Texas Tech shortstop Cameron Blair (.369-14-52, 20 SB).

The Huskers will also look to slow down a Texas Tech offense that leads the Big 12 with 126 stolen bases, including six players with at least 10 apiece. Nebraska has allowed a league-low 21 stolen bases in 41 attempts, while catcher Jeff Christy has thrown out seven of the last nine would-be base stealers. On Tuesday, he threw out one would-be base stealer, while also tossing out two others who tried to advance on wild pitches.

LEADING OFF
?-Nebraska’s No. 3 ranking this week is its highest in any national poll since May of 2001, a year where the Huskers were ranked No. 1 for two weeks by Baseball America.
?- Nebraska will be going after its 15th 40-win season this weekend. The Huskers have reached the 40-win plateau in five of the six previous seasons (all but 2004) after going eight years (1989-97) without a 40-win season.
?-Tuesday’s crowd for the Nebraska-Creighton game at Rosenblatt was the second-largest crowd in college baseball this season, trailing only the Minute Maid Classic mark of 21,995 set on Feb. 12. It was the largest single-game crowd this season, surpassing the 14,398 that saw the Georgia-Georgia Tech matchup on April 27, and the ninth-largest regular-season crowd in NCAA history.

2005 College Baseball’s Largest Crowds
Attend.  Event/Teams Location  Date
21,995 Minute Maid Classic     Houston, Texas Feb. 12
20,011 Creighton-Nebraska Omaha, Neb. May 10
14,398 Georgia-Georgia Tech Turner Field April 27
12,928 Minute Maid Classic Houston, Texas Feb. 13
12,069     LSU-Tulane Metairie, La.  April 19

?- The crowd not only broke the series record of 18,578 set in 2002, but also outdrew four Major League games that night as well.

MLB Games Outdrawn by Nebraska-Creighton
Road  Home Attendence
Chicago  at Tampa Bay 9,389
Houston  at Florida 11,687
San Diego  at Cincinnati 15,262
Philadelphia  at Milwaukee 12,082 

?-At 39-11, the Huskers are enjoying one of their best marks in the program’s 100-plus year history. The 2005 Huskers are only two games off the school’s best 50-game mark, set in 1979 and 1983.

Best 50-Game Starts in School History
No. 50-Game Record Final Record
1979 41-9 49-15
1983 41-9 44-15
1982 40-10 44-13
2005 39-11 --
1980 39-11 42-22

1999-2005 Records
Game 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
50 34-16 37-13 38-12 33-17 37-13 33-17 39-11
51 35-16 38-13 39-12 34-17 38-13 33-18 
52 36-16 39-13 40-12 35-17 39-13 33-19 
53 37-16 40-13 41-12 36-17 40-13 34-19

?-NU has 14 come-from-behind wins this season, while last Saturday’s 4-0 deficit to Missouri was the largest deficit NU has overcome in a win this season.
?-The Huskers’ pitching has been a strength throughout 2005, as Nebraska leads the Big 12 and ranks second nationally in ERA. Nebraska has held 41 of its 50 opponents to four runs or less and its 2.45 ERA is on pace to break the school record of 2.64 set in 1965. Since the aluminum bat was introduced into college baseball in 1974, NU has never posted an ERA below 3.00.

National ERA Team Leaders (as of May 10)
No. Team Team ERA
1. Long Beach State 2.30
2. Nebraska 2.45
3. Texas 2.67
4. San Francisco 2.75
5. North Carolina 2.81
6. Missouri 2.82

?-Despite making nine errors in last weekend’s series against Missouri, the Huskers rank 11th nationally in fielding percentage, as their .975 fielding percentage would equal the school mark set last season.
?-Nebraska is 10-5 against nationally ranked foes this season, including 5-3 against teams ranked in the top-10 of at least one national poll. In addition, NU is 30-12 against ranked opponents at Hawks Field since the ballpark opened in 2002.
?-The Huskers are 23-4 at Hawks Field this season and 100-23 (.813) since the ballpark opened in 2002.
?-The Huskers have gotten off to quick starts, scoring at least one run in the first inning in 24 of 50 games and outscoring their opponents 40-13 in the first inning of games this season.
?-NU has scored at least one run in 437 of the last 438 games dating back to the 1998 season. In 2004, the Huskers were the only Big 12 team not shut out.
?-After having just one multi-homer game in 2004, Nebraska has eight this season, including four by first baseman/catcher Curtis Ledbetter and two by All-American third baseman Alex Gordon.
?-Last month, 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

?-After going 67 straight innings without a homer, NU has received unexpected power from seniors Jesse Boyer and Joe Simokaitis. Boyer belted his first career homer in a walk-off 11-inning win over Missouri on Sunday, while Simokaitis hit his first round tripper - and third of his career - in the first inning of Tuesday’s loss to Creighton.
?-Nebraska’s starting pitchers are a combined 24-4 this season and had won their first 19 decisions before Zach Kroenke’s loss to No. 1 Texas on April 9.
?- Seven of Nebraska’s 11 losses this season have been by one run, as the Huskers are 6-7 in one-run games this year.
?-Nebraska has scored three runs or more in an inning 37 times this season, including an 11-run inning against South Dakota State on March 13.
?-Third baseman Alex Gordon is looking 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.
?-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.
?-Nebraska is averaging a league-best 6,261 fans in its 12 Big 12 home contests this season and is averaging 4,077 fans per game overall in 2005.

Whose Hot
?-Catcher Jeff Christy has driven in runs with each of his last five hits, including an RBI single in Sunday’s win over Missouri. In addition, he has thrown out seven of the last nine baserunners attempting to steal while picking off another runner at first.
?-Shortstop Joe Simokaitis has been on a tear of late, hitting .391 (16-of-41) with six RBIs and five stolen bases over his last 10 contest. The senior has six multi-hit games in that strech, including a two-hit game on Tuesday which featured his first homer of the year.
?-Reliever Ryan Bohanan saw his streak of 20.1 innings without an earned run come to an end on Tuesday evening, as he allowed two runs in 3.1 innings of relief. Bohanan, 1-1 with a 1.21 ERA, had not given up an earned run since his Husker debut on Feb. 18
?-Nebraska’s bullpen has been surperb over the last three weeks, going 6-1 with three saves and a 0.82 ERA over the last 13 contests. NU had a stretch of 37.2 innings without an earned run snapped in Tuesday’s loss to Creighton.

Charting the Husker Bullpen (2000-present)
Year ERA W-L IP H  R ER BB SO B/Avg
2005 1.95 14-7 175.1 133 48 38 40 150 .211
2004 3.70 11-11 201.2 206 97 83 63 161 .269
2003 3.94 14-7 205.1 207 117 90 73 180 .266
2002 4.26 12-13 228.0 232 129 108 69 172 .263
2001 3.21 20-8 232.2 223 122 83 99 189 .250
2000* 3.34 18-7 218.1 204 99 81 71 164  .247
*-Nebraska’s pitching staff led nation with 3.14 ERA

Scouting Texas Tech
Texas Tech comes into the weekend series with Nebraska looking to bounce back after losing three of its last four weekend series. At 30-18, Coach Larry Hays (726-389-2 in 19 seasons at Texas Tech) and the Red Raiders are seventh in the Big 12 standings with an 8-11 mark.

Offense is Texas Tech’s strength, as the Red Raiders ranked third in the latest Big 12 standings with a .310 average while pacing the league with 126 stolen bases. The duo of shortstop Cameron Blair and second baseman Joseph Callender provide most of Texas Tech’s offense. Blair, a first-team All-Big 12 pick in 2004, is hitting .369 with 14 homers and a team-high 52 RBIs, while Callender is hitting a team-high .397 with 47 RBIs.

Nebraska holds a 15-13 lead in the all-time series, including victories in five of the last six meetings between the two teams in Lubbock. Last season, Texas Tech won 2-of-3 meetings against NU at Hawks Field.