Fifth-Ranked Huskers Square off with Creighton

No. 5 Nebraska (38-9-1)
vs. Creighton (33-17)
Tuesday, May 13 * 7 p.m.

Media Info
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com; Saturday and Sunday’s games will be carried on SIRIUS Satelitte Radio (Ch. 127)

Live Stats: Huskers.com

Live Video: Tuesday’s game will be on Huskers.com; Friday and Saturday at Missouri on HuskersNside

TV: Tuesday’s game will be live on NET (Ch. 12 and Ch. 112) and on CBS College Sports (Ch. 610 on DirecTV; Ch. 148 on DISH Network; Ch. 305 on Time Warner Cable); Sunday’s game will be shown nationally on FSN (Ch. 37 in Lincoln; Ch. 47 in Omaha)

Probable Starting Pitchers
NU-Erik Bird, Jr., RHP (4-1, 2.72 ERA)
CU-Greg Hellhake, R-Fr., LHP (3-0, 2.97 ERA)

The fifth-ranked Husker baseball team begins the final week of the regular season, as the Huskers (38-9-1) travel to Omaha to take on the Creighton Bluejays (33-17) at historic Rosenblatt Stadium. First pitch is set for 7:07 p.m., and the game will be televised state-wide on Nebraska Educational Television (Ch. 12 and Ch. 112 in HD) and shown nationally on CBS College Sports.

Fans across Nebraska can listen to Greg Sharpe, Lane Grindle and Adrian Fiala call the action on the 27-station Husker Sports Network, including KLIN 1400 in Lincoln, 1110 KFAB in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington and on the Internet at Huskers.com.

Tickets for Tuesday’s game are available for purchase at Rosenblatt Stadium by calling TicketMaster (402-475-1212 in Lincoln and 402-422-1212 in Omaha), visiting any TicketMaster outlet (Baker’s, Younkers) or on-line at ticketmaster.com. Over 12,000 advance tickets have been sold for the matchup, one of the most attended college baseball games of the year. The highest attendance of the year is 13,979 for a tripleheader at Minute Maid College Classic in Houston on March 1.

The Huskers come into the week looking to avoid a letdown following an emotional series win against No. 9 Texas A&M. After losing the opener in 16 innings, Nebraska overcame deficits of four and five runs to sweep Sunday’s doubleheader by scores of 9-8 and 13-10, snapping Texas A&M’s 16-game conference win streak. Freshman David Stewart led the charge going 4-for-9 with a homer and seven RBIs on the day, including a career-high five RBIs in the opener. Stewart, who had just four RBIs in his first 22 contests, raised his average to .271-2-11 following Sunday’s effort. Nebraska is 1.5 games out of first place and can finish no worse than third in the final Big 12 standings. 

Creighton is also coming into the week with momentum, sweeping Indiana State over the weekend, putting the Bluejays in the driver’s seat to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference race. The Bluejays will look to avenge two previous losses to the Huskers this season (4-3, 16-7).

Leading Off
?-Nebraska jumped to sixth in the latest RPI rankings following the series win over Texas A&M. NU is now 15-8-1 against top-50 RPI teams. The Big 12, which is rated third among all conferences, has three teams ranked in the top 12 of the most recent RPI.

?-The Huskers’ .802 winning percentage is on pace for the highest winning percentage in school history. NU has won 75 percent of its games only seven times, including three times this decade.

?-Nebraska’s 38 wins this season already tops the Huskers’ entire 2007 season total (32). Last year, NU was 27-21 overall after 48 games.

?-With a 38-9-1 record entering this week’s action, the Huskers’ record after 48 games is their best since 1983. Only the 1979 and 1983 teams had better records after 48 games.

?-One of the traits the Huskers have shown is the ability to win close games, as the Huskers are 16-2 in games decided by two runs or less and 3-1-1 in extra-inning games. Nebraska is 9-1 in one-run games this season with the only loss being a 1-0 loss at Oklahoma State on April 11.

?-The Huskers have shown the knack for comebacks in 2008, overcoming deficits 20 times this spring, including a five-run deficit against ninth-ranked Texas A&M on May 11. Under Mike Anderson, the Huskers have authored 98 come-from-behind wins since 2003

?-NU has won 116 of its last 117 games when taking a lead into the ninth inning and is 116-0-1 in that stretch dating back to the 2005 season. NU is 211-3-1 (.984) when leading after eight innings under Mike Anderson.

?-The Huskers finished the regular season with a 28-3-1 (.891) record at Hawks Field, collecting the most regular season home wins since 1988 (29-5). The .891 winning percentage ranks fifth over the last three decades of baseball.

?-NU is 20-0-1 this season when recording at least 10 hits and 30-0 when out-hitting an opponent.

?-The Huskers have won 11 of their last 13 Big 12 series dating back to the 2007 season and are a Big 12 best 7-1 in conference series in 2008.

?-Husker starting pitchers have gone at least five innings in 39 of the 48 starts this season and are a combined 24-6 on the year.

?-Nebraska is one of only five teams in the country to rank in the top 20 nationally in both ERA and fielding percentage in the latest rankings, joining St. John’s, TCU, Kentucky and Duke.

?-Craig Corriston and Thad Weber were among six current or former Huskers who graduated over the weekend. Corriston earned his degree in sociology, while Weber received his degree in biological science.

2008 Matchups vs. Creighton
April 22 (Nebraska 4, Creighton 3 at Hawks Field): Ben Kline’s two-run single in the bottom of the sixth highlighted a four-run inning, helping the Huskers to a 4-3 win over Creighton.

Kline, who went 2-for-4 on the evening, came through with the game’s biggest hit, as his two-run single off of Kevin Dooley capped Nebraska’s four-run outburst. Trailing 1-0, Jake Mort opened the inning with a sharp single to center before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Mitch Abeita tied the game at one with an RBI. Craig Corriston was walked intentionally before Belfonte coaxed a walk to load the bases. TJ Roemmich hit Dan Johnston to give NU a 2-1 lead before Kline’s base hit capped the scoring. 

Dan Jennings earned the victory, allowing one run on three hits over six innings of work, while Mike Nesseth fanned two over 1.1 innings of no-hit relief for the save.

April 23 (Nebraska 16, Creighton 7 at Rosenblatt Stadium): Nebraska used its biggest inning in nine years, as the Huskers erupted for a season-high 16 runs in a 16-7 victory over Creighton. Trailing 4-3, the Huskers sent 17 men to the plate en route to scoring 13 runs off of five Creighton pitchers, the most runs Nebraska has scored in an inning since plating 13 against Chicago State on March 16, 1999. The 15 runs were the most the Huskers scored against Creighton since April 13, 1995.

The Huskers loaded the bases off Bluejay reliever Zak Moore on a Jake Opitz single and two walks before a costly error on Bluejay first baseman Darren Ruf opened the floodgates for the Huskers, as his wild throw on a fielder’s choice allowed a pair of runs to score. NU continued to capitalize against Creighton, getting two-run doubles from Ben Kline and Bryce Nimmo along with run-scoring doubles from Jake Mort and Craig Corriston, as Nebraska totaled half its school-record 10 doubles in the inning.

Six Huskers had at least two hits on the night, as DJ Belfonte led Nebraska with three RBIs, while Corriston, Nimmo and Cody Neer all totaled a pair of doubles. Michael Mariot earned the victory in relief allowing two runs over three innings of work.

“The Series of the Year”
That was Baseball America’s description of last weekend’s series between the fifth-ranked Huskers and ninth-ranked Texas A&M, as all three games were decided on the final at-bat. The series featured a 16-inning game as well as two dramatic comebacks by the Huskers on Sunday.

Friday (Texas A&M 6, Nebraska 3 - 16 innings): Dane Carter’s three-run double in the top of the 16th broke a 3-all tie, as Texas A&M topped the Huskers in 16 innings. Three straight infield hits in the 16th loaded the bases before Carter delivered a two-out, three-run double helping TAMU to its 16th consecutive conference win. 

The Huskers overcame a pair of deficits and sent the game into extra innings in the ninth, but could not come up with the big hit against Aggie closer Travis Starling, who tossed a career-high eight shutout innings of relief to up his record to 8-0.

Dan Jennings (5-1) took the loss, allowing three runs over 2.1 innings of work, as the Husker pitching staff struck out 19 Aggies and allowed just 11 hits to the conference’s top hitting team.

Jake Mort led Nebraska, going 2-for-6 and scored all three of the Huskers’ runs, matching his career high, while Ben Kline and Tyler Farst had two hits apiece.

Sunday game 1 (NU 9, Texas A&M 8): Mitch Abeita’s RBI single in the ninth broke an 8-all deadlock, as the Huskers scored five times in the ninth to pull out a 9-8 win. Abeita sent a 1-2 pitch from Kyle Thebeau into center, scoring Bryce Nimmo from second with the winning run. Nick Sullivan opened the inning with a single before Tyler Farst reached on a fielding error. After a DJ Belfonte walk to load the bases, David Stewart’s grounder was misplayed by Luke Anders, allowing Sullivan to score to make it a three-run game. Cody Neer kept the rally going, delivering a two-run pinch-hit single to left to pull Nebraska within a run. Bryce Nimmo tied the game, scoring Farst on a fielder’s choice before Abeita singled home Nimmo with the game winner two batters later.

Stewart led Nebraska by going 2-for-4 with a homer and a career-high five RBIs, as he drove in the Huskers’ first four runs. Dan Jennings earned the win in relief, fanning five in 3.1 innings of shutout relief.

Sunday game 2 (NU 13, Texas A&M 10): Bryce Nimmo went 4-for-6 with four RBIs, as fifth-ranked Nebraska completed a doubleheader sweep of No. 9 Texas A&M with a 13-10 win. Nimmo, whose four hits matched his career high, led the charge for the Huskers, as Nebraska overcame an early 9-4 deficit by scoring nine runs in its final three at-bats.

Trailing 9-4, the Huskers began to rally after a David Stewart double and an error off the bat of Andy Cotton ? one of six miscues by the Aggies in the nightcap ? put runners on first and second. Nimmo greeted reliever Scott Migl with a two-run triple into the corner in right before Jake Mort plated Nimmo with a ground out to pull the Huskers within two runs.

Mort went 3-for-6 with a pair of RBI, while Stewart, who drove in five runs in the opener, had two hits and scored twice as the Huskers converted the Aggie errors until six unearned runs to complete its fifth straight doubleheader sweep. Mike Nesseth allowed one hit and struck out five over 2.2 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win.

Husker Pitchers Rank Among Nation’s Best
Despite losing six pitchers selected in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft and returning only five pitchers who threw at least an inning from last year’s staff, the Huskers lead the Big 12 and rank 10th nationally in ERA and are third nationally in opponent batting average. In the conference, NU leads the Big 12 in complete games (six) and opponent batting average (.235) and is in the top three in saves (15, third) and shutouts (four, second).

Doubling Up the Wins
Nebraska has enjoyed doubleheaders this year, sweeping five of the six twinbills its played this year, including sweeps at Baylor and Texas A&M. The only blemish on NU’s doubleheader slate is the season-opening loss at Stanford on Feb. 22.

Nebraska’s sweep at Baylor on April 26, was historic on a number of fronts. First, it marked the Huskers’ first road doubleheader sweep in Big 12 play and first by the Huskers over a league foe since 1994. Second, it allowed the Huskers to earn its first-ever series win in Waco.

Nebraska’s sweep of ninth-ranked Texas A&M on May 11 marked NU’s first doubleheader sweep of a ranked team since a twinbill sweep of No. 18 Texas in 2001 and NU’s first-ever sweep of a top-10 team since joining the Big 12 in 1997. In sweep also gave the Huskers the season series over the Aggies, marking the first time that Nebraska took the regular-season series from all four Texas Big 12 schools in the same season.

Ringing Up the Ks
Nebraska’s pitching staff has been proficient in striking out hitters in 2008. The Huskers lead in the Big 12 with 8.75 strikeouts per nine innings, a total that ranks among the top 20 programs nationally.

NU pitchers have totaled double figures in strikeouts 20 times, including a season-high 19 strikeouts in consecutive games against Louisiana-Lafayette (May 4) and Texas A&M (May 9). Those were the highest single-game total by a Husker pitching staff since the 1999 season. NU’s strikeout per game total is on pace to be the most in school history, as no Husker pitching staff has ever averaged more than eight strikeouts per game.