Huskers Host Roadrunners at Hawks Field

On Tap: Following a week of final exams, the Nebraska baseball team returns to the diamond Friday night to begin a three-game series with CSU Bakersfield. Friday’s first pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. with afternoon match-ups set for both Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05 p.m.). The Huskers are 2-3 on the current eight-game homestand, after dropping three games to Missouri last weekend.

Nebraska vs. CSU Bakersfield

Game Times
Friday May 8 - 6:05 p.m.
Saturday May 9 - 2:05 p.m.
Sunday May 10 - 1:05 p.m.

Media Info
Radio: IMG Husker Sports Network and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com
Video: Free Live Video on Huskers.com on Friday and Sunday only
Live Stats:  Huskers.com 
TV: Sunday’s game will be shown state-wide on NET and NET-HD and simulcast on CBS College Sports

Probable Starting Pitchers
Nebraska
Fri.-Mke Nesseth, RHP, So., (3-4, 4.83 ERA) 
Sat- Kash Kalkowski, RHP, Fr., (1-2, 6.23 ERA)
Sun-Sean Yost, RHP, R-Fr., (1-4, 6.54 ERA) 

CSU Bakersfield
Fri. - Martin Medina, RHP, Fr. (2-2, 6.83 ERA)
Sat.- Spenser Messmore, RHP, Fr. (2-2, 5.95 ERA)
Sun.-Jonathan Montoya, LHP, Fr. (3-5, 6.89 ERA)

Radio: Fans across Nebraska can listen to Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle call the action on the Husker Sports Network, including flagship stations KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington and on the Internet at Huskers.com.

TV: Sunday’s game will be shown across Nebraska on NET (Ch. 12 and Ch. 112 in HD)  and CBS College Sports (Ch. 613 on DirecTV; Ch. 152 on DISH Network) with Kevin Kugler and Adrian Fiala providing the commentary.

Tickets: General admission tickets are $7 (adults) and $5 (youth and seniors) and can be purchased at Hawks Field beginning 90 minutes before first pitch. NU students get in free with a valid N-Card.

Internet: Friday and Sunday’s games against Cal State Bakersfield will be shown for free on the new Huskers.com video player.  For more information, visit Huskers.com. Saturday’s game will not be available.

Weekend Preview: The Huskers look to bounce back after dropping three games against Missouri over the weekend. The Huskers are hitting .320 as a team over the last five contests, with Cody Neer (.462), Tyler Farst (.429), Nick Sullivan (.417) and Jeff Tezak (.400) all hitting over .400 in that stretch. Sullivan has been on a tear since being named NU Student-Athlete of the Year, belting two homers and posting a 1.083 slugging percentage and a team-best .611 on-base percentge. CSU Bakersfield is in its first year of a program and comes off a loss at UCLA on Tuesday night. The Roadrunners are on a seven-game roadtrip, as they also take on Missouri next weekend in Columbia.

3 Things to Watch
1. The Huskers have been proficient on the basepaths in recent weeks, going24-for-28 in stolen bases over the last 13 contests.
2. Seniors Jake Mort (Spanish) and Nick Sullivan (finance) will receive their  degrees on Saturday morning. They join fellow senior Jeff Tezak, who  received his  degree in political science last December, as NU graduates
3. Sean Yost has had bad luck in his last three starts, as he has a 3.68 ERA and is holding opponents to a .231 mark, but is 0-1 with two no-decisions.

Last Time Out
Sunday: Missouri 12, Nebraska 9 -  Tyler Farst tied his career high with four hits, but Nebraska lost a slugfest to Missouri, 12-9, Sunday afternoon. Farst picked up his second four-hit day of the year, going 4-for-5, while DJ Belfonte drove in a season-best three runs, as the Huskers out-hit Missouri, 15-10, but were hurt by a trio of errors that led to four unearned runs.  The Huskers (21-26-1, 5-19 Big 12) made it interesting in the ninth, scoring three times and getting the tying run to the plate to fall just short. The Huskers got a strong start from freshman Sean Yost, who didn’t allow an earned run and retired nine of 10 in one stretch before tiring in the sixth. The redshirt freshman pitched well, but got a no-decision for his efforts, as he allowed two earned runs on four hits, while matching career bests in both innings (5.1) and strikeouts (six).

Scouting CSU Bakersfield
One of two first-year programs at the Division I level this year, Cal State Bakersfield is 9-31 this season and in the midst of a seven-game road trip. The Roadrunners play 11 of their final 12 games this month away from home.
Head Coach Bill Kernen is in his first year at the school, but a veteran to college baseball, serving as a head coach at Cal State Northridge from 1989 to 1995, where he posted a 240-153-3 record. The Roadrunners’ roster features 14 freshmen and 11 junior college transfers.
Offensively, freshman Jeremy Rodriguez leads Cal State Bakersfield with a .300 average, as six everyday starters are hitting above .275. Martin Medina leads the Roadrunners in both homers (5) and RBIs (33), while Ryan McIntyre is hitting .285 with a team-high 15 stolen bases in 19 attempts.  Jonathan Montoya leads Cal State Bakersfield with a 3-5 record and a 6.89 ERA in a team-high 65.1 innings of work.
Friday’s match-up will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Tezak Named to Academic All-District Team
Nebraska senior infielder Jeff Tezak was honored Thursday, as he was named first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII. Tezak, who carries a 3.55 GPA in political science, is in his first semester of graduate school after graduating in December of 2008. He now advances to the national ballot in hopes of earning Academic All-America honors.
On the season, Tezak is hitting .315 with two homers and 26 RBIs in 45 games for the Huskers after missing nearly all of the 2008 season following knee surgery. He leads NU in walks (28) and on-base percentage (.426) and has struck out just 13 times In 162 at-bats. Defensively, he has a .971 fielding percentage at second base, committing just three errors in 161 chances.

Leading Off
?-Nebraska started a season-high six freshmen in Sunday’s series finale at Missouri, as NU had started as many as four freshmen on several occasions this season.  Cory Burleson made his 21st start at catcher on Sunday, which is the most by a Husker freshman catcher since Aaron Gozart started 22 games in 2000.  Other freshmen starters included Boomer Collins (LF), Khiry Cooper (RF), Cody Asche (3B), Kale Kiser (2B) and Sean Yost (P).

?-Tyler Farst’s four-hit day against Missouri on Sunday marked the sixth time the Huskers have had a four-hit day this season. The setback to NU was the Huskers’ first in six games where a player had at least four hits.

?-Following his complete game against New Mexico in his last start on April 28, senior Erik Bird has thrown at least 9.0 innings in each of his last two starts. The last Husker to do that was All-American Joba Chamberlain, who threw 9.0 innings against Texas (4/8/05) and Texas A&M (4/15/05).

?-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 19-8-1, but just 2-18 when they are held to less than 10 hits.

?-Erik Bird’s 9.1 inning effort at Creighton on April 21 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.

?-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 13 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 weekend’s action.  Tezak is attempting to become the first Husker position player since 2003 to strike out less than 20 times with a minimum of 150 at-bats.

?-One constant with Nebraska’s offense has been junior first baseman Tyler Farst.  He has reached safely in 43 of his 46 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. He enters this weekend’s series with Cal State Bakersfield on a six-game hitting streak, batting .455 with a homer and five RBIs in that stretch.

?-Nebraska has shown the ability to score runs in bunches. The Huskers have already plated five runs in an inning 14 times, more than twice the Huskers’ total from 2008. NU is now 12-2 when scoring at least five runs in an inning this season. Here is a look at the Huskers’ biggest innings in 2009.

?-Nebraska has 13 come-from-behind wins among its 21 victories, including seven 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 112 come-from-behind wins under Mike Anderson since 2003.

?-NU hitters have taken a beating this season, as the Huskers have been hit by 59 pitches to rank fourth in the Big 12.  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 12 players in the league to be hit by at least 10 pitches this spring. Nick Sullivan has now been hit 10 times in 2008 to rank fourth on NU’s career chart.

?-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 11 times this season after accomplishing the feat 12 times in 2008.

?-The Huskers are 93-1 under Mike Anderson when reaching double figures in runs, including 65-0 since the start of the 2005 season.

?-Nebraska has won 135 of its last 136 games when taking a lead into the ninth inning and is 135-0-1 in that stretch dating back to the 2005 season. NU is 230-3-1 (.985) when leading after eight innings under Mike Anderson.

?-The Huskers are 51-5 dating back to last season when they out-hit an opponent and have won nearly 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 13-2-1 on the season.

?-Nebraska is 15-3-1 when allowing five runs or less and has won 83 percent of its games since 2003 when allowing five runs or less.

?-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.

Sullivan Named Male Student-Athlete of the Year
Senior outfielder Nick Sullivan received one of the highest honors a Husker student-athlete can receive, as he was chosen as the 2008-09 NU Male Student-Athlete of the Year on April 26. Sullivan is a two-time academic All-Big 12 selection who carries a 3.78 GPA in finance. A first-team Academic All-District VII selection, he has been on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll in all nine semesters at Nebraska and was a nominee for the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. On the diamond, Sullivan is hitting .250 with four homers and 19 RBIs, while ranking first on the team in hit-by-pitches (10) and second in walks (25). He is just the third baseball player to receive the award since it was created in 1991.

All-Time NU Male Student-Athletes of the Year in Baseball
Player  Year
Jeff Leise 2003
Daniel Bruce 2005
Nick Sullivan 2009

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 .315 with two homers and 26 RBIs, leading the Huskers in both walks (28) and on-base percentage (.426). Tezak had committed just one error in his first 35 games before having two at Texas A&M on April 18. He still has a .981 fielding percentage in 161 chances at second base this spring.
Tezak has been even better in league play, hitting .313 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 18 contests while ranking third in the league with 16 walks and striking out just twice in 83 at-bats.

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 weekend with a .314 batting average with team bests in both homers (nine) and RBIs (41). The Scottsdale, Ariz., has been among the Big 12 leaders in homers and RBIs for most of 2009.
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 .333 clip with five homers and 44 RBIs in his last 61 games dating back to last May. This season, he is hitting .333 with three homers and 32 RBIs,  as he is among team leaders in doubles (14, first), RBIs, (second), runs (34, first), hits (57, second) and walks (20, thrid)
Farst, has had a pair of 11-game hit streaks this season and hit .500 (7-for-14) in last weekend’s series loss to Missouri, including his second four-hit game of 2009. 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.

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 eight doubleheaders this season, including five of eight weekends in conference action. All five 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.

Bird Flies High
Senior right-hander Erik Bird has been one of the Huskers’ most consistent hurlers in recent weeks. Since March 31, Bird is 2-1  with a 3.20 ERA over his last 12 outings, holding hitters to a .252 average over 39.1 innings. He tossed the first complete game of his career against New Mexico on April 28, scattering seven hits and allowing two runs. His effort was the second-best effort of the year against a New Mexico team that led the country in hitting. Only projected No. 1 pick Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State held the Lobos to fewer runs than Bird.
One week earlier, Bird was even better, going 9.1 innings in a no-decision against Creighton. He allowed one run on six hits and matched his career best with five strikeouts in a game that went 12 innings before NU won 4-3.

The only senior pitcher on the 2009 staff, Bird enters this weekend with 76 appearances to rank fourth on NU’s career charts. He is only two appearances shy of matching Jeff Anderson (1981-84) for third place, while only Steve Hale (87, 1999-03) and Brett Jensen (80, 2004-06) have pitched more times as a Husker than Bird has over the past four years.

Nesseth Anchors Husker Pitching Staff
Sophomore Mike Nesseth has been dominant at times in 2009. The right-hander is 3-4 with two saves and a 4.83 ERA in 18 appearances. He has a team-high 58 strikeouts over 50.1 innings and is holding foes to a .246 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 returned to the rotation against Kansas on April 26 and has thrown in each of the past two weekend series. As a starter, he went at least six innings in four of his six 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.

Huskers at Home at Hawks Field
Nebraska has enjoyed the comforts of Hawks Field since moving into the ballpark in 2002. The Huskers are 185-57-1 (.763) since the ballpark opened in 2002, including a 12-12 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 five position players (Kyle Bubak, Cory Burleson, Kale Kiser, 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 33-man 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 three remaining TV games for the Huskers this season, beginning with Sunday’s game against Cal  State Bakersfield.

Success in the Classroom
NU enjoyed a strong performance in the classroom by posting a team GPA of 3.09 during the fall semester. The team GPA was the highest in tracking the program’s GPA over the last 20 years. A total  of 18 Huskers were named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the fall semester, including DJ Belfonte, who posted a perfect 4.0 GPA.  In addition, senior outfielder Nick Sullivan has been on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll at nine semesters at Nebraska.

Among the Nation’s Best
Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson begins the 2009 season in 12th place in winning percentage among all active coaches. He joins Texas’ Augie Garrido and Kansas State’s Brad Hill as the only three Big 12 coaches among the top-15 nationally in winning percentage.