Huskers Host Jayhawks This Weekend

Kansas (20-13-1, 3-5-1 Big 12)
vs. Nebraska (17-16, 4-8 Big 12)

Friday, April 16 - 6:35 p.m.
Saturday, April 17 - 4:05 p.m.
Sunday, April 18 - 1:05 p.m.

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

Live Video:HuskersNside Video on Friday; No Video on Saturday; Free on Huskers.com on Sunday

TV (Sun. only):  NET-1 (Ch. 12) and NET-HD (Ch. 112); CBS College Sports Network - DirecTV (Ch. 613) and Dish Network (Ch. 152)

Live Stats:
Huskers.com

Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday   
NU-Michael Mariot, Jr., RHP (3-4, 4.82 ERA)   
KU-T.J Walz, Jr., RHP (5-2, 5.10 ERA)

Saturday   
NU-Khris Tate, Jr., RHP (2-1, 4.12 ERA)
KU-Cameron Selik, Sr., RHP (4-3, 5.07 ERA)

Sunday
NU-Tom Lemke, Fr., RHP (4-3, 4.76 ERA)
KU-TBA

This Week:

Fresh off a shutout of Missouri Valley Conference leader Wichita State, the Huskers wrap up a busy week with Kansas coming to town for three games. Friday’s first pitch at Hawks Field is set for 6:35 p.m. with afternoon games slated for both Saturday (4:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05 p.m.). Saturday’s start has been pushed back two hours because of the spring game at Memorial Stadium. Sunday’s series finale will be televised statewide on NET Television and simulcast nationally on CBS College Sports Network with Kevin Kugler and Adrian Fiala on the call.

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

Radio: All three weekend games will be carried on the Husker Sports Network, 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. Greg Sharpe, Lane Grindle and Jeff Culhane will be on the call this weekend.

Video:  Friday’s game will be available on HuskersNside, while Sunday’s game will be shown for free on Huskers.com. For both events, click on the Audio/Video tab on the top of the main page and go to live events.

Promotions/Events: Friday: Husker alumni will be honored prior to the game. Sunday: Junior Home Run Club members get in free with their ID card and will have chances to win autographed Husker items throughout the game.

Preview: Nebraska (17-16) snapped a two-game losing streak with a 14-0 victory over Wichita State Tuesday evening. Four hurlers combined on a two-hitter, while freshman Tyler Niederklein went five innings for his second win of the season. DJ Belfonte matched his career high with four RBIs to lead a 11-hit attack, while Adam Bailey belted his Big 12-leading 14th round tripper of the season. The Huskers, who will be looking for their first Big 12 series win in 2010, enter the weekend tied for eighth in the Big 12 standings.  Kansas comes into the weekend following a 6-4 victory over Missouri State on Tuesday night. The Jayhawks were picked to finish second in the Big 12 race, but are in seventh place at 3-5-1 after being swept at Texas last weekend.

4 THINGS TO WATCH THIS WEEK
12: Number of Nebraska’s losses to teams ranked in Collegiate Baseball’s top 30 this week.
13: Number of Huskers who have played in at least 200 games during their career. DJ Belfonte will become the 14th player to reach that plateu on Friday night.
56: Number of times DJ Belfonte has been hit by pitches in his career. It ranks fourth among all conference players (Big 8/Big 12) and is the most by any Big 12 player since Nebraska’s Daniel Bruce was hit 67 times between 2002 and 2005.
200: Number of wins Nebraska has at Hawks Field following Tuesday’s victory over Wichita State. The Huskers are 200-63-1 (.759) since the ballpark opened in 2002.

Scouting Kansas
Under coach Ritch Price, Kansas is 20-13-1 on the season following Tuesday’s win over Missouri State. The Jayhawks, who were picked to finish second in the league’s preseason poll, enjoyed the league’s best non-conference series win, taking 2-of-3 from defending national champion LSU in Baton Rouge last month. In league play, KU is 3-5-1, but has played at Baylor and at Texas sandwiched around a three-game series with Texas A&M. The Jayhawks were swept at Texas, but held UT to just six runs in the first two game of the series.

KU, which returned six starters from a team that won 39 games and reached an NCAA Regional last spring, is led by outfielder Brian Heere, who is hitting .380 with 30 runs scored.   KU has four starters hitting over .300, including infielder Robby Price, who is hitting at a .366 clip with 22 walks and a team-high 38 runs scored. The Jayhawks received a recent boost with the return of preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Tony Thompson. He became the first Big 12 player to win the league’s triple crown in 2009, hitting .389 with 21 homers and 82 RBIs. He has started KU’s last 15 contests, hitting .231 with two homers and 14 RBIs.

On the mound, KU is led by junior right-hander T.J. Walz, who went 8-3 last year and is 5-2 with a 5.10 ERA and a team-high 50 strikeouts in his first eight starts. Senior right-hander Cameron Selik (4-3, 5.07 ERA) has pitched well for KU, but the Jayhawks lost their closer, Brett Bochy to elbow surgery. He was 2-0 with five saves and a 0.78 ERA in 12 contests.

Series History: Nebraska leads 140-97-1 in a series that dates back to 1892. It is the Huskers’ oldest rivalry against a conference opponent.  Kansas took 2-of-3 from the Huskers, marking the first time since 1998 that Nebraska had lost the season series to the Huskers. Nebraska has won the season series in Lincoln in each of the last five meetings, including 2-of-3 in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.

Last Time Out
Tuesday (Nebraska 14, Wichita State 0): Four Husker pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout, while DJ Belfonte matched his career high with four RBIs, pacing Nebraska to a 14-0 victory over Wichita State. Tyler Niederklein, Luke Bublitz, Chris Williams and Sean Yost shackled the Shocker attack, combining for eight strikeouts, as Nebraska (17-16) picked up its second shutout of the year. WSU (21-11) had just one hit through the first 8.1 innings, a wind-aided single by Nate Goro that dropped in front of pitcher’s mound in the second inning.

The Huskers took control early, as Nebraska rung up six runs in the second off Shocker starter TJ McGreevy. With two outs and a runner on second, Bryan Peters’ RBI single started a string of five straight base hits, including a two-run triple to right center by Belfonte and a two-run homer by Adam Bailey into the teeth of a 30 mile per hour wind. Belfonte went 2-for-4 with four RBIs while Bailey had two hits, including his Big 12 leading 14th homer of the season. Kyle Bubak also drove in three runs, as Nebraska’s 14 runs marked its highest total against the Shockers since 1985.

Leading Off
•-NU assistant coach Dave Bingham served as head coach at Kansas for seven seasons (1988-95), leading the Jayhawks to 249 wins and the school’s only CWS appearance in 1993.
•-Over 30 former Huskers will be honored on the field prior to Friday’s game with Kansas, as the alumni are back for the events in conjuction with the football spring game weekend.
•-Adam Bailey’s 14 homers in 2010 is the most by a Husker since 2006, when Luke Gorsett (15) and Brandon Buckman (14) both reached double figures in homers.
•-Nebraska’s shutout of Wichita State marked the third consecutive time that the Shockers had been shutout in Lincoln dating back to 2004. NU has outscored WSU 28-0 in that span.
• Nebraska’s two triples against WSU marked its first two-triple game since March 24, 2009 against Northern Colorado.
•-One year after Kansas’ Tony Thompson became the Big 12’s first triple crown winner, Adam Bailey is making a strong push to repeat the feat in 2010. Bailey enters the weekend hitting .419 with 13 homers and 43 RBIs, ranking in the top two in all three categories. At this point last year, Bailey was hitting .322 with nine homers and 35 RBIs.
•-After not hitting 50 homers in each of the past two seasons, Nebraska has regained its power surge in 2010. The Huskers are second in the Big 12 with 40 homers (Oklahoma leads with 46) and feature three of the Big 12’s top 10 home run hitters in Adam Bailey (14, first), Cody Asche (6, ninth) and Chad Christensen (6, ninth). Nebraska is on pace to hit 65 homers in the regular season (54 games), which would be its highest total since belting 70 in 2006.
•-Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson is three wins shy of becoming the third coach in school history to win 300 games at Nebraska. Anderson is 297-160-2 in his eight seasons at NU.
•-With Tuesday’s shutout of Wichita State, Nebraska now ranks second in the Big 12 with three shutouts, trailing only Texas’ 4. Freshmen earned the wins in two of those three shutouts, including Tyler Niederklein on Tuesday night.
•-Shortstop Chad Christensen is fourth among all Big 12 freshmen in homers with six, which is the most by a Husker freshman since Alex Gordon had seven in 2003. It is also the most homers by a Husker shortstop since Ryan Wehrle hit eight en route to earning third-team All-America honors in 2006. Prior to Christensen’s homer on March 28 against Oklahoma, it had been nearly three years since a Nebraska shortstop homered in a game.
•-Senior center fielder DJ Belfonte continues to climb Nebraska’s career hits list. He became just the 19th player in school history to record 200 career hits at Oklahoma State on April 4 and now stands in 16th place with 207 career hits.
Belfonte, who is on track to make his 200th career appearance against Kansas on Friday night, is enjoying his best season as a Husker, ranking fourth in the Big 12 in hits (51) and seventh in batting average (.386) this season, while his 30 RBIs rank third on the team. Belfonte is also one triple shy of cracking Nebraska’s top-10 list in that category.
Of the 19 players who have reached 200 hits at Nebraska, 15 have come since Mike Anderson joined the Nebraska staff prior to the 1995 campaign.
•-Nebraska has improved its offensive numbers this season, as it enters the Kansas series with a .310 team batting average.  It is NU’s highest batting average after 33 games since the 2006 campaign and a fact made more impressive considering the Huskers have played six games against the top two teams in the country in ERA (UCLA and Texas).
•-Nebraska hitters have been hit by 63 pitches this season to rank second among Big 12 teams entering this weekend’s action. The Huskers are also just one of two teams with multiple players with at least 10 HBP’s in senior DJ Belfonte and freshman Bryan Peters, as both players are in the top five in that category.
•-Nebraska has played a difficult schedule so far this season, playing 13 games against ranked teams, including six against current top-10 clubs UCLA and Texas. Nebraska’s 13 games against ranked teams is second among all Big 12 teams, as only Texas Tech has played more contests against ranked foes.
•-Nebraska has gotten off to fast starts, scoring first in 24 of its 33 games this season. NU has scored in the first inning in nearly half of its contests (16 of 33) and outscored the opposition, 30-12, in the first innings of games. Nebraska has won nearly 75 percent of its games over the last eight years when it scores first.
•-The Huskers have been proficient in two-out situations this season, recording 94 two-out RBIs.  In fact, 100  of Nebraska’s 237 runs (42 percent) have been scored with two outs this spring, and NU has scored at least one two-out run in 28 contests.  Nine of Nebraska’s 14 runs against Wichita State were scored in two-out situations. Adam Bailey has a team-best 19 two-out RBIs, while Cody Asche (14), Tyler Farst (11) and DJ Belfonte (10) also have at least 10 two-out RBIs this season.
•-The 10-run deficit Nebraska overcame on March 30, against North Dakota equaled the largest deficit the Huskers have overcome in a game since 2000. That season, NU also overcame a 10-0 deficit in the second inning in a 14-13 victory over Iowa State at Buck Beltzer Stadium.  Prior to  the North Dakota comeback, the largest deficit NU had overcome under Mike Anderson was seven runs vs. Northern Colorado in 2009.
•-The Huskers are 104-1 (.990) under Mike Anderson when reaching double figures in runs, including 76-0 since the start of the 2005 season. Nebraska is 10-0 this season when scoring 10 or more runs in a game.
•-Five of Nebraska’s 16 losses this season have been on the opponent’s last at-bat, including four walk-off losses (two at Fresno State, one at UCLA, one at Texas).  Nebraska has lost three games when taking a lead into the ninth inning this season after losing only four times between 2003 and 2009 in that situation. The Huskers are 254-7-1 (.971) when leading after eight innings under Mike Anderson.
•-Cody Asche’s two grand slams this year mark the first time since 2003 that any Husker has had more than one grand slam in a season. In fact, before hitting three grand slams over the past two weeks, the Huskers had not had multiple grand slams as a team since belting three during the 2004 season.
•-DJ Belfonte ranks second on Nebraska’s career hit-by-pitch list with 56 after getting plunked three times last weekend at Kansas State. He is one of just eight players in conference history to get hit by at least 50 pitches.
•-Nebraska’s 10-run outburst in the third inning against Northern Colorado on March 24 marked the fourth time under Mike Anderson that the Huskers have reached double-digits in an inning since 2003.
•-Michael Mariot’s one-hit shutout against Houston Baptist on March 13 was the first by a Nebraska pitcher since Zach Kroenke tossed a one-hitter at Kansas State on April 2, 2004. It also marked only the fifth time since 1999 that a Husker hurler tossed a one-hit, complete-game shutout.
•-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.
•-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.
•-NU has 119 come-from-behind wins under Mike Anderson since 2003. The Huskers already have five come-from-behind wins this season, including overcoming a 10-run deficit against North Dakota on March 30 and a three-run deficit against Northern Colorado on March 23.
•-The Huskers are 70-8 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. This season, NU is 14-2 when out-hitting opponents. The Huskers are 16-6 with reaching double figures in hits, but winless in 10 games with nine hits or less.
•-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 have traveled six of eight weekends heading into this weekend’s series with Kansas. NU has totaled over 11,000 miles this season.

Bailey Swings a Hot Stick
After leading the Huskers in homers, RBIs and slugging percentage in 2009, Adam Bailey has put together a strong senior season.  The Scottsdale, Ariz., product is hitting .421 with 14 homers and 45 RBIs entering this weekend’s series with Kansas. The senior ranks seventh nationally in homers and eighth in total bases in the latest NCAA rankings released on April 13.

Bailey, who was drafted in the 38th round by the New York Yankees last season, leads the Big 12 in four categories, homers, RBIs, hits (59) and totals bases (112) while ranking second in RBIs, batting average, runs (39) and slugging percentage (.800). He has been on a monster tear in the past month, hitting .450 (45-for-100) with 12 homers and 30 RBIs since celebrating his 22nd birthday with a three-hit day on March 6. He has 16 multi-hit and 15 multi-RBI efforts, including a stretch of nine straight multi-RBI games.

Bailey torched No. 20 Kansas State, hitting .364 with three homers and six RBIs in the weekend series, including his second career multi-homer game on April 9, as he drove in four runs in NU’s 5-3 win. His performance against ranked teams should not be a surprise, as he is hitting .365 with seven homers and 18 RBIs in 13 games against ranked teams in 2010.

He was named Big 12 Player of the Week on March 23, after hitting .562 (9-for-16) with two homers and eight RBIs in four games last week. Bailey went 7-for-11 with two homers, two doubles and six RBIs in the three-game series at No. 2 Texas last week. Against Northern Colorado on March 24, he had two hits in NU’s 10-run third inning, including his first career grand slam.

DJ Keeps Things Spinning at Top of the Lineup
DJ Belfonte gives Nebraska a solid threat at the top of the lineup. The senior is hitting .389 with five homers and 30 RBIs in the leadoff spot. He ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 in six categories, including: hits (fourth. 49); triples (second, three); total bases (fourth, 77); on-base percentage (fifth, .488); batting average (seventh) and stolen bases (ninth, 10).

Belfonte, who was voted the best defensive outfielder by the league coaches in Baseball America’s preseason issue, is one of two Huskers (also Adam Bailey) to start all 33 games in 2010. Belfonte is bidding to become the first Husker since former Major Leaguer Ken Ramos to lead NU in stolen bases for three straight years.

While he is known for his speed and defense, Belfonte showed his power earlier this season, belting two homers against South Dakota State on March 16, the first two-homer game of his career. His five homers this year already eclipses his career total prior to this season. He matched his career best with four RBIs against Wichita State on Tuesday and hit .364 (4-for-11) with an on-base percentage of .533 against Kansas State last weekend.

Kiser is Second to None
After seeing limited time behind eventual MLB draftee Jeff Tezak as a freshman last year, second baseman Kale Kiser has been a pleasant surprise in 2010. Kiser comes into the week hitting .368 with 36 runs scored, ranking third in the Big 12 in on-base percentage (.512), fifth in runs scored and 13th in batting average.

After Nebraska started the year with a 3-7 mark, Kiser was bumped to second in the order and has played a key role in helping NU to a 13-7 record since that start. He has reached safely in 26 of his 27 appearances, with the only exception when he came off the bench at Fresno State on Feb. 20.  Kiser has also shown his toughness, playing through a split lip at Fresno State on Feb. 22 that required 16 stitches to sew up, but returned to the diamond in time for the next practice.

Asche Has Been Burning Up
One of the overlooked hitters in the Nebraska lineup is sophomore third baseman Cody Asche. The O’Fallon, Mo., native has been consistent for NU all season, hitting .310 with six homers and 33 RBIs, ranking ninth in the Big 12 in homers and 10th in RBIs.

He got off to a slow start, going hitless in his first 10 at-bats, but has been on a tear since then, hitting .343 since Feb. 21. He had a career-long 12-game hit streak and hit .500 (6-for-12) with five RBIs at No. 12 Texas. Asche had a monster offensive week for the Big Red from March 30-April 5, belting three homers and driving in 13 runs in five games. He belted his first career grand slam inNebraska’s 11-10 win over North Dakota on March 30 and followed up four days later with another grand slam at Oklahoma State on April 3, matching his career high with five RBIs in NU’s 9-2 win. Asche saw his 10-game hit streak snapped against Wichita State on Tuesday.

Infield Youth Movement
Nebraska has relied on a pair of freshmen middle infielders recently, as Bryan Peters and Chad Christensen have become the Huskers’ primary double play duo.

Peters, who was slowed by an orbital bone fracture suffered before practice began, has taken over the starting second baseman job and is hitting .282 with 16 runs scored in 27 appearances. He has also been hit by 12 pitches to rank second on the team and fifth in the Big 12 in that category. After a slow start, Peters has hit well of late, hitting .333 with 11 runs scored and four stolen bases over his last 15 contests.

Christensen, who moved into the lineup on March 28 following Kyle Bubak’s back injury, has been on a tear, hitting .465 with four homers and 11 RBIs over his last 11 contests. He  enjoyed a 10-game hit streak from March 28 until April 11, recording eight multi-hit games in that strech. Christensen moved to the No. 4 spot in NU’s lineup at K-State on April 11, and responded with his second three-hit day of the year.

Casey of All Trades
Junior right-hander Casey Hauptman has filled nearly every role on the Husker staff in 2010. While he is only 1-3, he leads Nebraska in strikeouts (40) and is second in innings pitched  (46.1). After beginning the season in long relief, he moved into the starter’s role for three weekends before taking over the closer’s spot following Mike Nesseth’s season-ending injury.

Out of the bullpen, Hauptman has a 3.62 ERA in nine outings, fanning 23 over 27.1 innings. He is 3-for-3 in save opportunities, pitching the final 1.2 innings at No. 20 Kansas State on April 9. In fact, all three of his saves have been at least 1.2 innings of work. In the wake of Mike Nesseth’s injury,  Hauptman is now NU’s most experienced pitcher, making 43 appearances and striking out 97 over 127.2 career innings.

Lemke Sparkles In Debut Campaign
Freshman right-hander Tom Lemke has emerged as one of the Big 12’s top pitching rookies this season. The 6-foot-8 right-hander is 4-3 with a 4.76 ERA in eight starts.  He has allowed two runs or less in five of his eight outings and picked up wins over three NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago (Fresno State, Elon, Oklahoma).

He was named Big 12 co-pitcher of the week on March 29, following his three-hit shutout of No. 12 Oklahoma. Lemke fanned a career-high eight hitters en route to holding the Sooners to their lowest hit total of the year. It also marked the first time OU had been shut out in the regular season since 2007. Lemke, a 10th round pick of the Texas Rangers in last June’s MLB Draft, showed his poise early on, becoming just the fourth Husker freshman to start during the opening weekend of the season. He also became the first Husker freshman in that time to earn the victory, tossing five shutout innings at Fresno State.

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, including 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 who did 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 this season.

Like Mother, Like Son
Freshman Josh Scheffert continues a family tradition at Nebraska, as his mother played softball for the Huskers for two seasons (1979-80).  Scheffert was off to a solid start, hitting .317 with three homers and 19 RBIs  in his first 20 games before breaking a bone in his left hand on a pitch on March 28. The injury was originally expected to be season ending, but he missed just 10 games before making his return in a pinch-hitting role against Wichita State on Tuesday night.

The Lincoln Southeast product - the same school as former National Player of the Year Alex Gordon - was second on the team in both homers and RBIs and led NU in walks at the time of the injury.  He has six multi-RBI efforts, including a career-high four RBIs against South Dakota State on March 16. He enjoyed an outstanding debut at Fresno State on Feb. 21, by going 3-4 with three RBIs.

Ticket Update
Because of the weather-related postponements this season, two previous game tickets can be used for general admission tickets to any remaining regular-season game at Hawks Field.  Those tickets are the following:
• South Dakota State (Game 1 on season-ticket sheets)
• Houston Baptist (Game 3)

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.

Three Huskers Honored by Baseball America
A trio of Husker players were recognized by Baseball America in its college preview issue.  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.

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 .982 career fielding percentage and has thrown out seven runners from the outfield during his career.

Tom 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 No. 32 nationally among all freshman by the publication.

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 ever while 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.

Huskers Boast Experienced Coaching Staff
One of the Huskers’ 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 297 wins entering this weekend’s series with Kansas. 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.

Battling the Injury Bug
The Huskers have been hit by the injury bug recently, losing a quartet of contributors for significant time. Offensively, both Josh Scheffert (left hand) and Kyle Bubak (back) missed 10 games apiece because of injuries and both returned to action against Wichita State on April 13.

On the mound, NU also lost a pair of major contributors in Mike Nesseth and Kurt Giller. Nesseth, a 15th round draft pick last spring, was 1-2 with a 6.43 ERA, but was pitching well at the time of his injury, posting a 1.80 ERA in his previous seven outings. Giller, a 21st round draft pick, had made eight appearances, fanning 11 over 13.2 innings and earned a save against Fresno State.

Single-Game Tickets on Sale
Single-game general admission tickets for Husker baseball home games are now available. Single-game reserved tickets are $10 with general admission prices set at $7 (adults) and $5 (youth/seniors). In addition,GA tickets are free for children ages six and younger along with UNL students (with a valid student ID). 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.

Husker Baseball on Television
The Nebraska Athletic Department and NET Television announced that seven Nebraska baseball games will be televised statewide on the network this spring. All seven contests will be carried across Nebraska on NET-1 and in high definition on NET-HD. Six of the games will be carried nationally on the CBS College Sports Network, which are carried nationally by both DirecTV (Ch. 613) and Dish Network (Ch. 152).

The 2010 telecast schedule began on April 6, as the Huskers hosted Creighton in the first of three matchups between the programs this season. Five of the NET contests will air in April, including home games against Wichita State (April 13), Kansas (April 18), and Texas A&M (April 30), along with the Huskers’ first game against Creighton at Rosenblatt Stadium (April 20). The May schedule includes a pair of games, including the Huskers’ final regular-season game against Creighton in historic Rosenblatt Stadium on May 18, and the middle game of Nebraska’s series against Texas Tech (May 22).

A total of eight Husker baseball games will be televised in 2010, as Nebraska’s game at Texas on March 21 was carried nationally on Fox College Sports.