Huskers Host ?Jays to Begin Homestand

Lincoln -- The Nebraska baseball team begins its longest homestand in 16 years Tuesday night when the Huskers host the Creighton Bluejays from Hawks Field at Haymarket Park. First pitch for the second matchup between the Huskers and Bluejays is set for 6:35 p.m.

General Admission seats are available for $7 and $5 and can be purchased at the Hawks Field Ticket window beginning at 5 p.m., while UNL Students are free with their student ID. With temperatures in the mid-60s expected Tuesday night, a large crowd is expected and fans are encouraged to park downtown and take the pedestrian connector to the ballpark. In addition, overflow parking will also be available at Haymarket Park.

Tuesday’s game will be carried across the state on the Husker Sports Network, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, KFAB 1110 AM in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com. In addition, the game will be video-streamed live on HuskersNside (subscription required) and live stats will be available on Huskers.com.

The Huskers begin the week with a 22-14 record after taking 2-of-3 against No. 23 Oklahoma over the weekend. Nebraska, which has now won its last two Big 12 series over ranked opposition, took the series by winning the final two games, including a 12-5 victory on Sunday afternoon. In that game, Luke Wertz fired 8.2 innings of five-hit relief for his first career Big 12 win. First baseman Andrew Brown paced a 15-hit attack with a 4-for-5 afternoon, including a homer and two doubles, while third baseman Craig Corriston had two hits and drove in a career-best four runs in the win.

After spending most of the season on the road, Nebraska finally gets to unpack its bags for a while, as the Huskers, who have spent seven of the first nine weekends on the road and have played a league-low 12 home games, will not leave the state for the next month. The 15-game homstand is the longest since a 17-game homestand in 1992 and begins with an important intrastate contest, as Creighton comes to town.

The Bluejays are 23-11 on the season and bring a four-game win streak into town after sweeping Bradley last weekend. Creighton is currently in second place in the Missouri Valley Conference with an 9-3 record, one game behind league-leader Wichita State. Freshman right-hander Casey Schmidt (2-1, 5.23 ERA) takes the hill against Nebraska on Tuesday night. The Huskers won the first meeting, 12-10, in Omaha on April 3 and the teams will square off against on May 15 at Rosenblatt Stadium. Tickets for that game are on sale at Ticketmaster locations across Nebraska.

Scouting Creighton
Fourth-year coach Ed Servais (137-73 at CU) brings the Bluejays to town with a 23-11 record after sweeping Bradley over the weekend. CU had lost four of five before regrouping with four straight wins last week, beginning with a win over Kansas State. The Bluejays, who are in second place in the MVC with a 9-3 mark, are 2-3 against Big 12 teams with a win over Missouri on March 27.

First baseman Darin Ruff has been Creighton’s top offensive threat so far, as he leads the Bluejays with a .357 average, four homers and 27 RBIs. Catcher Chris Gradoville tops Creighton with 39 RBIs and is hitting .328 on the season, while Ross Sinclair is hitting .322 with a team-best 10 sacrifices. CU’s calling card so far in 2007 has been its defense, as the Bluejays have committed just 25 errors in 34 contests and leads the nation in fielding percentage and double plays. On the mound, freshman Casey Schmidt makes his fifth start of the season for the Bluejays, as he is 2-1 with a 5.23 ERA. The right-hander has struck out 20 over 20.2 innings and went five innings in his last start at Kansas State on April 11. The Bluejays feature a deep bullpen including switch-pitcher Pat Vanditte (3-2, 3.17 ERA) and closer Andy Masten (4-1, 0.87 ERA, 9 SV).

NU leads the all-time series, 62-42-2, and has won 12-of-15 meetings since Mike Anderson took over as Nebraska’s head coach in 2003. The Huskers have won the last six meetings, dating back to the 2005 NCAA Regional.

Leading Off
•-The Huskers wrap up a stretch this week where they have played 13 of their last 16 games against ranked opponents. The strech began last month against Texas A&M and wraps up this weekend against No. 4 Texas. NU is currently 7-5 overall and 5-5 against ranked foes in this stretch.

•-Nebraska played 24 of its first 36 games away from Hawks Field, as its 12 home games is the fewest of any Big 12 school. The Huskers, who played 17 of their first 18 games on the road, begin a stretch of 15 straight home games, the first time NU has had at least a dozen straight home games since last March, when the Huskers went 10-2 on a 12-game home stand.

•-Jeff Tezak and Andrew Brown both enter Tuesday’s game with 15-game hit streaks, the first time NU has had concurrent 15-game hit streaks since March of 2005 (Joe Simokaitis-18; Curtis Ledbetter-16). The Huskers had three active double figure hit streaks until Saturday’s series opener at No. 23 Oklahoma, topping the entire 2006 team total of two.

•-The Huskers have been on an offensive surge in recent weeks, batting .315 as a team over the last 15 contests after hitting just .271 after 21 contests. NU, which has reached double figures in hits 10 of the last 11 contests, in each of the last eight contests, is hitting .323 in April despite taking on three of the top four pitching staffs in the Big 12 and Wichita State, which leads the country in ERA. The Huskers have raised their team average to .290, their highest average since March 5.

•-Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson became the fourth Husker coach to reach 200 career wins in a 5-2 victory over No. 13 Oklahoma State on April 6.

•-Nebraska’s bullpen has 13 saves this season, a total that already ranks fifth on single-season charts. Five pitchers have at least one save, including four by Steve Edlefsen and three by Erik Bird and Matt Foust.

Big 12 Team Save Leaders

No. School Saves

1. Nebraska 13

Kansas State 13

3. Oklahoma 12

•-NU has gotten off to fast starts this season, outscoring its opponents 39-16 in the opening inning of games.

•-Nebraska’s triple play against Northern Colorado on March 28 was the first one by the Huskers since the 1998 season and only the sixth in Big 12 history (since 1997). The Huskers join Texas A&M as the only teams to turn more than one triple play, while the last two in league play have both involved the Huskers.

•-Several Huskers have enjoyed their best success in two-out situations during the 2007 season. Andy Gerch has driven in 14 of his 18 runs with two outs, while Jake Opitz (16 of 31) and Craig Corriston (12 of 30) have combined to drive in nearly half their runs in two-out situations.

•-Nebraska’s 12 runs against Missouri in the sixth inning on March 25 were the Huskers’ highest single-inning total since putting up 13 runs in the fifth inning against Chicago State on March 16, 1999.

•-Nearly half of Nebraska’s 14 losses this season have come at an opponent’s last at-bat this season, including four in conference play.

•-NU’s shutout against Western Illinois on March 21 marked the first shutout of the year for the Huskers, and the first since consecutive shutouts of Texas (6-0) and Wichita State (11-0) last April.

•-The Huskers are 17-2 when out-hitting opponents this spring, but just 5-12 when the opponent has as many or more hits.

•-Nebraska is looking to pick up its first extra-inning win of the year, as the Huskers are 0-2 so far this season. NU won all five of its extra-inning contests during the 2006 campaign.