Huskers Head to Fresno State to Open 2010 Season

This Week in Nebraska Baseball - 2010 Record (0-0)

Friday Feb. 19 at Fresno State (0-0) - 8:05 p.m. Saturday Feb. 20 at Fresno State (0-0) 4:05 p.m. Sunday Feb. 21 at Fresno State (0-0) 2:05 p.m. Monday Feb. 22 at Fresno State (0-0) 8:05 p.m.   Media Info Live Radio Live Stats: Live Video Television   Probable Starting Pitchers Sat. NU-Michael Mariot, So., RHP (2-2, 7.06 ERA in 2009 FS-Matt Morse, Sr., RHP (4-3, 4.72 ERA in 2009) Sun. and Mon. Both teams TBA Fri. NU-Sean Yost, So., RHP (2-5, 6.02 ERA in 2009) FS- Derek Benny, So., RHP (4-4, 5.09 ERA in 2009): None: None Huskers.com: Selected Husker Sports Network and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com (affiliate list on page five of today’s notes)

This Week: The Nebraska baseball program begins its 104th season this Friday night, as the Huskers head west for a four-game series with Fresno State. Friday’s opener between the Huskers and Bulldogs is set for 8:05 p.m. (central) with games on Saturday (4:05 p.m.), Sunday (3:05 p.m.) and Monday (8:05 p.m.).

On the Radio: Fans across Nebraska can listen to Greg Sharpe and Jeff Culhane call all of the action this weekend on the Husker Sports Network - including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, KFAB 1110 AM in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington - and on the Internet at Huskers.com. Saturday’s game will be only on Huskers.com because of conflicts with men’s and women’s basketball.

Preview: Nebraska looks to bounce back after a disappointing 25-28-1 season that saw the Huskers miss the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in 11 years. The Huskers welcome back 18 letterwinners, including eight position players who made at least 20 starts in 2009. The returnees are led by All-Big 12 first baseman Tyler Farst, who hit .333 with three homers and 36 RBIs, and outfielder Adam Bailey, who batted .325 with 12 homers and 50 RBIs. Bailey topped the Huskers in homers, RBIs and slugging percentage (.598). Other returnees include infielders Kyle Bubak and Cody Asche, catcher Cory Burleson and outfielders DJ Belfonte, Boomer Collins and Khiry Cooper.

On the mound, the Huskers welcome back nine pitchers, including five of the six hurlers who threw at last 50 innings last season. The returnees are paced by junior right-hander Mike Nesseth, who went 5-4 with two saves and struck out 73 over 64.2 innings last season. A 15th-round pick by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Nesseth returned for his junior season. Other veterans include Casey Hauptman, Sean Yost, Michael Mariot and Jordan Roualdes.

In addition, the Huskers welcome a recruiting class that was ranked 13th nationally by Collegiate Baseball, which is the highest a Nebraska baseball recruiting class has been rated by the publication.

3 Things to Watch
1. Senior DJ Belfonte looks to become only the second player in school history to lead NU in stolen bases for three straight seasons. Former Major Leaguer Ken Ramos (1987-89) is the only other Husker to accomplish the feat.

2. Nebraska’s trip to Fresno State marks just the second time that Nebraska has opened the season in California. The other was in 2008 when NU began the season at Stanford.

3. Thursday’s practice at Fresno State will mark the first time the Huskers have practiced outside since fall drills ended in October. It is the second time in three years the Huskers have been unable to get an outdoor practice in before the opener.

Scouting Fresno State
The Bulldogs have been an NCAA Tournament regular under head coach Mike Batesole, as the Bulldogs have made four straight appearances, including a College World Series title in 2008. The 2010 Bulldogs are the preseason choice to win the Western Athletic Conference title and welcome back 17 letterwinners. Fresno State was ranked 33rd in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll.

Second baseman Danny Muno was named Preseason WAC player of the year, as he hit a team-high .379 with 25 doubles, and 74 runs scored. He is one of three position players named to the preseason All-WAC team, joining outfielder Dusty Robinson (.319-15-45) and catcher Trent Garrison (.219-0-12 while throwing out 54 percent of would-be base stealers). In all, the Bulldogs welcome back five everyday starters from a team that won 32 games and reached the NCAA Irvine Regional. In addition, the Bulldogs also return 2008 CWS star Steve Detwiler.

The Bulldogs welcome back a big portion of their 2009 starting staff, including sophomore Derek Benny and senior Matt Morse. Benny was chosen as WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year after going 4-4 with 58 strikeouts in 16 appearances as a freshman. Morse was Fresno State’s Friday night starter in 2009, going 4-3 in 19 games, as he ranked third on the team with 80 innings pitched.

Series History: Nebraska leads the all-time series, 7-5, as the series dates back to 1986. The Huskers have won five of the last six meetings, but have not played since NU swept the Bulldogs in a three-game series in 2002. Nine of the 12 previous meetings have taken place in California, including eight in Fresno. NU is 4-4 at Fresno State in program history. The teams will continue the home-and-home series in Lincoln during the 2011 campaign.

Leading Off
•-Nebraska is 6-1 in season openers under Head Coach Mike Anderson following last year’s 15-inning victory over Louisiana-Lafayette and has won seven of the last eight season openers since 2002. The only team to defeat NU in that stretch is Stanford in 2008. The Cardinal reached the College World Series that season.

•-Nebraska’s trip to Fresno State marks the Huskers’ second season-opening trip to California in program history. Under Mike Anderson, the Huskers have started seasons in seven states (Texas, New Mexico, Hawaii, South Carolina, California and Louisiana) since 2003. NU’s record in season-opening weekends is an impressive 19-6-1 (.750).

Season-Opening Trips Under Anderson

Year	State (City)	Record
2010	California (Fresno)
2009	Louisiana (Lafayette)	2-1-1
2008	California (Stanford)	1-2
2007	Texas (Arlington)	3-1
2006	South Carolina (Charleston)	3-1
2005	Hawaii (Hilo)	5-0
2004	New Mexico (Albuquerque)	3-0
2003	Texas (Round Rock)	2-1

•-The Huskers bring back one of its most experienced teams in a while, as 18 letterwinners are back for the 2010 campaign. It is the second-highest number of returning letterwinners since Mike Anderson took over in 2003 and only the third time this decade NU has had at least 18 letterwinners.

The biggest amount of experience is on the pitching side, where Nebraska returns at least 75 percent of its wins, starts, innings and strikeouts in 2010, a far cry compared to a year ago.

What’s Back - Offense
Category	At-Bats	Runs	Hits	HR	RBIs	SB
Total back from 2009	1,163	223	327	28	187	32
Percentage	62%	64%	62%	58%	61%	63%
Compared with 2009 Season Opener
Category	At-Bats	Runs	Hits	HR	RBIs	SB
Total back from 2008	990	174	254	9	143	40
2009 Percentage	50%	47%	47%	24%	43%	51%
What’s Back - Pitching
Category	Wins	Starts	IP	K
Total back from 2009	20	44	365.1	274
Percentage	80%	81%	76%	76%
Compared with 2009 Season Opener
Category	Wins	Starts	IP	K
Total back from 2008	13	8	141.34	133
Percentage	32%	14%	27%	27%

•-One area of focus in the offseason was adding strength, and a quick look at the rosters over the last two seasons show a dramatic improvement. Under strength coaches Mike Arthur and Brandon Rigoni, the 18 returnees from last year have gained a total of 203 pounds, an average of 11.2 pounds per player. Of the 18 players, 11 are at least 10 pounds heavier than their playing weight during the 2009 campaign. As a team, the Huskers gained a total of 328 pounds during the team’s off-season strength program in the fall.

  

Measuring Up

Name	2009	2010	Difference
Cody Asche	189	211	22
Cade Thompson	196	216	18
Michael Mariot	177	195	18
Tyler Farst	211	228	17
Boomer Collins	185	202	17
Jordan Roualdes	207	224	17

•-Of the 31 players on this weekend’s travel roster to Fresno State, 14 could see their first action as Huskers, including 10 true freshmen (Chad Christensen, Bryan Peters, Kurt Farmer, Luke Bublitz, Josh Scheffert, Tyler Niederklein, Dylan Vogt, Tom Lemke, Ryan Hander and Kurt Giller). With that many freshmen on the travel roster, there is a strong possibility that NU could have its fifth true freshman start an opener since 2003. In fact, NU has not started two true freshmen in an opener since 1999.

•-Sean Yost is bidding to end a couple of streaks on Friday night. He is bidding to bet the first Husker right-hander to win a season opener since Steve Fish in 1996. In fact, since 1991, only one Nebraska native has won a season opener (Zach Kroenke in 2004). Yost will also be the Huskers’ first opening day starting pitcher from Lincoln since Keith Sieck in 1962.

•-Nebraska had 15 come-from-behind wins among its 25 victories last season, including eight wins where the Huskers had to overcome at least a three-run deficit. NU has 114 come-from-behind wins under Mike Anderson since 2003.

•-The Huskers have reached double figures in runs 12 times this season and are 94-1 under Mike Anderson when reaching double figures in runs, including 66-0 since the start of the 2005 season.

•-Nebraska is an impressive 137-1-1 dating back to 2005 when the Huskers take a lead into the ninth inning. The Huskers are 232-4-1 (.981) when leading after eight innings under Mike Anderson.

•-The Huskers are 54-6 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.

•-Adam Bailey’s 12 homers is the most by any Husker returning player since Alex Gordon in 2005. Gordon belted 18 homers en route to Big 12 Player-of-the-Year honors in 2004.

•-Senior outfielder DJ Belfonte begins his senior season ranked second on NU’s hit-by-pitch chart with 43. He is just the second Husker to be hit by 40 pitches in a career.

Huskers to Be Tested Again in 2010
A total of 31 contests against NCAA Tournament teams and 26 home games at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park highlight the 2010 Nebraska baseball schedule.

The 2010 schedule includes match ups with College World Series runner-up Texas and Super Regional qualifiers Rice along with home games against Texas A&M, Wichita State, Oklahoma and Creighton.

The Huskers open the 2010 campaign this Friday, when Nebraska begins a four-game series at Fresno State, home of the 2008 College World Series champions. The following weekend, the Huskers will head to Houston for the Rice Invitational and a field that includes the host Owls, who reached a Super Regional in 2009, and Elon, which led the nation in homers last year in earning an NCAA Tournament bid. The home portion of the schedule begins on Tuesday, March 2, when the Huskers host South Dakota State at 1:05 p.m., before returning to the West Coast for a three-game series at nationally ranked UCLA (March 5-7).

Recruiting Class Ranked 13th Nationally
Nebraska’s class of newcomers was recognized nationally, as Collegiate Baseball rated the class No. 13 nationally in its rankings. The rating is the highest ever for Nebraska in the publication’s 27-year history of ranking recruiting classes.

Nebraska’s recruiting class features four players who had been drafted previously before coming to Nebraska, pitchers Ryan Hughes (16th round in 2008), Tom Lemke (10th round in 2009), Kurt Giller (21st round in 2009) and Ryan Hander (38th round in 2009). Lemke was one of just 11 high school seniors selected in the top-10 rounds to not sign over the summer.

Eight Draftees on 2010 Roster
Nebraska’s 2010 roster boasts a total of eight Huskers who have been previously selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Five of the players were picked in last year’s draft, including Mike Nesseth (15th) and Adam Bailey (38th) who both elected to return for the upcoming season. Nebraska’s eight draft selections ranks fourth in the Big 12.

Drafted Huskers

Player	Round	Team	Year
Khiry Cooper	5th	Los Angeles-AL	2008
Tom Lemke	10th	Texas	2009
Mike Nesseth	15th	Los Angeles-AL	2009
Ryan Hughes	16th	Arizona	2008
Kurt Giller	21st	Toronto	2009
Adam Bailey	38th	New York-AL	2009
Ryan Hander	39th	Los Angeles-NL	2009
Kash Kalkowski	48th	Tampa Bay	2008

 

No. School Player

No.	School	Player
1.	Texas	13
2.	Oklahoma State	11
3.	Oklahoma	9
4.	Nebraska	8
	Texas A&M	8
6.	Baylor	6
	Texas Tech	6
8.	Kansas State	5
	Missouri	5
	Kansas	5

 Huskers Tabbed for Eighth in Big 12
The Nebraska baseball team was picked eighth in the Big 12’s preseason coaches poll released on Feb. 16. Nebraska returns four starters and five of its top six pitchers from last year’s team that finished 25-28-1 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004.

Texas has been named the preseason favorite to win the 2010 Big 12 regular-season crown. The Longhorns are ranked No. 1 in all four of the major preseason polls (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association).

UT (81 points) received nine of the possible 10 first-place votes while Kansas earned the remaining first-place tally and 69 points to come in second. Texas A&M and Oklahoma were third and fourth, respectively, followed by Oklahoma State, Baylor and Kansas State. Missouri and Nebraska were tied for eighth place, and Texas Tech filled the final spot.

Huskers Boast Experienced Coaching Staff
One of the strengths is an experienced coaching staff. All three full-time coaches have served as head coaches at the Division I level and combine for more than 1,200 career wins. Anderson, who is in his eighth season, has 270 wins entering the 2010 season. Dave Bingham won 837 games in stints between Kansas and Emporia State, while Eric Newman won 95 wins in a three-year stint at Dallas Baptist.

Huskers From Around the Nation
The 2010 Huskers come from 14 states across the nation. Nebraska natives comprise a quarter of the 36-man opening-day roster with nine spots, while the Huskers also have seven Texans on the 2010 roster.

State	Players
Nebraska	9
Texas	7
California, Colorado	3
Arizona, Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri	2
Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, South Dakota, Utah, Washington	1

 

Outfielder Adam Bailey was the only Husker player on the publication’s preseason all-Big 12 team, as he hit .325 with 12 homers and 50 RBIs a year ago. Bailey led the Huskers in homers, RBIs and slugging percentage (.598) in 2009.

DJ Belfonte was recognized as the best defensive outfielder in the Big 12 in Baseball America’s preseason issue. Belfonte, who has played both center and right field in his Husker career, has a .981 career fielding percentage and has thrown out seven runners from the outfield during his career.

Lemke was the fifth-rated freshman in the Big 12 by Baseball America after a dominant high school career. He went 25-9 with a 2.01 ERA in his career at Northwest Christian High School, striking out 333 over 193.2 career innings. He is also ranked No. 32 nationally among all freshman by the publication.

Nesseth Ranked Among Top Prospects
Sophomore right-hander Mike Nesseth is rated by Baseball America as one of the top college 100 prospects for this June’s Major League Baseball Draft. He is rated as the No. 92 college prospect by the publication. Nesseth, who went 5-4 with a pair of saves last season, is also the ninth-rated draft prospect in the Big 12 for this June’s draft by the publication.

Belfonte Named to Senior CLASS Watch List
Nebraska outfielder DJ Belfonte was honored on Feb. 17, as one of 30 seniors from around the country named to the Lowe’s Senior Class Award Watch List.

A three-year starter, Belfonte has started 157 games in his three seasons at Nebraska, helping the Huskers to a pair of NCAA Regional appearances. He ranks second on NU’s career hit-by-pitch list with 42 and has led NU in stolen bases in each of the past two seasons. Last year, he hit .256 with two homers, 26 RBIs and 34 runs scored, as he topped NU in three offensive categories and was fourth on the team in both runs and walks. He is also a strong performer in the classroom, carrying a 3.72 GPA in finance and has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll all seven semesters at NU. A two-time academic All-Big 12 performer, Belfonte plans to attend law school following his playing career.

Belfonte was one of three Big 12 student-athletes on the 30-member watch list, joining Oklahoma State’s Tyler Lyons and Texas’ Russell Moldenhauer.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition.

The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and will be announced at the 2010 College World Series in Omaha.

Success in the Classroom
NU enjoyed a strong performance in the classroom by posting a team GPA of 3.112 during the fall semester. The team GPA was the highest in tracking the program’s GPA over the last 20 years and the second straight fall above a 3.0 GPA.  A total of 23 Huskers were named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the fall semester, including DJ Belfonte, who has been on the honor roll all seven semesters at Nebraska.

Single-Game Tickets Go on Sale March 3rd
Single-game general admission tickets for Husker baseball home games will go on sale on Wednesday, March 4. Single-game reserved tickets are $10 with general admission prices set at $7 (adults) and $5 (youth/seniors). In addition, General admission tickets are free for children ages six and younger along with UNL students (with a valid student ID).

The 2010 schedule includes Big 12 home series against Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech as well as non-conference matchups with Creighton, Wichita State, South Dakota State, Nebraska-Kearney, Houston Baptist, Northern Colorado and North Dakota.

Single-game tickets are now available for the new Husker Home Run Terrace in right field. The 125-seat section features counter height tables and is located next to the visitors bullpen in right field.

Join the Husker Home Run Club at Oklahoma St.
The Husker Home Run Club is sponsoring a bus trip to Stillwater, Okla., to support the baseball team against Oklahoma State on Saturday, April 3, and Sunday, April 4. The trip includes game tickets for both days, selected meals and accommodations at the Embassy Suites in Norman.

The deadline for registration is March 24. For more information and to download a registration form for the bus trip, please log on to huskerhomerunclub.com or contact Ed Bolejack at 402-617-5913.

Next Up
The Huskers will have a quick turnaround upon arrival in Lincoln on Tuesday, as NU leaves Thursday morning for a three-game tournament in Houston. The Rice Invitational field includes the host Owls, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Elon. The Huskers will open the home portion of their schedule on Tuesday, March 2, against South Dakota State at 1:05 p.m.

Four Huskers Honored by Baseball America
A quartet of Husker players were recognized by Baseball America in its college preview issue. Drafted Players by Big 12 School