Huskers Look to Top Jayhawks

2007 Record (27-22, 12-12 Big 12)
Rankings: NR (CB) ? NR (BA) ? NR (Sports Weekly) ? NR (NCBWA)

This Week’s Schedule
Day Date Matchup   Time/Result
Fri. May 18 Kansas (27-28, 9-15 Big 12)   7 p.m.
Sat. May 19 Kansas (27-28, 9-15 Big 12) 6 p.m.
Sun. May 20 Kansas (27-28, 9-15 Big 12) 5 p.m.
Polls are in the following order: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly

Probable Starters
Fri. NU-Tony Watson, Jr., LHP (5-4, 3.63 ERA, 77 K, 86.2 IP) 
 KU-Andy Marks, So., LHP (5-6, 5.29 ERA, 89 K, 85.0 IP)
Sat. NU-Johnny Dorn, Jr., RHP (8-2, 5.09 ERA, 54 K, 76 IP) 
 KU-Nick Czyz, So., LHP (4-7, 4.12 ERA, 60 K, 67.2 IP)
Sun. NU-Luke Wertz, Jr., RHP (3-0, 2.09 ERA, 47 K, 43 IP) 
 KU-Wally Marciel, Fr., LHP (5-2, 3.91 ERA, 42 K, 53 IP)

Tuesday’s Media Info
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (see network list on page 4) and for free on Huskers.com
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Live Video: HuskersNside

The Nebraska baseball team makes its first road trip in over a month, as the Huskers head to Lawrence, Kan., for a three-game series with the Jayhawks this weekend. First pitch from Hoglund Ballpark for Friday’s series opener is set for 7 p.m. with evening starts also set for Saturday (6 p.m.) and Sunday (5 p.m.). Sunday’s start is later than usual because of KU’s commencement ceremonies earlier Sunday.

Fans across the state can listen to all three games this weekend  on the 22-station Husker Sports Network, including flagship stations KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, KFAB 1110 AM in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington and on the Internet at Huskers.com. All three games will also be streamed live on HuskersNside (subscription required) with live stats available as well.

Nebraska enters the weekend with a 27-22 mark following Tuesday’s loss to Creighton at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium. In that game, the Huskers tallied 11 hits, including two each from DJ Belfonte, Jake Mort, Andrew Brown and Andy Gerch, but could manufacture just two runs in suffering the setback to the Bluejays.

Nebraska enters this weekend’s action in fifth place in the Big 12 standings with a 12-12 mark and have won four of their last five conference series to get to the .500 mark. A series win this weekend would guarantee the Huskers a winning mark in league play, helping to add to NU’s postseason resume. NU’s strength of schedule is the toughest in the country, as the Huskers  concluded a stretch where they played 24 of their last 25 games against teams rated in the top-50 in the RPI.

The Huskers could still move as high as fourth in the league race depending on what happens this weekend in Lawrence and also in the matchup between league-leader Texas and Texas A&M, which is 1.5 games ahead of the Huskers for fourth.

The Huskers will be running into a Kansas team that also still has a lot to play for this weekend. KU is 27-28 on the year and carries a five-game winning streak following a four-game sweep of Chicago State last weekend. In the league, the Jayhawks are 8-15 and a half game behind Baylor and Oklahoma for seventh in the Big 12 race. With only eight teams going to Oklahoma City, KU not only needs a series win against the Huskers, but also some help from Kansas State, which takes on Baylor, and Texas Tech, which travels to Oklahoma. The Red Raiders, who are 10th in the league standings, also still have an outside chance of making the tournament.

Following Sunday’s game, the Huskers will head to Oklahoma City for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament that begins Wednesday. The Huskers will learn their start time following the conclusion of this weekend’s conference matchups.

Leading Off
?-Tuesday’s crowd of 18,136 at Rosenblatt Stadium against Creighton was the second-largest crowd in college baseball this season. Thanks to Boyd Nation (www.boydnation.com), here is a listing of the largest crowds in 2007.
?-Since a 3-6 start in Big 12 play (which included four last at-bat losses), the Huskers have been one of the Big 12’s best teams over the past six weeks. The Huskers have played .600 baseball in conference play since Easter weekend and join Missouri and Texas as the only Big 12 teams to win four of their last five series in league play.
?-The Huskers have not shied away from tough competition this spring, as their schedule is rated as the toughest nationally of the 293 teams playing Division I baseball.  Including Tuesday’s game against Creighton, Nebraska has played 24 of its last 25 games against teams in the top 50 of the most recent RPI dating back to the Huskers’ series at Texas A&M.
In addition to playing its Big 12 schedule, NU went on the road and took a series from Alabama (one of only two teams to win a series in Tuscaloosa in 2007), and also played non-conference games at Rice (No. 1 in the RPI), Wichita State (No. 21) and Stetson (No. 24) while hosting Coastal Carolina (No. 11).
?-Of Nebraska’s 49 games this season, 29 (59 percent) have come against teams in the top 50 of the RPI. In fact, only 12 teams in the country have more wins against top-50 RPI teams than Nebraska.
?-As a league, the Big 12 is rated third nationally among all conferences and is one of only three conferences to win 70 percent of its games against non-league foes. In all, six of the league’s 10 teams have RPIs in the top 35.
?-With one weekend left in the regular season, the field for the Big 12 Championship is still far from set. Five teams have already punched their tickets to Bricktown, while all 10 teams enter the last weekend with a shot at the postseason.
?-NU has gotten off to fast starts this season, outscoring its opponents 46-27 in the opening inning of games, as the first inning is the Huskers’ highest-scoring inning this season.
?-All-American Tony Watson has been a stalwart at the top of the Husker rotation in Big 12 play. He is 4-2 with a 3.32 ERA, while his  7.79 innings per appearance not only tops all Big 12 pitchers, but is the highest by a Husker pitcher in the Big 12 era (1997-present).
?-Nebraska has 10 come-from-behind wins this season, most recently against Baylor on May 12.
?-The Huskers are second in the Big 12 and eighth nationally with 65 sacrifices this season, as 13 players have recorded at least one sacrifice bunt.
?-Nebraska’s pitching has been solid in Big 12 action, posting a team ERA of 4.02 to rank second in the league. In fact, Nebraska and Texas are the only schools with ERAs under 4.50 in Big 12 play. The Husker pitching staff is also second in the league in opponent batting average (.250), fewest walks per game (3.18) and strikeouts per game (8.41).
?-Nebraska’s bullpen has been just as good in conference play, posting a 2.23 ERA and a 78-30 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 76.2 innings 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 24 runs with two outs, while Jake Opitz (19 of 37) and Craig Corriston (14 of 32) have combined to drive in nearly half their runs in two-out situations.
?-Nebraska turned in its best defensive peformance of the season in the series win over Baylor, as the Huskers committed just one error in the three-game series, good for a .991 fielding percentage.
?-Nebraska has won 81 straight games when taking a lead into the ninth inning dating back to the 2005 campaign, and is 178-3 (.983) when leading after eight innings since the start of the 2003 season.
?-Nebraska ranks eighth nationally and leads the Big 12 with 16 saves this season, a total which is fourth on Husker single-season lists.  Five pitchers have at least one save, including five by Matt Foust and four by Steve Edlefsen.
?-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 (2).
?-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. He is now six wins away from moving into third place on NU’s career wins list.
?-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.

Last Time Out
Tuesday (Creighton 9, Nebraska 2): Nebraska out-hit Creighton, 11-9, but Chris Gradoville went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, including a key two-run, second-inning single, as Creighton topped the Huskers, 9-2 in front of a crowd of 18,316 at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium Tuesday evening.

Gradoville’s two-run single off Nebraska starter Matt Foust highlighted a three-run inning, as the Bluejays broke open a 1-1 game and never trailed after that.

Gradoville, Andrew Small and Robbie Knight combined for eight RBIs, as the trio went a 6-for-13 with five runs scored for Creighton, which picked up its first season series win over Nebraska since 1994.

Four Huskers ? DJ Belfonte, Jake Mort, Andrew Brown and Andy Gerch ? each recorded two-hit games in the loss. RBI doubles by Brown and Jake Opitz accounted for the Huskers’ runs, as NU fell to 27-22.

Foust, the first of five Husker pitchers used on Tuesday, took the loss, allowing four runs ? three earned ? on five hits over three innings to drop to 1-4 on the season.

The crowd of 18,316 was the second-largest single-game crowd in college baseball this season and the 17th largest regular-season crowd in college baseball history. It also marks the fourth time in the last six years that the game has drawn a crowd in excess of 18,000.

Scouting Kansas
The Jayhawks come into the regular season’s final weekend looking to get back to the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City. Kansas is in ninth place in the Big 12 with an 8-15 record, one half game behind Baylor and Oklahoma for the league’s eighth spot. Overall, KU is 27-28 and riding a season-high five-game win streak after sweeping Chicago State last weekend.

Offensively, senior outfielders Kyle Murphy and John Allman have been the catalysts to the Jayhawk offense. Both players are hitting .333, while Murphy leads the team in both hits and runs scored. Allman has four homers and is second on the team with 39 RBIs. Ryne Price leads KU with 10 homers, while Erik Morrison has seven homers and has driven in a team-high 42 runs.

On the mound, KU will feature an all left-handed rotation this weekend with Andy Marks, Nick Czyz and Wally Marciel taking the hill. Marks has a 5-6 record and a 5.29 ERA, as he ranks among the Big 12 leaders in both innings (85.0) and strikeouts (89).

NU leads the all-time series, 135-97-1 in a series that dates back to 1892. The two teams split their four meetings in 2006 with NU winning the series in Lincoln before Kansas topped the Huskers in the Big 12 title game in Oklahoma City.