Huskers Head to Kansas this Weekend

On Tap: The Nebraska baseball team wraps up its seven-game road trip this weekend, traveling to Lawrence, Kan., for a three-game series with the Kansas Jayhawks. Friday and Saturday’s start times at Hoglund Ballpark are set for 6 p.m. with the finale slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Radio: Fans across Nebraska can listen to Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle call the action on the Husker Sports Network stations, 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.

Internet: All three games this weekend will be shown for free on the new Huskers.com video player.  For more information, visit Huskers.com. 

Weekend Preview: Nebraska (18-21-1, 4-14 Big 12) brings some momentum into the weekend after defeating Creighton, 4-3, in 12 innings Tuesday night. The Huskers received a strong pitching performance from senior Erik Bird, who allowed one run over 9.1 innings of work, and timely hitting in the 12th to plate three runs, including an RBI double by Jeff Tezak and a run-scoring single from Cade Thompson to break the 1-1 deadlock. 

With three weeks left in the conference race, the Huskers have some ground to make up if they want to qualify for the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City. NU is four games behind Missouri for eighth place in the league race entering the weekend, but has a tough task this weekend with Kansas.

The Jayhawks (27-14, 8-7 Big 12) are in a three-way tie with Oklahoma and Kansas State for fourth in the conference race. KU has been tough at home in league play, posting sweeps of Texas and Oklahoma State. Nebraska will look to join Baylor as the only two teams to take a series from the Jayhawks in Lawrence this season.

Nebraska at Kansas

Media Info
Radio: IMG Husker Sports Network and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com
Video: Free Live Video on Huskers.com
Live Stats:  Huskers.com 

Probable Starting Pitchers
Day Nebraska Kansas
Fri. Jordan Roualdes, LHP, Jr., (4-4, 6.61 ERA) Shaeffer Hall, LHP, Jr. (3-3, 3.88 ERA)
Sat. Mike Nesseth, RHP, So., (3-2, 4.03 ERA) T.J. Walz, RHP, So. (4-1, 3.67 ERA) 
Sun. Sean Yost, RHP, R-Fr., (1-4, 7.59 ERA) Lee Ridenhour, RHP, Fr. (4-2, 3.18 ERA)

Scouting Kansas
The Jayhawks have been one of the biggest surprises in the Big 12 this season, coming into the weekend with a 27-14 record, including an 8-7 Big 12 mark. KU has won 19 of 21 home games this season, including seven of nine inside the league. The Jayhawks enter the weekend on a three-game win streak and have won nine of their last 11 contests.

Offensively, Kansas is led by third baseman Tony Thompson,  who leads the Jayhawks in all three triple crown categories, hitting .378 with 12 homers and a Big 12-leading 45 RBIs.  Thompson is one of four KU starters hitting .340 or better, as Brian Heere (.375-2-21), Buck Afenir (.353-5-38) and David Narodowski (.342-2-25) give the Jayhawks a formidable lineup.
On the mound, KU’s strength is its starting rotation, as the weekend trio of Shaeffer Hall, T.J. Walz and Lee Ridenhour are a combined 11-6 in 26 starts. Hall has walked only six batters and fanned 38 in 55.2 innings. Paul Smythe has six of KU’s seven saves while three other relievers have made at least 19 appearances.

Series History: Nebraska leads 139-95-1 in a series that dates back to 1892, including regular-season series wins in each of the past 10 years. The Huskers have won their last five series in Lawrence.

Last Time Out
Tuesday (Nebraska 4, Creighton 3, 12 inn.): Jeff Tezak’s RBI double in the top of the 12th inning broke a 1-1 tie and sparked a three-run inning, as Nebraska posted a 4-3 victory Tuesday night at Rosenblatt Stadium. The Huskers (18-21-1) had just five hits over the first 11 innings, but strung together four hits in the 12th, including run-scoring hits from Tezak and Cade Thompson. Cody Neer and Tezak came through with consecutive one-out doubles to plate NU’s first run of the frame. Kyle Bubak then laid down a bunt single which was thrown away, allowing Tezak to score from second. Thompson made it a three-run game with an RBI single to right. Creighton got two runs back on a two-run double by Robbie Knight, but Michael Mariot got out of further trouble by getting Elliot Soto to pop out to end the game. Mariot (2-2) tossed 2.2 innings of three-hit relief for the win, as he came in for starter Erik Bird in the 10th. Bird put together the best performance of his career, allowing one run on six hits over a career-high 9.1 innings, the longest start by a starter in three years and only the second time since 1999 that a Husker pitcher pitched at least nine innings.

Leading Off
?-Erik Bird’s 9.1 inning effort was the longest pitching performance in the Big 12 this season and the longest effort by a Husker since Tony Watson threw 10 innings against Missouri on March 23, 2007. Ironically, none of the four ended up picking up the victory in those games, and Bird’s was the only one that Nebraska won.

?-The Huskers have seen some of the Big 12’s best pitching in recent weeks. Of the top six starting pitchers in the league in ERA, the Huskers have seen five of them (A.J. Morris, Cole Green, Brooks Raley, Chance Ruffin and Brandon Workman) over the last three weekends of Big 12 action. In fact, nine of the top 13 ERAs in the league entering Tuesday’s action have been pitchers NU has seen over the last three weekends.

?-Reaching double figures in hits is a key for the Huskers in 2009. When they have at least 10 hits in a game, the Huskers are 17-5-1, while Tuesday’s win against Creighton marked the first time in 17 games this year that Nebraska has won a game without 10 hits.

?-One area that senior Jeff Tezak has excelled in this season is plate discipline. Tezak not only leads the Huskers in walks, but has struck out just eight times to lead all Big 12 players in fewest strikeouts per at-bat.  Tezak is also second among all Big 12 hitters in walk-to-strikeout ratio entering this week’s action.  The senior is also attempting to become the first Husker position player since 2003 to strike out less than 20 times with a minimum of 150 at-bats.

?-Tezak has helped the Husker hitters rank third in the league in fewest strikeouts, as NU batters have fanned only 257 times in the first 39 contests.

?-One constant with Nebraska’s offense has been junior first baseman Tyler Farst.  He has reached safely in 36 of his 38 appearances this season. Farst had a streak of 33 consecutive games reaching safely snapped in the series finale against No. 9 Texas on April 11.

?-Third baseman Cody Asche has emerged as one of the Huskers’ top freshmen. He is hitting .348 on the season and ranks fourth on the team with 19 RBIs. He is second on the squad with 12 two-out RBIs, as his percentage is a team best.

?-Nebraska has shown the ability to score runs in bunches. The Huskers have already plated five runs in an inning 11 times, nearly twice the Huskers’ total from 2008. Here is a look at the Huskers’ biggest innings in 2009.

?-Nebraska has 10 come-from-behind wins among its 17 victories, including six wins where the Huskers had to overcome at least a three-run deficit. The seven-run comeback against Northern Colorado on March 24 equaled the Huskers’ largest comeback since the 2000 season, when NU overcame a 10-0 deficit against Iowa State. NU has 109 come-from-behind wins under Mike Anderson since 2003.

?-NU hitters have taken a beating this season, as the Huskers have been hit by 57 pitches to rank third in the Big 12.   Junior DJ Belfonte has been hit 40 times in his career, including a team-high 10 times in 2009. Belfonte, who now ranks second on NU’s career list, is one of nine players in the league to be hit by at least 10 pitches this spring.

?-Nebraska has won five games in its last at-bat this spring, including four runs in the bottom of the eighth in a 14-13 win over Northern Colorado on March 24.

?-The Huskers have reached double figures in runs 10 times this season after accomplishing the feat 12 times in 2008.

?-The Huskers are 92-1 under Mike Anderson when reaching double figures in runs, including 64-0 since the start of the 2005 season.

?-Nebraska has won 132 of its last 133 games when taking a lead into the ninth inning and is 132-0-1 in that stretch dating back to the 2005 season. NU is 227-3-1 (.985) when leading after eight innings under Mike Anderson.

?-The Huskers are 48-2 dating back to last season when they out-hit an opponent and have won over 90 percent of their games since 2003 when out-hitting an opponent.

?-When a Husker starting pitcher has left with a lead, the Huskers are 10-1-1 on the season.

?-Nebraska is 12-3-1 when allowing five runs or less and has won 83 percent of its games since 2003 when allowing five runs or less.

?- Freshman Cody Asche has been one of the Huskers’ hottest hitters of late. He is hitting .395 with a homer and nine RBIs over his last 12 contests. He has three multi-hit games in that stretch, including a pair of three-hit performances.

?-Reserve catcher Jed Hanson has made the most of his limited action, belting homers in three straight games and is slugging  at a 1.444 clip in nine at-bats. The last Husker to homer in three straight games was Luke Gorsett in 2006, while the only other Husker to accomplish the feat under Mike Anderson was Daniel Bruce in 2004. The last Husker to homer in four consecutive games was Jed Morris, who had a streak of five straight games with a homer in 2002.

?-With his homer against Northern Colorado on March 25, Jed Hanson became the first Husker to homer in his first career at-bat in over a decade.  Hanson had not appeared in NU’s first 23 games before homering on the first pitch he saw as a Husker.

?-Nebraska set a school and Big 12 record in the opener against UL-Lafayette, as five Husker pitchers combined for 22 strikeouts, breaking the school and conference mark of 21 set at Iowa State on April 18, 1999. Three of the top five strikeout performances have been under pitching coach Eric Newman over the past two seasons.

?-Nebraska is the only Big 12 program to win at least 40 games in eight of the past 10 years, including three 50-win seasons (2000, 2001 and 2005)

?-Since the NCAA Championship went to the 64-team format in 1999, Nebraska has made nine NCAA Tournament appearances, which ties for seventh nationally in that time period. The only teams to earn more bids than Nebraska in that span are Cal State Fullerton, Florida State, Miami, Oral Roberts, Rice and Texas.

?-Nebraska assistant coach Dave Bingham served as Kansas’ head coach from 1988 to 1995, compiling a 249-225 record at KU. He guided the Jayhawks to two NCAA regionals and the school’s first-ever CWS trip in 1993.

Tezak Returns Better than Ever
After being limited to just seven games with a torn ACL in his knee, Jeff Tezak has come back better than ever in 2009. The senior from San Diego is hitting .328 with two homers and 25 RBIs, leading the Huskers in both walks (24) and on-base percentage (.438). Tezak had committed just one error in his first 35 games before having two on Saturday at Texas A&M. He still has a .977 fielding percentage in 129 chances at second base this spring.

Tezak has been even better in league play, hitting .349 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 15 contests while leading the league with 13 walks and no strikeouts in 63 at-bats.  He is seventh in the league in on-base percentage (.468) in league play and 16th in hitting.

Bashing with Bailey
Junior college transfer Adam Bailey has been a consistent run producer in the middle of the Husker lineup this spring. He enters the week with a .319 batting average with team bests in both homers (nine) and RBIs (40). The Scottsdale, Ariz., product is seventh in the league homers and  eighth in RBIs.

Bailey has shown the ability to drive in runs in bunches, pacing the Huskers with nine multi-RBI efforts, including six games with at least three RBIs. He is also tied for the team lead with 14 multi-hit games. Bailey enjoyed a 13-game hitting streak from Feb. 28 until March 22, where he hit .406 with six homers and 23 RBIs.

What a Difference a Year Makes
After struggling to get at-bats for most of the 2008 season, first baseman Tyler Farst has been one of the Huskers’ most consistent hitters this spring. Through his first 41 games, he had a .179 average with three RBIs before earning a spot in the lineup after Craig Corriston’s knee surgery. Since then, Farst has been hitting at a .323 clip with four homers and 37 RBIs in his last 53 games dating back to last May. This season, he is hitting .319 with two homers and 27 RBIs,  as he is among team leaders in doubles (13, first), runs (30, second) and hits (45, second).
Farst, has had a pair of 11-game hit streaks in that stretch. He hit .429 with a homer, five doubles and 14 RBIs during an 11-game streak that was snapped on April 3. He went 7-for-12 with three doubles and three RBIs against No. 11 Oklahoma, including his first career four-hit game on March 29. It was the second time that week he established a personal best as he drove in a career-high five runs, highlighted by his first grand slam, against Northern Colorado on March 24.

Sullivan Named to Senior Watch List
Nebraska left fielder Nick Sullivan was selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award announced on March 19.  Presented annually to NCAA Division I student-athletes in eight sports, the award focuses on the “Four C’s” of classroom, character, community and competition. Unfortunately, Sullivan was not one of the 10 finalists announced on April 15.

A two-year starter, Sullivan is hitting .234 with two homers, 15 RBIs and 22 runs scored this season. He is third on the team in walks (18) and fourth in on-base percentage (.390) while he has been hit by nine pitches.

In addition to his success on the diamond, he is a two-time academic All-Big 12 selection who carries a 3.78 GPA in finance. He has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll in all nine semesters at Nebraska and is a two-time first-team Academic All-District VII selection.

Huskers In the Pros
Currently 20 former Huskers are in professional baseball, including Major Leaguers Darin Erstad, Joba Chamberlain and Alex Gordon. Brian Duensing began the 2009 season on the Minnesota Twins roster, but is currently in Triple-A.  Erstad is in his 14th season in the Major Leagues and trails only Stan Bahnsen (1966-82) among Huskers in terms of time in the Major Leagues, while Alex Gordon and Joba Chamberlain are each in their third season in the Majors. In addition, other former Huskers, such as Luke Wertz and Jake Opitz, have not been assigned to teams yet this season.

Ticket Update
Because of the weather-related postponements this season, four previous game tickets can be used for general admission tickets to any remaining regular-season game at Hawks Field in 2009. Those tickets are the following:
 
? South Dakota State (Game 2 on season-ticket sheets)
? Northern Colorado (Game 9)
? Kansas State (Game 13)
? Texas (Game 15)

Twice the Action..
Nebraska fans have been seeing double almost every weekend of the 2009 season. The Huskers have played seven doubleheaders this season, including four of six weekends in conference action. All four Big 12 doubleheaders have been because of weather, although the Huskers have not lost a conference tilt to inclement weather since 2001, the second-longest streak in the Big 12.

Nesseth Anchors Husker Pitching Staff
Sophomore Mike Nesseth has lived up to the early billing this season. The right-hander is 3-2 with two saves and a 4.03 ERA in 16 appearances. He has a team-high 52 strikeouts over 44.2 innings and is holding foes to a .243 average.  He started the first four weeks of the season before moving into the closer’s role on March 18. He went 1-1 with two saves in that spot and also helped preserve NU’s 11-9 win at Oklahoma on March 29.

Nesseth will make his first start since March 14th this weekend at Kansas As a starter, he went at least six innings in all four outings, highlighted by a complete-game victory over Cal State Northridge on March 6, where he fanned seven in a 9-3 win. He was dominant against Sam Houston State on Feb. 28, tossing six shutout innings, scattering three hits and recording a career-high 12 strikeouts. 

Nesseth Ranked Among Top Prospects
Sophomore right-hander Mike Nesseth is rated by Baseball America as one of the top 100 prospects for this June’s Major League Baseball Draft. Nesseth, who went 4-1 with four saves and a 3.58 ERA last season, is rated as the No. 29 college prospect and No. 63 overall prospect by the publication. Nesseth was also ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Northwoods League over the summer by Baseball America. He was also ranked as the No. 19 sophomore in the country by the publication.  

The Kids Can Play
The Huskers have relied on a talented group of freshmen who have emerged during the first half of the season, as Nebaska has started as many as four freshmen at times, most recently in the series finale against No. 9 Texas on April 11.  It is the most freshmen who have started games since Mike Anderson took over in 2002.

Cory Burleson has split time with senior Cody Neer behind the plate. Burleson, a native of Midland, Texas, is hitting .246 with seven RBIs in 25 games. He has four multi-hit games and went 6-for-11 with four RBIs at the Sam Houston State tournament earlier in March.

Cody Asche has seen time at both third base and designated hitter. Asche, who hails from O’Fallon, Mo., is hitting .348 with two homers and 19 RBIs in 34 contests. He has eight multi-hit games, including a 2-for-3 effort with a career-high four RBIs in a win at No. 11 Oklahoma on March 29 and a 3-for-5 night with three RBIs against No. 9 Texas on April 10. Asche had three hits and scored four times against Iowa on April 14. His .348 average is the highest by a Husker freshman since John Cole hit .396 in 1999.

Khiry Cooper has seen time in all three outfield spots, making 15 starts and appearing in 28 games.  A fifth-round draft pick of the LA Angels of Anaheim, Cooper is hitting .246 with a homer and seven RBIs.  He had a season-high three hits, including his first career homer, against UL-Lafayette on Feb. 22 and went 2-for-4 in two appearances against Texas Tech.  Cooper also plays wide receiver for the Husker football team.

Kale Kiser has been used at second base and designated hitter, where he is hitting .196 with a homer and five RBIs in 19 games. Kiser had two hits, including his first career homer, and two RBIs in NU’s win over Missouri State on Feb. 27, and came off the bench for a key pinch-hit RBI single against Northern Colorado on March 24.

Boomer Collins is also seeing extensive action since returning to the lineup following a broken thumb on Feb. 21. Collins is now hitting .258 with a homer and seven RBIs in 29 contests.  Collins had three-hit days against both Northern Colorado (March 24) and at Oklahoma (March 29).

Kash Kalkowski has been one of the Huskers’ go-to relievers, going 1-2 with a 5.96 ERA in 13 appearances. He earned his first career win with two shutout innings against Missouri State on Feb. 27, then started at designated hitter in the tournament finale against the Bears two days late.

Nate Kerkhoff has been one of the Huskers’ top left-handers in the bullpen, going 1-0 with a 6.35 ERA in 13 outings. Kerkhoff earned his first career win against No. 11 Oklahoma State on March 20 and struck out all four batters he faced against Iowa on Tuesday night.

Huskers at Home at Hawks Field
Nebraska has enjoyed the comforts of Hawks Field since moving into the ballpark in 2002. The Huskers are 183-54-1 (.771) since the ballpark opened in 2002, including a 10-9 mark mark this year. In 2008, Nebraska went 29-5-1 (.843) at Hawks Field, as its 28 regular-season home wins were the second-best total in school history.

Farst and Bailey Receive Big 12 Awards
Adam Bailey and Tyler Farst have both been honored, as the Big 12’s Player of the Week this season.  Bailey received the honor on March 2 after hitting .333 with three homers and 10 RBIs in five games. He drove in a career-high six runs against North Dakota on Feb. 25 while also homering twice at the Sam Houston State Bearkat Classic. Bailey also picked up a save with three innings of relief work against the Bearkats.

Farst received his honor on March 30 after hitting .500 with a homer, nine RBI and six runs scored in a four-game week.  He led the Huskers to their biggest comeback in six seasons against Northern Colorado on March 24, going 2-for-3 with a homer and five RBIs to help erase a 10-3 deficit.  Farst closed the week with his first career four-hit game, posting a 4-for-5 outing with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored in an 11-9 win that snapped OU’s 16-game home win streak.

Double Duty for Bailey
Adam Bailey did something that no other Husker had done in 14 seasons against UL-Lafayette on Feb. 21. He became the first Husker player to earn a victory and hit a homer in the same game since Alvie Shepherd accomplished the feat against Kansas on April 5, 1995.  Bailey entered the game as a reliever in the top of the fourth and fanned three over 2.2 innings of two-hit relief. He moved to right field for the final three innings, going 1-for-2 with a ninth-inning homer that was the final margin of victory in a 9-8 win.

Having a Day
Junior Adam Bailey put together a home debut to remember in Nebraska’s home opener against North Dakota on Feb. 25, going 3-for-5 with a homer and six RBIs. His six RBIs were the second-highest total for a Husker since Mike Anderson took over the Husker program in 2003 and the highest single-game total by a Husker since 2007.

Switching Things Up
One of the things that is evident on the 2009 roster is an abundance of switch hitters. In all, Nebraska has six position players (Kyle Bubak, Cory Burleson, Kale Kiser, Jed Hanson, Jeff Tezak and Cody Neer) listed as switch hitters, which is believed to be the most in school history. Prior to this year, Nebraska has had only four switch hitters on a roster this decade - and no more than two in any year - since having four in 1985.

Husker Homes
The 2009 Huskers come from 14 states across the nation. Nebraska natives comprise nearly a third of the 34-man opening-day roster with 11 spots, while Texas, Missouri and Minnesota also claim at least three Huskers apiece.

Husker Baseball on Television
Nebraska will get plenty of television exposure this year, as a minimum of six games will be televised this spring. NU’s game at Arkansas on March 17 was televised on Cox Sports, while five other contests have been selected by NET.  The 2009 NET telecast schedule began on April 7, as the Huskers hosted Creighton in the first of three matchups between the programs this season. There are four remaining TV games for the Huskers this season.