Huskers Head to Rosenblatt for Final Time

Nebraska (23-27) at Creighton (24-21) Tuesday, May 18 - 7 p.m. Rosenblatt Stadium - Omaha, Neb.

Media Info Radio:  Husker Sports Network and on Huskers.com with Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle Live Stats: Huskers.com Video:  Huskers.com TV: NET-1 (Ch. 12) and NET-HD (Ch. 112); CBS College Sports Network - DirecTV (Ch. 613) and Dish Network (Ch. 152) Probable Starting Pitchers Tuesday NU-Luke Bublitz, Fr., RHP (0-1, 5.60 ERA) Creighton - Greg Hellhake, Jr., LHP (1-0, 7.59 ERA)

This Week: Nebraska hits the road for the final time this season, as the Huskers head to Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium for a matchup with Creighton. First pitch for the final match-up between the Huskers and Bluejays in the historic ballpark is set for 7 p.m. The game will be televised statewide on NET Television and on CBS College Sports with Kevin Kugler and John Bishop on the call.

Tickets Info: Tickets for Tuesday's game range from $8 to $12 and are available online at Ticketmaster.com, at local Ticketmaster outlets across Nebraska or by calling (800) 745-3000. Tickets will also be sold at Rosenblatt Stadium Tuesday afternoon.

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.

Tuesday Preview: While the Huskers' postseason hopes officially ended on Sunday, Nebraska (24-27) can get the final week of the season off to a good start with a victory over Creighton on Tuesday. The Huskers had a chance to salvage the final game of the series at Missouri, but a furious comeback fell short in a 6-5 loss. Sophomore catcher Cory Burleson homered and drove in a career-high three runs, but a five-run seventh inning for Missouri sealed NU's fate.

The Huskers now turn their attention toward the final game at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium on Tuesday night. Nebraska is 25-19 in the ballpark over the past three decades, including three CWS appearances since 2001. The Huskers are 24-12 against Creighton at Rosenblatt Stadium.

A win over Creighton on Tuesday would allow the Huskers to avoid being swept by the Bluejays for the first time since 1992, but Nebraska will have to play better than it did at Missouri over the weekend. Nebraska, which had a team ERA of 3.72 over its previous 11 games, walked 22 over the final two games of the series played in sloppy conditions, but also hit just .248 on the weekend as a team. Freshman Josh Scheffert provided some of the highlights for the Huskers, as he went 3-for-8 on the series. Third baseman Cody Asche drove in three runs to increase his season total to 52. Asche now has 14 RBIs in his last six contests.

3 Things to Watch
231: Career hits for DJ Belfonte, as he moved into 10th place on Nebraska's career hit list. He also carries a team-high six-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 contest.
2: Two Huskers with over 50 RBIs (Adam Bailey and Cody Asche) this season, marking the first time since 2005 that has happened.
3: Number of grand slams by Cody Asche, a total which ties the Big 12 single-season record. Asche is hitting .429 (6-for-14) with 22 RBIs in bases-loaded situations.

Scouting Creighton
Like the Huskers, Creighton has enjoyed an up-and-down season and comes into Tuesday's game with a 24-21 mark, including a 9-12 MVC record. The Bluejays won the final two games of their series with Seattle University last weekend, including a 3-2 walk-off win on Sunday afternoon. CU is now in a stretch of seven straight non-conference games before next week's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Offensively, junior college transfer Trever Adams has provided some pop in the Bluejay attack, hitting a team-best .339 with eight homers and 46 RBIs. Senior T.J. Roemmich is hitting .300 with six homers and 38 RBIs, while Robbie Knight, who returned to the lineup over the weekend, is hitting .329 with 20 runs scored.

Left-hander Greg Hellhake will make his fifth start of the season on Tuesday, as he has pitched 10.2 innings all season. Hellhake has made four starts against the Huskers, including a one-inning stint in the last matchup on April 20. 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 an 8-1 Nebraska win at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Series History: Nebraska leads the all-time series, 70-39-2, and has won 16-of-24 meetings since Mike Anderson took over as Nebraska's head coach in 2003. Nebraska had won six of the last seven meetings at Rosenblatt Stadium before Creighton's 8-5 win last month. The Bluejays have already clinched the series win for the second time since 1999 by winning the first two games of the series.

Last Time Out
Sunday (Missouri 6, Nebraska 5): Nebraska nearly overcame a five-run deficit, but the Huskers' comeback fell short in a 6-5 setback. Trailing 5-1 in the eighth, Cory Burleson's three-run homer - his first of the season - made it a 6-4 game before the Huskers nearly pulled out the game in the ninth. After loading the bases with two outs in the ninth, Brad Buehler hit Josh Scheffert to pull the Huskers within a run, but Burleson, who had two hits and drove in career-high three runs, struck out to end the game. The Huskers out-hit Missouri, 10-7, but the Tigers made the most of their opportunities, getting three of their hits in a five-run seventh to break open a 1-1 game. Jonah Schmidt and Connor Mach drove in two runs apiece, as Mach's two-run double off of Sean Yost was the back breaker in the seventh.

Saturday (Missouri 12, Nebraska 7):  Missouri took advantage of Nebraska's misfortunes, topping the Huskers, 12-7, in soggy conditions Saturday. The Tigers took advantage of a season-high 12 walks by Husker pitchers and capitalized on a pair of costly first-inning miscues that put Missouri ahead to stay. Jesse Santo went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs, as his two-run single in the third highlighted a five-run inning that gave the Tigers an 8-2 margin. Brett Nicholas also drove in two runs, while four Tigers enjoyed multi-hit nights. Phil McCormick picked up the win in relief, tossing 0.1 innings and getting Missouri out of a jam in the fifth after the Huskers pulled to within 8-5. Cody Asche and Tyler Farst each had two hits and two RBIs for Nebraska.

Friday (Missouri 2, Nebraska 0): On a night where Michael Mariot was sharp, Missouri's Nick Tepesch was superb, tossing a five-hit shutout in a 5-0 Tiger win on Friday. Tepesch fired the first complete-game effort of his career and struck out nine in handing the Huskers their first shutout of the year. Nebraska received a fine start from junior Michael Mariot, who allowed two runs on six hits over seven plus innings. Mariot, who has worked into the seventh in his last 11 outings, has allowed three runs or less in five of his eight conference starts. Aaron Senne provided nearly all of the offense for the Tigers, going 2-for-3 with a homer and scored both of Missouri's runs. Eric Garcia's fourth-inning sacrifice fly got the Tigers on the scoreboard before Senne's solo homer in the sixth extended the margin. Nebraska had its best chance in the fifth, as one-out singles from Kale Kiser, Cody Asche and Josh Scheffert loaded the bases, but Tepesch got out of the jam by getting Cade Thompson to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Leading Off
*-Adam Bailey's 16 homers in 2010 are the most by a Husker since 2005, when Alex Gordon hit 19 en route to National Player-of-the-Year honors. Bailey is also three homers away from 10th place on Nebraska's single-season lists. With 28 homers in his two-year Husker career, he is tied for third among players who spent less than three seasons at Nebraska.

*-Cody Asche has been a terror in two-out situations this season. He has a team-high 31 two-out RBIs this season, which is the most by any Husker since Dan Johnson had 37 in 2001. In all, 44 of Asche's 73 career RBIs have come in two-out situations, where he is a career .328 hitter.

*-With 55 RBIs this season, Adam Bailey is the first Husker to record back-to-back seasons with at least 50 RBIs since Alex Gordon and Curtis Ledbetter accomplished the feat during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Bailey's RBI total is now the highest by any Husker in the last five seasons.

*-Huskers have been hit by 84 pitches this season to rank second in the Big 12. The total ranks sixth on NU's single-season list. NU is the only Big 12 team with three players hit by at least 15 pitches this season (DJ Belfonte, Bryan Peters and Kale Kiser), as all three are among the league leaders in that painful category.

*-Bryan Peters has been hit by 17 pitches this season, which ranks third nationally among all freshmen coming into this week's action.  He is fourth on NU's all-time freshman list behind Daniel Bruce (28, 2002), Corey Miller (24, 1996) and DJ Belfonte (18, 2007).

*-Senior center fielder DJ Belfonte continues to climb Nebraska's career hits list. He moved into 10th place on Nebraska's all-time list on Sunday and now has 231 career hits, matching the total set by Daniel Bruce (2002-05).
Belfonte, who has 10 career triples, is also one triple shy of cracking Nebraska's top-10 list in that category and ranks 10th in games played (216). He is enjoying his best season as a Husker in 2010, ranking sixth in hits (75) and  seventh in batting average (.371) while his 36 RBIs is one shy of his career high of 37 set as a sophomore.

*-A trio of Husker players are among the national leaders released on May 11. Adam Bailey tops the list, as he ranks in the top-100 nationally in five categories, including homers and RBIs. As a team, the Huskers rank in the top 60 in four categories, including double plays turned, fielding percentage and hit by pitches.

*-Senior Adam Bailey is making a strong case to become the first Husker to lead the Big 12 in homers since 2003. Bailey enters the final week of his collegiate career with 16 homers this year, three ahead of Aaron Senne (Missouri) and Cameron Seitzer (Oklahoma). He will look to become only the fourth Husker to lead the league in homers, joining Dan Johnson (2000-01), Matt Hopper (2000, 2003) and Jed Morris (2002).

*-Freshman right-hander Tom Lemke joined an exclusive club May 2, as he tossed his second shutout of the season.  He is just the fourth freshman in school history to throw at least two shutouts in a season and just one of only 10 pitchers all time at Nebraska to accomplish the feat. He is tied for second nationally in shutouts this season entering the final week of the regular season.

*-Nebraska is tied for second in the Big 12 with four shutouts, trailing only Texas' league-leading total of seven. Freshmen have earned the wins in three of four Husker shutouts this season, including Tom Lemke (No. 12 Oklahoma and Texas A&M) and Tyler Niederklein (Wichita State). In Big 12 action, Lemke's two shutouts are more than any other team's total except for Texas.

*-NU has now hit 54 homers this season, its highest single-season total since 2006. NU has four players with at least six homers this season, including Big 12 leader Adam Bailey.

*-Shortstop Chad Christensen's six homers are the most by a Husker freshman since Alex Gordon had seven in 2003. Christensen's homer total is also the most by a Husker shortstop since Ryan Wehrle hit eight en route to earning third-team All-America honors in 2006.

*-Nebraska has gotten great production from its pinch hitters this year, hitting .308 with four homers and 15 RBIs. It is NU's highest batting average by pinch hitters since 2003, while the four homers are the most in the last decade. Prior to this season, NU had only four pinch-hit homers since 2004.

*-Cody Asche's three 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, Nebraska has not had multiple grand slams in a season since 2004 prior to this year.

*-Kale Kiser has been one of the Big 12's top run producers this season. He is fifth in the league in on-base percentage (.477) and is second on the team with 47 runs scored. He has reached safely in each of his first 35 starts this season and 43 of his 45 starts.

*-The Huskers have been proficient in two-out situations this season, recording 145 two-out RBIs this season. In fact, 154 of Nebraska's 328 runs (47 percent) this season have been scored with two outs, and NU has scored at least one two-out run in 36 contests. Cody Asche leads NU with 31 two-out RBIs, while Adam Bailey is close behind with 24 RBIs.
Over the last four games, 21 of Nebraska's 22 runs have been scored in two-out situations.

*-The Huskers are 107-1 (.990) under Mike Anderson when reaching double figures in runs, including 79-0 since the start of the 2005 season. Nebraska is 13-0 this season when scoring 10 or more runs in a game.

*-Nebraska has gotten off to fast starts, scoring first in 30 of its 50 games this season and has outscored foes 38-23 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 18-7 when holding opponents to five runs or less. Under pitching coach Eric Newman, the Huskers are 36-3 when holding opponents to two runs or less.

*-On April 24, freshman Tyler Niederklein became the first Husker freshman to win his inaugural Big 12 start since the 2005 season. The Omaha native went a career-long 5.2 innings against the Bears to become only the fourth true freshman over the last decade to accomplish the feat.

*-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.

*-Nebraska has gone over 20 runs twice this season (vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Southeast Missouri State), marking the first time since 2002 that the Huskers have eclipsed the 20-run mark twice in a season. Saturday's 20-run effort was NU's most runs in a home game since 2002.  NU's top five single-game offensive outputs since 2003 are listed below.

*-Seven of Nebraska's 24 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 260-7-1 (.972) when leading after eight innings under Mike Anderson.

*-DJ Belfonte ranks second on Nebraska's career hit-by-pitch list with 57. He is one of just 10 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.