Huskers Host UNK in Home Opener Today

Nebraska (3-7) vs. UNK (9-7) Wednesday, March 10th - 1:35 p.m. Hawks Field at Haymarket Park Purchase Tickets

Live Radio: Selected Husker Sports Network and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com Live Video: HuskersNside (subscription required) Live Stats: Huskers.com Television: None Wednesday's Starters NU-Tyler Niederklein, Fr, RHP (0-0, 18.00 ERA)   UNK- TBA

After spending the first three weekends on the road, the Nebraska baseball team opens the home portion of its schedule, taking on the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers. First pitch from Hawks Field at Haymarket Park is set for 1:35 p.m. and begins a five-game homestand for the Huskers, who enter the week with a 3-7 mark following a sweep at No. 14 UCLA over the weekend. 

Tickets: Single-game tickets are available by visiting the Hawks Field Ticket Office 90 minutes before first pitch. Tickets are $10 (reserved) and $7 (GA) with youth and senior citizens GA seats at $5. All UNL students receive free admission with a valid N-card. Tickets for every home game are available at Huskers.com.

Radio: Fans across Nebraska can listen to Greg Sharpe and Jeff Culhane call all of the action on selected Husker Sports Network stations - including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington - and on the Internet at Huskers.com. 

Video: Wednesday’s game will be the first of 24 games either available on HuskersNside or Huskers.com during the 2010 season. For more information, visit Huskers.com.

Wednesday Preview: The Huskers (3-7) look to bounce back after getting swept at No. 14 UCLA last weekend. Nebraska battled in the final two games, losing by scores of 5-3 and 5-4, respectively, in holding UCLA to its two lowest outputs of the season.

Sophomore second baseman Kale Kiser was NU’s hottest hitter on the weekend, going 4-for-8 with three runs scored, including multi-hit games in both appearances on the weekend. His performance was a bright spot for a Husker attack that hit just .202 on the weekend and totaled 44 strikeouts in the three games. In the finale, the Huskers nearly overcame a 4-1 deficit with three runs in the top of the eighth inning before UCLA completed the sweep by getting an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth, the fourth time NU has lost a game in its last at-bat this year. Freshman right-hander Tyler Niederklein makes his first collegiate start, as he pitched an inning of relief against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 26. Niederklein was 5-2 with a 2.35 ERA last season, earning first-team all-state honors from both the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World-Herald.

Nebraska-Kearney (9-7) also looks to bounce back after getting swept over the weekend by Colorado State-Pueblo. UNK is led by preseason All-RMAC performer Blake Cover, who is hitting .362 with 16 RBIs and 16 runs scored.

3 Things to Watch
8,562: Number of miles the Husker baseball team will have traveled over first three weeks of the season before Wednesday’s home opener.

 

2: Nebraska’s number of outdoor practices in Lincoln since the start of drills on Jan. 31 (Monday and Tuesday of this week).

 

31: Consecutive home openers the Huskers have won, including a perfect 8-0 since Hawks Field opened in 2002. The last time the Huskers lost a home opener (1978 vs. St. Cloud State), it was played at the Husker Diamond.

 

.981: Nebraska’s team fielding percentage entering the week, which is on pace to shatter the school mark (.975 in 2004 and 2005). NU’s infielders have combined for 2 errors through the first 10 contests.

Scouting Nebraska-Kearney
The Lopers got an early start on the season, playing six games before the Division I programs began in late February. UNK, who is coached by Damon Day, went 26-32 in 2009 and returns 18 letterwinners this spring.  The Lopers were picked fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason poll and are 9-7 after one month of play.

Offensively, UNK welcomes back six starters, including third baseman Blake Cover, who was named preseason All-RMAC after hitting .393 with eight homers and 51 RBIs last year. Cover paced the Lopers in hits (92), runs (66) and stolen bases (13-for-13) last season. This season, he is hitting .362 with 16 RBIs and 13 runs scored. Second baseman Jordan Mitchelhill has been the Lopers’ big offensive threat early, hitting .469 with eight RBIs and a team-high 16 runs scored in his leadoff spot.

On the mound, the Lopers are led by senior right-hander Jared Loschen, who was a unanimous preseason All-RMAC choice after going 6-5 with a 3.58 ERA, leading the team in starts (13) and complete games (seven) while holding foes to a .266 average. Loschen is 4-1 in five starts this season as he has thrown a team-high 29.1 innings, but is not expected to start on Wednesday. UNK is expected to start either right-handers Roy Metter or Andre O’Connor and use a variety of pitchers to get ready for the start of conference play this weekend.

The Huskers lead the all-time series, 44-1, including an 11-2 victory during the 2008 season.

Last Matchup:  Nick Sullivan went 2-for-2 with three RBIs, lifting the Huskers to an 11-2 victory over Nebraska-Kearney. Sullivan, whose third inning RBI single broke a two-all tie, paced a balanced Husker attack. Mitch Abeita, Bryce Nimmo and DJ Belfonte had two hits apiece while seven different Huskers drove in at least one run.  Nimmo went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and matched his personal best with four runs scored while Abeita scored three times.

NU starter Casey Hauptman allowed RBI doubles to Nate Swearer and Joe Nowaczyk in the first before settling down, retiring seven of the next eight hitters he faced. From there, the Husker bullpen took over with six shutout innings of five-hit relief. Among current Huskers, DJ Belfonte (2-for-4 with an RBI) and Michael Mariot (two shutout innings) join Hauptman as the only players who played against UNK that game.

Weekend Review
Friday Game 1 (UCLA 13, NU 1): Gerrit Cole allowed two hits over seven innings, while Justin Uribe and Steve Rodriguez drove in three runs apiece, leading No. 14 UCLA to a 13-1 victory over Nebraska in the opening game of the twinbill Friday. Cole was dominant, fanning nine without a walk to improve to 3-0 on the season. The sophomore right-hander allowed an infield single to Boomer Collins in the third inning and a solo homer to Adam Bailey one inning later to account for all of Nebraska’s offense. While Cole was sterling, the Bruins totaled 17 hits on the day, including three each from Uribe, who went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and Tyler Rahmatulla, who scored three times, as the Bruins put up crooked numbers in three of the first four innings to take a 12-1 lead.

Friday Game 2 (UCLA 5, NU 3): Khiry Cooper tied a career high with three hits, including an RBI, but Nebraska’s comeback fell short in a 5-3 loss to No. 14 UCLA.  Nebraska (3-6) trailed 5-1 in the eighth before scoring twice against a stout UCLA bullpen, getting RBI singles from Kale Kiser and Cooper to make it a two-run game. DJ Belfonte tried to keep the rally alive, but his hard-hit grounder was stopped by a diving Justin Uribe, who flipped to Klein to nip the Husker leadoff hitter at first to end the threat. That would be the Huskers’ last gasp, as Klein set Nebraska in order in the ninth for his second save, completing the Bruins’ doubleheader sweep.  Cooper, who went 3-for-4 and posted his first three-hit game since Feb. 22, 2009, and Kiser, who had two hits and an RBI, accounted for half of the Huskers’ 10 hits in the bottom two spots in the lineup. Trevor Bauer was strong for the Bruins (8-0), scattering six hits over 6.2 innings while fanning 10 Huskers for the win, as he took a shutout into the seventh.

Saturday (UCLA 5, NU 4): Tyler Rahmatulla’s ninth-inning sacrifice fly broke a 4-all deadlock, as No. 14 UCLA completed a three-game sweep with a 5-4 victory.  Rahmatulla’s fly ball to center plated Dean Espy with the winning run, spoiling a strong relief effort from Casey Hauptman and foiling Nebraska’s opportunity after the Huskers rallied from a three-run deficit to tie the score one inning earlier. Hauptman (0-2) pitched far better than the fate he received, as he went 6.1 innings to single-handedly keep Nebraska in the game. The junior right-hander fanned four and kept UCLA (9-0) off the scoreboard until the Bruins plated an unearned run in the ninth to win it. Espy, who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, opened the ninth with a single and moved top second after a fielding erorr by Jordan Roualdes.  Dan Klein earned the victory after blowing the save in the eighth inning, as Nebraska scored three times against the stout UCLA bullpen, which had not allowed an earned run in its first eight contests. Adam Bailey led Nebraska with a 3-for-5 afternoon, while the Huskers stranded seven of their 12 baserunners against the Bruins in the finale. Espy’s three-run homer off of Tom Lemke in the second inning helped stake the Bruins to an early lead.

Leading Off
•-After playing its first 10 games away from home, the Huskers will have the comforts of playing at Hawks Field the rest of the month.  The Huskers play 12 of their next 15 games at the ballpark, where they are 189-59-1 (.761) over the last eight years. The only trip the Huskers make the rest of the month is for a three-game series at No. 3 Texas in Austin to open Big 12 play.
•-Nebraska has tied or led heading to the eighth inning in seven of 10 games this year.
•-While it is still early in the season, Nebraska’s defense has been much improved in 2010. The Huskers are fourth in the Big 12 with a .981 fielding percentage, and have not made an error in five of their first 10 games. That is well ahead of the school record of .975 set in 2004 and 2005. The defensive effort is more impressive when you consider that Nebraska did not practice at home outside until this week because of the extended winter throughout the Midwest. The good defense is an encouraging sign, as the Huskers are 215-80-1 (.728) when committing one or fewer errors under Mike Anderson.
•-Nebraska has gotten off to quick starts in 2010, getting a lead on eight of its first 10 opponents, including the first seven games of the year.  Nebraska has won 75 percent of its games (198-67) in Mike Anderson’s eight seasons at Nebraska when scoring first.
•-With his ninth-inning homer against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 26, Chad Christensen became the first Husker freshman to homer in his collegiate debut since Brian Kent accomplished the feat against Chicago State on March 16, 1999. Christensen is also only the fourth NU player since 1999 to homer in his Husker debut.
•-Nebraska’s 21 runs against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 26 marked only the second time the Huskers have scored 20 or more runs under Head Coach Mike Anderson and the first since scoring 22 runs against Kent State in 2004. NU’s top five single-game offensive outputs since 2003 are listed below.
•-One emphasis of the Husker pitching staff has been to reduce walks, and Nebraska has done a good job of that in 2010. NU is averaging 3.4 walks per game after averaging 5.8 walks per game in its first 10 games a year ago.
•-The Huskers have been proficient in two-out situations this season, recording 24 two-out RBIs through seven games. In fact, 36 of Nebraska’s 57 runs (64 percent) have been scored with two outs through the first 10 contests.
•-Four of the Huskers’ first seven losses have been on an opponent’s last at-bat this season. In the first seven games, NU was outscored, 22-12 from the seventh inning on. At UCLA, the Huskers reversed the trend by outscoring UCLA, 6-2 in the final three innings of games.
•-Under Mike Anderson, the Huskers have gone 2-1 or better at the Rice Invitational in all five appearances, posting a 10-4 mark in that stretch. Prior to 2004, had won twice in a weekend in that tournament only one time between 1999 and 2002.
•-Two of the Huskers’ three losses at Fresno State came after taking a lead into the ninth inning. It marked only the third and fourth times in 141 games dating back to 2005 that Nebraska had lost when heading into the ninth. The Huskers are 242-6-1 (.975) when leading after eight innings under Mike Anderson.
•-Nebraska’s seven stolen bases against Fresno State on Feb. 21, were the most by a Husker team since swiping eight bases against South Dakota State on March 17, 2006.
•-Freshman Tom Lemke became just the fourth Husker freshman to earn a start during the opening week of the season since 1999, and the first to collect a win in that stretch.Here is how Lemke’s line against Fresno State compared to the other three freshman hurlers.
•-Kyle Bubak’s five-hit day against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 26, marked just the sixth time a player has had at least five hits in a game under Mike Anderson, and the first since Jeff Tezak went 5-for-5 at Alabama in 2007.
•-Freshman Josh Scheffert enjoyed quite a debut against Fresno State on Feb. 21. He went 3-4 with three RBIs. He is the only Husker freshman in the last decade to have at least three hits or three RBIs in his first game as a Husker. Here are the other newcomers who had at least three hits or three RBIs in their Husker debut since 1999.
•-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.
•-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.
•-The Huskers are 95-1 (.969) under Mike Anderson when reaching double figures in runs, including 67-0 since the start of the 2005 season.
•-NU has 115 come-from-behind wins under Mike Anderson since 2003.
•-The Huskers are 57-6 dating back to 2008 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 ranks second on Nebraska’s career hit-by-pitch list with 46. He is just the second Husker to be hit by 40 pitches in a career, joining Daniel Bruce, who was hit 67 times in his playing career from 2002 to 2005.