Huskers Look to Even Series with Creighton

Nebraska (18-18) at Creighton (16-13) Tuesday, April 20, 6:30 p.m. - Rosenblatt Stadium

Radio:  Husker Sports Network and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com TV: 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 NU-Casey Hauptman, Jr., RHP (1-3, 4.17 ERA)    Creighton-Greg Hellhake, Jr., LHP (0-0. 13.50 ERA)

This Week: Nebraska looks to snap a two-game losing streak, as the Huskers travel to Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium for the second game against Creighton Tuesday evening. First pitch between the Huskers and Bluejays is set for 6:30 p.m. and comes two weeks after Creighton opened the three-game series in Lincoln. The game will be televised statewide on NET Television and on CBS College Sports with Kevin Kugler and John Bishop on the call.

Ticket Info: Tickets range from $8 to $12 and are available at Ticketmaster.com com, at local Ticketmaster outlets across Nebraska or by calling (800) 745-3000.

Radio: Tuesday’s game 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 and Lane Grindle will be on the call.

Preview: Nebraska looks to bounce back after dropping the final two games against Kansas over the weekend. The Huskers (18-18) won the opener, 11-7, but could not sustain momentum, dropping the final two games of the series (7-4, 6-1) to the Jayhawks. The Huskers had just 12 hits in the final two games of the series after hitting .331 over the previous 12 games dating back to March 28.

Sophomore designated hitter Kale Kiser turned in a sold offensive effort against the Jayhawks, hitting .455 (5-for-11) while reaching safely on eight of his 14 plate appearances on the weekend. Kiser is now up to .377 and is among the Big 12 leaders in batting average (10th), runs (39, fifth) and on-base percentage (.514, third). Cade Thompson (.375 with three runs scored) and Boomer Collins (.364 with a homer and four runs scored) also turned in solid weekends against Kansas. On the mound, a pair of freshmen turned in strong relief efforts, as Luke Bublitz allowed one earned run over four innings on Saturday before Tyler Niederklein pitched 3.2 innings of one-hit relief in the finale. Niederklein allowed just two hits in 8.2 innings of work last week, lowering his season ERA to 1.59 in seven outings.

Now, the Huskers begin a five-game road trip with a short trip up I-80, as they take on a Creighton team which won 2-of-3 against Bradley last weekend. The series win snapped a four-game slide for the Bluejays following the April 6 win over the Huskers at Hawks Field. A Husker win would even the season series, setting up the decisive third game in NU’s last regular-season game at Rosenblatt on Tuesday, May 18.

3 Things to Watch
63: Number of games since Adam Bailey went hitless in consecutive contests prior to Sunday’s game, dating back to a three-game stretch last March (March 24-29).

.514: On-base percentage for sophomore Kale Kiser, which is the best for any Husker since Alex Gordon had a .518 on-base percentage in 2005. Only three Huskers have finished a year with on-base percentages over .500 since 2000 (Matt Hopper, 2003; Dan Johnson, 2001).

14: Number of times freshman Bryan Peters has been hit by pitches this season, a total that leads the Huskers. Although he leads NU in HBP this year, he is only halfway to Daniel Bruce’s school mark of 28 set in 2002.

Scouting Creighton
Like the Huskers, Creighton has enjoyed an up-and-down season and comes into Tuesday’s game with a 16-13 mark, including a 5-7 MVC record. The Bluejays had lost their last four games before taking 2-of-3 at Bradley over the weekend. CU has struggled at home, going 1-6 in Omaha this season. Under seventh-year coach Ed Servais, Creighton welcomed back six everyday starters from a team that won 31 games last year and finished fourth in the MVC.

Offensively, junior college transfer Trever Adams has provided some pop in the Bluejay attack, hitting a team-best .341 with four homers and 30 RBIs.  He is one of three starters hitting over .300, joining senior outfielder Robbie Knight (.307-1-11 with 19 runs scored) and first baseman Ian Dike (.306-4-19).

Left-hander Greg Hellhake will make his third start of the season on Tuesday, as he has pitched four innings all season. CU is expected to use several relievers as they prepare for a series at Missouri State this weekend. Hellhake has made three starts against the Huskers. Last year, he threw the first inning of CU’s win in Lincoln. In 2008, he made two appearances, including a 4.1 inning stint where he allowed five runs on six hits in a 8-1 Nebraska win.

Series History: Nebraska leads the all-time series, 70-38-2, and has won 16-of-23 meetings since Mike Anderson took over as Nebraska’s head coach in 2003. Nebraska has won six of the last seven meetings at Rosenblatt Stadium dating back to the 2006 season, including a 12-inning win last season. Nebraska has won the season series each year since 1999 with the exception of 2007, when Creighton won 2-of-3 meetings.

Last Time Out
Sunday (Kansas 6, Nebraska 1) Jimmy Waters belted two homers and drove in four runs, leading Kansas to a 6-1 victory over Nebraska in the rubber game of the three-game series.Waters went 2-for-4, including a three-run homer in the third inning off Nebraska starter Tom Lemke, that spotted the Jayhawks a 4-0 lead. Robby Price and Brian Heere also had two hits apiece, while Heere scored twice in helping KU to a series win.  The Huskers managed just five hits off of four Kansas pitchers, including two each by Cade Thompson and DJ Belfonte. Tanner Poppe, who went the first six innings, and three relievers kept NU’s sticks at bay most of the day.

Saturday (Kansas 7, Nebraska 4) Nebraska’s ninth-inning comeback fell just short, as Kansas evened its series with Nebraska with a 7-4 decision in front of a season-high crowd of 6,027. The Huskers trailed 7-3, but two walks and a Bryan Peters single off of reliever Colton Murray loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth. Murray retired the next two hitters before Kale Kiser’s RBI single to right made it a 7-4 game and brought Adam Bailey to the plate as the potential go-ahead run, but Murray fanned Bailey to end the game. Kiser matched his career high with three hits, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, as he accounted for three of the Huskers four runs on the day. Peters also had two hits, as the pair combined for five of Nebraska’s seven hits. Kansas’ Cameron Selik allowed one earned run over seven innings and fanned four for the win. Brandon Macias keyed the Jayhawk attack, going 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBIs and scored three times.

Friday (Nebraska 11, Kansas 7) Boomer Collins had three hits, including a homer, while Michael Mariot pitched into the ninth, as Nebraska posted a 11-7 victory over Kansas in the opener.  Collins paced Nebraska’s 13-hit attack with his first three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-5 with a homer and three runs scored. The sophomore tied career bests in both hits and runs, as Nebraska scored five in the second and two more in the third off of Kansas ace T.J. Walz. Cody Asche homered and drove in two runs, while Kale Kiser and Patric Tolentino had two hits apiece. Back-to-back homers by Asche and Collins highlighted a five-run inning, as Nebraska raced out to a 10-1 lead.  After a rocky first inning where Kansas had hits by three of its first four hitters, Mariot found his groove and held KU off the scoreboard until the eighth. He fanned four and retired 18 of 19 Jayhawks in one stretch, as no runner reached second from the second to the seventh inning.

Last Time vs. Creighton
April 6 (Creighton 13, Nebraska 5): Nebraska spotted Creighton a 7-0 lead before mounting a comeback, but lost 13-5 on April 6.  The Bluejays set the tone early, as back-to-back homers from Elliot Soto and Alex Staehely off Nebraska starter Chase Adams to open the game helped Creighton jump out to a quick 3-0 advantage. Soto had four hits on the night and helped CU build a 7-0 lead, only to see the Huskers push across five runs in the third, including a two-run double from freshman Chad Christensen, to make it a two-run game. That would be as close as NU would get, as the Bluejays scored a pair of runs in the fourth and added four more in the ninth.  Chase Adams suffered the first loss of his college career, allowing six runs on five hits over 1.1 innings, snapping a string of 13 straight wins beginning three years ago in junior college. Christensen, Cade Thompson and Kale Kiser had two hits apiece for the Huskers, as Nebraska totaled 11 hits in the loss.

Leading Off
•-Prior to Saturday’s game Adam Bailey had reached safely in 32 of NU’s last 33 contests dating back to Feb. 20. The only game he didn’t reach via hit or walk in that stretch was March 26 against Oklahoma.

•-Nebraska has played well in Rosenblatt Stadium, winning six of the last seven meetings in the ballpark since the 2005 season. Last year, NU won the only matchup in the ballpark, taking a 4-3 victory in 12 innings, as Erik Bird went the first 9.1 innings in a no-decision.

•-Casey Hauptman has enjoyed his two appearances in Rosenblatt Stadium as a Husker, tossing five shutout innings in his collegiate career. In his last appearance in Omaha in 2008, he struck out six over four shutout innings for his first collegiate save.

•-Adam Bailey’s 14 homers in 2010 are the most by a Husker since 2006, when Luke Gorsett (15) and Brandon Buckman (14) both reached double figures in homers.

•-Kale Kiser enters Tuesday’s game ranking third in the Big 12 with a .514 on-base percentage, the best by a Husker since 2005. Here is a list of the Huskers with on-base percentages of at least .500 since 2000.

•-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 week hitting .392 with 14 homers and 47 RBIs, leading the Big 12 in homers and RBIs and ranking fourth in hitting. At this point last year, Bailey was hitting .331 with nine homers and 38 RBIs.

•-Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson is now two wins shy of becoming the third coach in school history to win 300 games at Nebraska. Anderson is 298-162-2 in his eight seasons at NU.

•-After not hitting 50 homers in each of the past three seasons, Nebraska has regained its power surge in 2010. The Huskers are third in the league in homers with 42 (Oklahoma leads with 47 and Texas has 44) and feature two of the league’s top home run hitters in Adam Bailey (14, first) and Cody Asche (10, ninth). Nebraska is currently on pace to hit 63 homers in the regular season (54 games), which would be its highest total since belting 70 in 2006.

•-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 is one of only 19 players in school history to record 200 hits and enters Tuesday’s game with Creighton in 16th place all-time with 210 career hits. He needs two hits to tie Joe Scherger for 15th place on NU’s career list. Belfonte is also one triple shy of cracking Nebraska’s top-10 list in that category.
Belfonte is enjoying his best season as a Husker, ranking seventh in the Big 12 in hits (54) and 13th in batting average (.372) this season, while his 31 RBIs rank third on the team. 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 hitters have been hit by 67 pitches this season to rank second among Big 12 teams entering this week’s action. The Huskers are four HBP from cracking the top-10 single season list.
Nebraska just one of two Big 12 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 improved its offensive numbers this season, as it enters the Creighton matchup with a .306 team batting average.  It is NU’s highest batting average after 36 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 is now tied for second in the Big 12 with three shutouts, trailing only Texas’ six. Freshmen earned the wins in two of three Husker shutouts, including Tyler Niederklein against Wichita State on April 13.

•-Nebraska has played a difficult schedule in 2010, 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’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.

•-The Huskers have been proficient in two-out situations this season, recording 100 two-out RBIs.  In fact, 107  of Nebraska’s 253 runs (42 percent) this spring have been scored with two outs, and NU has scored at least one two-out run in 30 contests.  Adam Bailey has a team-best 20 two-out RBIs, while Cody Asche (16), Tyler Farst (11) and DJ Belfonte (11) also have at least 10 two-out RBIs this season.

•-The Huskers are 105-1 (.990) under Mike Anderson when reaching double figures in runs, including 77-0 since the start of the 2005 season. Nebraska is 11-0 this season when scoring 10 or more runs in a game.

•-Nebraska has gotten off to fast starts, scoring first in 24 of its 36 games this season and has outscored foes 30-14 in the opening inning of games this season. Nebraska has won nearly 75 percent of its games over the last eight years when it scores first.

•-Nebraska has usually won when it has pitched well, going 14-4 when holding opponents to five runs or less. Under pitching coach Eric Newman, the Huskers are 34-2 when holding opponents to two runs or less.

•-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.

•-Five of Nebraska’s 18 losses 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 in the previous seven seasons. The Huskers are 255-7-1 (.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 nine 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 120 come-from-behind wins under Mike Anderson since 2003. The Huskers already have six 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 71-8 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 15-2 when out-hitting opponents. The Huskers are 17-6 with reaching double figures in hits, but winless in 12 games with nine hits or less.