Huskers Host K-State

Probable Starters
Fri. NU-Tony Watson, Jr., LHP (4-2, 2.89 ERA, 56 K, 65.1 IP) 
       KSU-Brad Hutt, Jr., RHP (7-2, 2.94 ERA, 38 K, 64.1 IP)
Sat. NU-Johnny Dorn, Jr., RHP (6-2, 5.19 ERA, 41 K, 59 IP) 
        KSU-TBA
Sun. NU-Luke Wertz, Jr, RHP (2-0. 2.15 ERA, 31 K, 29.1 IP) 
         KSU-Chase Bayuk, Jr., LHP (4-4, 4.70 ERA, 40 K, 51.2 IP)

Follow the Huskers This Week
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (see network list on page 4) and for free on Huskers.com
Satellite Radio: Saturday and Sunday’s games will be on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel TBA)
TV: Saturday’s game to be shown statewide on Nebraska Educational Television (NET and NET-HD)
Live Stats: Huskers.com   
Live Video: HuskersNside (Free Huskers.com broadcast on Saturday)

Huskers Close April with K-State
The Nebraska baseball team returns to action this weekend, as the Huskers host Kansas State for a three-game series at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.  The weekend begins Friday night with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch with afternoon games slated for both Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05 p.m.). General Admission seats for all three games are available for $7 and $5 and can be purchased at the Hawks Field Ticket window  beginning 90 minutes prior to first pitch, while UNL Students are free with their student ID.

All three games 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 games will also be video-streamed for HuskersNside subscribers. Live stats will also be available for the weekend series. Both Saturday and Sunday’s games will be carried on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Ch. TBA).

Saturday’s game against the Wildcats will be carried statewide on Nebraska Educational Television (NET, Ch. 12; NET-HD, Ch. 112), as the third of five Husker baseball games televised this season on NET.

The Huskers (23-17 overall, 8-10 Big 12) enter the weekend after their longest layoff since early March. NU has not played since dropping a series to No. 4 Texas last weekend, as both mid-week games against North Dakota State were washed out. Last weekend’s series with Texas wrapped up a stretch of 13 games against ranked teams over the last four weeks, leaving the Huskers? strength of schedule among the top 10 in the country in both computerized ranking systems.

One offensive bright spot from the weekend was the play of shortstop Ryan Wehrle, who hit .636 (7-for-11) on the weekend with a homer and four RBIs. The junior had two multi-hit games against Texas, matching his career-high with four hits in the series opener, and raised his batting average to .253. Left fielder Andy Gerch also enjoyed a strong offensive showing against the Longhorns, hitting .417 with a homer and three RBIs, highlighted by a 3-for-4 effort in Sunday’s series finale.

Kansas State comes to town with a 25-17 overall record and is in seventh place in the Big 12 with a 6-9 mark. The Wildcats knocked off nationally ranked Wichita State, 2-1, on Wednesday night. KSU has lost its last three Big 12 series, as Oklahoma took 2-of-3 from the Wildcats last weekend.

Leading Off
?-The Husker baseball program will host an alumni weekend against Kansas State this weekend. Nearly 100 former players are expected to be in town for this weekend’s games, and they will be recognized during Saturday’s game.

?-The Huskers are second in the Big 12 with 53 sacrifices this season, as 13 players have recorded at least one sacrifice bunt this year.

?-NU has gotten off to fast starts this season, outscoring its opponents 43-21 in the opening inning of games, as the first inning is the Huskers’ highest-scoring inning this season.

?-Several Huskers have enjoyed their best success in two-out situations during the 2007 season. Andy Gerch has driven in 17 of his 21 runs with two outs, while Jake Opitz (16 of 31) and Craig Corriston (13 of 31) have combined to drive in nearly half their runs in two-out situations.

?-Nebraska is second in the Big 12 with 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.

?-Nebraska has already had three double-digit hit streaks (Jeff Tezak-15; Andrew Brown-15; Andy Gerch-10), which is more than last season’s entire team total of two.

?-Nebraska is on a 15-game homestand that goes until May 13, while the Huskers are scheduled to leave the state one time during the rest of the regular season (May 18-20 at Kansas). The scheduled 15-game homestand (NU could add games to replace the NDSU contests) is Nebraska’s longest since 1992.

?-The Huskers have been on an offensive surge in recent weeks, batting .299 as a team over the last 19 contests after hitting just .271 after 21 contests.  NU, which has reached double figures in hits 10 of the last 12 contests is hitting .313 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.

?-Nebraska is one of six Big 12 teams ranked in the top 35 in Boyd’s World RPI on Wednesday. The Huskers are helped by a strength of schedule that is in the top-10 nationally. As a league, the Big 12 is second only to the SEC in conference RPI.

?-Nebraska is 38-17 (.691) against ranked teams since Hawks Field at Haymarket Park opened in 2002, including an 19-8 (.704) record against top-10 teams.  The Huskers are 3-3 against ranked teams at home this season, including a series from No. 13 Oklahoma State ealier this month.

?-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 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.

?-Nebraska is one of only seven teams in all of Division I baseball to post team ERAs below 4.00 in each of the last five years, joining Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Oral Roberts, Rice, Texas and Wichita State.

?-The Huskers are 18-3 when out-hitting opponents this spring, but just 5-14 when the opponent has as many or more hits.

Weekend Recap
Friday (Nebraska 7, Texas 0): Behind a two-hit shutout from Tony Watson and a career-high four hits from Ryan Wehrle, the Huskers posted a 7-0 shutout in the series opener.  Watson (4-2) was nearly flawless against the Longhorns, allowing just four runners to reach base all night, including just two in scoring position, en route to his second complete game in three starts. The left-hander struck out six without a walk in handing UT its first shutout since last April. While Watson kept Texas scorless, Wehrle enjoyed a strong night at the plate with four hits, including his first homer in nearly two months, and drove in four of the Huskers’ seven runs. The junior shortstop’s three-run homer in the sixth off UT starter James Russell gave the Huskers a 5-0 lead. The Huskers matched a season-high with three homers, including solo shots from Mitch Abeita, his first of the season, and Andy Gerch, who had two hits and scored twice in victory.

Saturday (Texas 8, Nebraska 4): Texas scored six unanswered runs to erase a 4-2 deficit and top the Huskers, 8-4. Adrian Alaniz allowed four runs on 7.2 innings for the victory. Brown’s two-run double highlighted a three-run third inning that gave NU a 4-2 lead, but Texas scored three in the fourth and two more in the fifth off of NU starter Johnny Dorn, who took the loss. Brown, DJ Belfonte and Ryan Wehrle all had two hits for the Huskers in the losing effort.

Sunday (Texas 6, Nebraska 2): Andy Gerch had three hits and drove in a pair of runs, but NU fell 6-2 in the series finale. Gerch’s two-run first-inning single highlighted a 3-for-4 afternoon, but it would be the only offense the Huskers would muster against the Longhorn pitching staff. Joseph Krebs fanned three and allowed four hits over 6.1 innings for the win. The duo of Kyle Russell and Chance Wheeless paced the Longhorn offense, as they combined for six hits and drove in four of UT’s six runs. One bright spot for the Huskers was the performance of reliever Luke Wertz, as the junior right-hander kept the Huskers in the game with 7.1 innings of scoreless relief, matching his career best with seven strikeouts.

Scouting Kansas State
The Wildcats come to Lincoln with a 26-15 record and are 6-9 in the Big 12. Fourth-year Coach Brad Hill, who played for NU assistant Coach Dave Bingham at Emporia State, has the Wildcats making a run for their first NCAA berth in school history.

Offensively, the Wildcats are led by outfielder Bryon Wiley, who leads KSU in all three triple crown categories (.384-5-28) while also stealing a team-best 10 bases. KSU features a balanced offense with 12 players hitting at least .275 on the year while four players have driven in at least 20 runs.

On the mound, junior right-hander Brad Hutt has anchored the Wildcat rotation, as he is 7-2 with a 2.94 ERA in 12 starts. He ranks fifth in the league in wins and eighth in ERA, as he has thrown a team-high 64.1 innings. KSU also features one of the league’s top relievers in sophomore Daniel Edwards, who is 2-0 with a 0.72 ERA and 10 saves in just 17 appearances. Edwards is tied for the Big 12 lead in saves.

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 154-97, and has won 12 of the past 13 meetings dating back to the 2002  Big 12 Tournament. The Huskers have won all six meetings between the teams at Hawks Field, and have won 11 straight meetings in Lincoln dating back to the 1997 campaign.