Huskers Embark on Big 12 Season at Texas Tech

Date       Date      Opponent                Radio                   Internet               Time/Result
Friday    March 25   at Texas Tech (15-7) Husker Sports Network     Huskers.com    6:30 p.m.

Saturday March 26  at Texas Tech (15-7) Husker Sports Network     Huskers.com    5 p.m.

Sunday  March 27   at Texas Tech (15-7) Husker Sports Network     Huskers.com    1 p.m.

Media Info
Live Radio: Selected Husker Sports Network and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com (affiliate list on page five of today's notes)

Live Stats: Huskers.com

Live Video: TexasTech.com (with paid subscription)

Television: None

Probable Starting Pitchers
Day        Nebraska                                      Texas Tech
Friday    Matt Freeman, Sr., RHP (3-1, 0.63)       James Parten, So., RHP (1-2, 3.80)        

Saturday Tom Lemke, So., RHP (2-0, 3.72)         Trey Masek, Fr., RHP (1-1, 3.68)

Sunday  Jon Keller, Fr., RHP (2-1, 2.16)         Robbie Kilcrease, Jr., LHP (2-0, 5.28)

This Week: Nebraska begins Big 12 play by traveling south to take on Texas Tech in Lubbock. The Huskers and Red Raiders kick off the series Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. at Daw Law Field, followed by Saturday (5 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.). This weekend will end a stretch that has saw NU play 11 games in 13 days.

On the Radio: Fans across Nebraska and around the world can listen to Greg Sharpe and Jeff Culhane call all of the action this week on the Husker Sports Network - including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, KFAM 1110 AM in Omaha - and on the Internet at Huskers.com. A complete list of Husker Sports Network affiliates can be found on page 5.

Video: Fans can watch all three games this weekend by purchasing an All-Access subscription on TexasTech.com.

Preview: Nebraska will open Big 12 play on the road for the fifth straight year as it looks to begin the league slate on the positive note. The Red Raiders have already provided one of the early surprises in the conference, as they knocked off No. 16 Baylor in Waco last week, taking 2-of-3 from the Bears. Nebraska and Missouri were the only schools to not start league games last weekend.

The Huskers are looking to build on a six-game winning streak, their longest since March of 2008, after taking four from North Dakota and a pair from Northern Colorado at Hawks Field. The trip to the Lone Star State will be Nebraska's third of the season, as it also played at the Texas State Tournament (San Marcos) and Bearkat Classic (Huntsville) last month. NU was 5-3 in those games, with all three losses coming to host teams Texas State and Sam Houston State.

Three Huskers (Cody Asche, Chad Christensen and Josh Scheffert) take nine-game hitting streaks into conference play. Only Kash Kalkowski has put together a longer streak this season, as he hit safely in 12 straight (Feb. 19-March 15). Kalkowski, the team's hitting leader with a .348 average, is tied for second in the Big 12 with four home runs. Asche is No. 1 in the league with 14 doubles and entered the week No. 2 nationally in that category.

A pair of NU seniors, Matt Freeman and Casey Hauptman, will attempt to shut down a potent Texas Tech offense that ranks second in the league with a .323 team batting average. Freeman's 0.63 ERA ties Texas' Taylor Jungmann for tops in the league, while Hauptman's 0.96 is fifth. Freeman will start the series opener Friday night, while Tom Lemke and Jon Keller will start the latter two games..

3 Things to Watch This Week
1.  Cody Asche has at least one extra base hit in seven of the past nine games. His 14 doubles are the most in the Big 12 this season.

2.  Nebraska has had seven come-from-behind wins this season, including the last four in a row.

3. The Huskers have started the conference season on the road each of the past four years and compiled a 6-6 record in those 12 games.

Scouting Texas Tech
Texas Tech brings a 15-7 record into this weekend, including a 2-1 mark in Big 12 play after upsetting No. 16 Baylor last weekend. The Red Raiders, guided by third-year coach Dan Spencer, are coming off a 28-29 season when they finished fifth in the league standings.

Once again, a strong offense highlights the Texas Tech scouting report, as the Red Raiders' .323 team batting average is second to only Oklahoma. Five players are hitting over the .300 mark, led by Stephen Hagen (.373) and Jamodrick McGruder (.370). McGruder has also stolen 17 bases in 21 attempts and is tied for the team home run lead (3) with Barrett Barnes. Hagen is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week after hitting 7-for-11 in the final two games at Baylor last week. Freshman Andre Wheeler earned Newcomer of the Week honors by hitting 6-for-10 in the series.

On the mound, the Huskers will see James Parten (1-2, 3.80), Trey Masek (1-1, 3.68) and Robbie Kilcrease (2-0, 5.28). The Red Raiders are also expected to use a solid reliever in John Neely, who has posted a 5-0 record with a 2.05 ERA and three saves.

Series History: Nebraska is 29-21 all-time against Texas Tech following a sweep of the Red Raiders last year in Lincoln. The Huskers have dropped 2-of-3 in their past two trips to Lubbock (2007, 2009). Nebraska's last series win at Daw Law Field was in 2005.

Last Year: Nebraska 3, Texas Tech 0
(NU 9, TTU 3): Michael Mariot turned in a quality start, while Josh Scheffert and Tyler Farst both homered and drove in three runs apiece, lifting Nebraska to a 9-3 victory over Texas Tech in last year's senior opener in Lincoln.

Mariot picked up his sixth win of the season, allowed two earned runs on six hits over seven innings, as he pitched into the eighth for the sixth time in nine Big 12 starts. He fanned nine Red Raiders in the victory.

While Mariot's performance boosted the Huskers, Scheffert and Farst came up with the big hits for Nebraska. Scheffert's two-run homer in the third off of Red Raider starter Ben Flora gave Nebraska the lead for good, while Farst capped Nebraska's seven-run outburst in the bottom of the seventh with a three-run homer, his fifth of the season.

DJ Belfonte went 2-for-4 and scored twice, while Cory Burleson also had two hits, to help Nebraska to its second straight win.

(NU 8, TTU 6): Chris Williams fired 2.2 innings of shutout relief, while Nebraska broke a six-all tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh and held on to defeat Texas Tech, 8-6.

Williams had some bad luck in the seventh, but regrouped over the final 2.1 innings, as he faced the minimum en route to picking up his first win. A right-hander from Omaha Westside, he fanned a career-high four hitters without a walk and allowed just one hit against the Red Raiders.

While Williams showed his poise and maturity on the mound, it was a pair of veterans who came through late for the Huskers. DJ Belfonte opened the Husker seventh with a leadoff walk against Scott Erzinger before he stole second with one out and moved to third on a throwing error. Joseph Burnett then uncorked a wild pitch to score Belfonte with the go-ahead run. After a walk to Josh Scheffert, Cody Asche, who went 3-for-3 on the day, ripped a 1-2 pitch into the gap in right center to score Scheffert, giving NU a two-run lead.

Adam Bailey went 2-for-4 with a homer - his 18th of the season - and drove in four runs, while Patric Tolentino had two hits and a pair of RBIs, as the Huskers jumped out to leads to 4-0 and 6-3 before Texas Tech.

(NU 8, TTU 7): Jordan Roualdes struck out Michael Reed with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, preserving Nebraska's 8-7 victory over Texas Tech.

Roualdes, one of six Husker seniors making their last collegiate appearance, entered the game after the Red Raiders pushed across a run and loaded the bases with two outs. The senior left-hander struck out Reed on three pitches, collecting his second save and completing a three-game sweep for the Huskers.

Roualdes' heroics capped an afternoon which saw Nebraska overcome deficits of 4-1 and 6-3, as the Huskers scored three in the seventh to tie the game and used back-to-back eighth-inning homers from Josh Scheffert and Cody Asche to take the lead. 

Scheffert opened the eighth with his fifth homer of the season, a solo shot to left off of Red Raider starter Bobby Doran before Asche greeted Jeremy Mayo with his 10th homer of the season, a line drive shot to right center.  Scheffert, Asche and Adam Bailey all had two hits and two RBIs for the Huskers, while Cade Thompson had a career-high four hits and scored twice in his final appearance as a Husker.

Freshman Ryan Hander pitched a perfect eighth inning to collect his first win of the season

Last Time Out:
Huskers Win Sixth Straight in 13-2 Defeat of UNC
Nebraska (16-7) produced 12 hits from 11 different players and scored six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 13-2 win over Northern Colorado (1-13) on Wednesday afternoon at Hawks Field. The Huskers will take a six-game winning streak, NU's longest since March of 2008, into the Big 12 opener this weekend at Texas Tech.

Nebraska scored 10 runs on 10 hits in the sixth and seventh to stretch its 3-1 lead into a commanding 13-1 advantage heading into the final two innings. Kash Kalkowski, who had a fourth inning single to mark NU's first hit of the day, highlighted the scoring barrage with a line drive 2-run homer to right center field that landed in the first row of the terrace seating. It was the fourth home run of the season for Kalkowski, which gives him the team lead and ranks the Grand Island, Neb., native second in the Big 12 Conference.

The Huskers strung together five straight hits in the sixth inning, including singles from Cody Asche, Kurt Farmer, Chad Christensen and Josh Scheffert. That spurt kept hitting streaks alive for Asche, Christensen and Scheffert, which are all now at nine games.

In the seventh, NU put together a six-run inning, its fifth of the season, with three runs each off UNC relievers Josh Boyer and Kevin Willman. Nebraska batted around the order as leadoff man Michael Pritchard started the inning by reaching on an error, before eventually ending the inning with a pop up RBI single that fell in the infield with the aid of a strong northern wind.

It was a trio of newcomers providing the most offense for Nebraska in the big inning. Freshman Nick Miller tallied his first career hit and RBI on the first pitch he saw from Willman, while redshirt freshman Pat Hirschberg singled through the right side for a 2-RBI hit before Sam Stucky scored Hirschberg with his first career hit and RBI on a single to left.

Nebraska was no-hit through the first three innings by UNC starter Chris Carlberg, but broke though to total double-digit hits for the 14th time this season. Carlberg fell to 0-1 by giving up seven runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. NU starter Dylan Vogt threw the first three innings for the Huskers and left the game in a scoreless tie, while Sean Yost was credited the winner after he threw the fourth and fifth innings and gave up a run on two hits.

The Huskers trailed for a short time as UNC took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. Nebraska responded with a pair in the fourth and one in the fifth, including RBI singles from Kalkowski and Cory Burleson, to take a 3-1 lead heading into the sixth inning.

Leading Off

    -Nebraska will be opening the Big 12 season on the road for the fifth straight year. During that stretch, Nebraska is 6-6, including a sweep at Kansas State in 2008. The Huskers opened the 2007 league slate at Texas Tech and dropped 2-of-3 games.

    -Last year, Nebraska opened the Big 12 season at No. 2 Texas and dropped 2-of-3 to the Longhorns.

    -Nebraska is on a six-game winning streak, which marks NU's longest since March of 2008. That team won 14 in a row from Feb. 29 to March 18.

    -This will be Nebraska's third trip to the state of Texas in the past five weeks. In all, the Huskers will have traveled 5,030 round-trip miles to the Lone Star State.

To Watch

Asche Among Big 12, National Leaders
Cody Asche enters the weekend as the Big 12's leader in doubles with 14, while also ranking third with 22 RBIs. Asche is on pace to reach NU's single-season top 10 double list.

    NU Single-Season Doubles Top 10

    1.   26    Jed Morris    2002

          26    Mike Duncan 1985

    3.   24    Derek Dukart  1994

          24    Burt Beattie    1986

    5.   23    Justin Cowan 2000

    6.   22    Seven Tied   

Asche is the team leader with 22 RBIs and 12 multiple-hit games. He had all three homers in a four-game stretch from March 13-18. In the last 16 games, he is hitting .348 and has only been held without a hit twice.

A native of O'Fallon, Mo., Asche was a 2010 honorable-mention All-Big 12 selction as he hit .311 with 10 homers.

Hauptman, Freeman Lead NU Pitching Staff
Nebraska's pitching staff is enjoying some of its best success in recent years. The Huskers are holding opponents to a .245 batting average with a 3.23 ERA. Both numbers would be the best NU has seen since the 2006 season.

Leading the way are a pair of seniors, Matt Freeman and Casey Hauptman, who rank first and fifth in the Big 12 with ERA's lower than 1.00. Freeman (3-1, 0.63) will start Friday's league opener at Texas Tech, while Hauptman is a reliable option out of the bullpen. He has 29 strikeouts and only one walk this season, which was an intentional pass. Opponents are hitting just .198 on Hauptman, which ranks eighth in the Big 12 Conference.

In the last 23 games, Nebraska relievers have held the opponent to one run or less 16 times. In the final three innings this season, NU has allowed only a total of 16 runs. Due in large part to the strong relief pitching, the Huskers are 11-0 when leading after six innings.

Huskers Focus on Strong Defense
Nebraska ranks fourth in the Big 12 in team fielding with a .974 percentage. The Huskers have only had multiple errors one time in the past 11 games. The infield, anchored by sophomores Chad Christensen (SS) and Bryan Peters (2B), has led NU in turning 12 groundball double plays.   

If Nebraska maintains its strong defense, it could be NU's highest fielding percentage since 2006 (.974).

Kalkowski Makes Smooth Transition to Hitting
One of Nebraska's best bats has been a surprise to opponents this season, as Kash Kalkowski enters the weekend ranked 14th in the Big 12 with a .356 batting average (21-for-59). The sophomore had a 12-game hit streak snapped last Wednesday night at Kansas State. He ranks second on the team with 21 RBIs, while holding the team home run lead with four, which ties him for second in the Big 12. His first home run was a grand slam on opening weekend, while he added a game-tying solo shot March 5 against UCLA.

Kalkowski has been at his best in clutch situations, as he leads NU in 2-out situations with a .419 average

A native of Grand Island, Neb., Kalkowski sat out last season following shoulder surgery. A two-way prep standout, Kalkowski was orginally expected to have a primary pitching role for the Huskers until two shoulder surgeries in 2009 and 2010.

Husker Comebacks Highlight Young Season
Nebraska has had seven come-from-behind victories this season, including the last three in a row in wins over North Dakota and Northern Colorado. The Huskers have 132 come-from-behind wins under Mike Anderson since 2003.              

NU had 10 come-from-behind wins last season, including overcoming a 10-run deficit against North Dakota on March 30 and a four-run deficit against Southeast Missouri State on May 8.

Farmer Finds His Groove in Sophomore Season
First baseman Kurt Farmer played in only 15 games last year, but has quickly developed into one of Nebraska's best bats. The Columbus, Neb., native holds the team's second-highest batting average at .342 and has started all 23 games at first base. He is hitting a team-best .457 with runners on base and a solid .333 in two-out situations.

The week of March 14-20, Farmer helped lead Nebraska to a 4-1 mark by hitting .435 (10-for-23) with a team-best 12 RBIs. Farmer's week was highlighted by a seventh inning grand slam Saturday afternoon that boosted the Huskers to a 10-4 come-from-behind win. The sophomore homered again Sunday as part of a 3-for-5 day with three RBIs in NU's 8-6 victory. Farmer posted an efficient .500 (7-of-14) batting average with runners on base while also extending his hit streak to a team-best seven games.

Husker Offense Thrives in Middle Innings
Nebraska has thrived in the middle innings this season, scoring 69 percent of its runs from the third to seventh innings.  The Huskers' have scored 31 of their 156 runs in the seventh frame, while also adding 25 in the third.

NU Succeeds with Productive Bats
The Huskers are 86-10 dating back to 2008 when they out-hit an opponent and have won 90 percent of their games since 2003 when out-hitting an opponent. Last season, NU was 25-4 when out-hitting opponents. The Huskers are also 31-9 when reaching double-figures in hits, but just 5-22 when held to nine hits or less.

The Huskers are undefeated at 14-0 this season when outhitting the opposition.

Huskers Taking Free Bases
The Huskers have been hit by 42 pitches this season and ranked seventh nationally in the category when the first NCAA rankings were released Tuesday. Kash Kalkowski has been plunked a team-leading 12 times, including six in the past four games, followed by Bryan Peters and Kurt Farmer with seven each. Farmer was hit six times alone in the first four games of the season.

Noting the Season

    -The NU pitching staff went toe-to-toe with possibly the nation's best staff March 4-6 when it met UCLA, which boasts 2010 All-Americans Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer. The Huskers were up to the task, posting a 1.32 ERA and .164 batting average against the 2010 national runner-up.

    Nebraska relievers gave up only two runs in the series, as Dylan Vogt and Casey Hauptman earned wins in games two and three. Vogt may have been most impressive, as he no hit the Bruins in his five-inning appearance in game two.

    -Following its series win over then-No. 5 UCLA, Nebraska cracked Collegiate Baseball's national rankings at No. 29 the week of March 7. It marked the first time the Huskers had been ranked since June of 2008 when NU finished the season 41-15-1 and hosted an NCAA Regional.

    -The Huskers had back-to-back walk-off wins over UCLA. Bryan Peters' game-winning hits gave Nebraska its first back-to-back walk-off victories since 2003 when Matt Hopper and Brandon Fusilier did so against Missouri. Peters' walk-off homer was the first by a Husker since Craig Corriston gave NU a 4-2 victory over Oklahoma on March 21, 2008.

    -Nebraska and UCLA played a total of 34 innings in the three-game series March 4-6. It marked the first time in school history Nebraska has ever played three straight extra inning affairs.

    -Freshman Jon Keller became just the fifth Husker freshman to earn a start on opening week since 1999, and the second to collect a win during that stretch after current NU pitcher Tom Lemke did so in 2010. Keller threw six shutout innings against Air Force on Feb. 19 to earn the win.

    -Kale Kiser's five-hit day against Missouri State on Feb. 20 marked the seventh time a player has had at least five hits in a game under Mike Anderson. Kyle Bubak had most recently done so on Feb. 26, 2010 against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi. Before that, it had not happened since 2007.

    -Nebraska's 36 runs on 51 hits were the highest offensive totals the Huskers have put up on opening weekend since 2004 when NU  the Huskers totaled 53 runs at the Ultimate Dugout Baseball Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M. Since then, no NU team had more than 22 runs on opening weekend over the past six years. Additionally, despite the newly certified BBCOR bats, which have projected a downgrade in power in college baseball, the Huskers homered four times in San Marcos, marking the most round-trippers on opening weekend since 2006. Josh Scheffert's solo shot in the Nebraska's fourth at-bat of the season was the quickest home run in over a decade. The Husker bats did not produce any home runs last weekend in Huntsville, although had several long fly balls reach the warning track.

    -Kash Kalkowski and Kale Kiser gave Nebraska grand slams in back-to-back wins over Washington and Missouri State on Feb. 19 and 20. It was the quickest back-to-back grand slams since April 18, 2000 when Dan Wright and Jeff Leise each did so in NU's 19-6 win over Western Illinois at Buck Beltzer Stadium.

Huskers Announce 2011 Television Schedule
The Nebraska Athletic Department and Nebraska Educational Television have announced that five Husker home baseball games will be carried live on NET this spring. Two of those contests will be simulcast nationally on CBS College Sports, while NET and CBS College Sports will also televise the April 19 matchup at Creighton, the first game at the new TD Ameritrade Park.

The television schedule begins Saturday, April 2, as the Huskers host the Big 12 home opener against Oklahoma State at Hawks Field at 2:05 p.m. It is the first of five home games on the schedule, as NU's contests with Creighton (Tuesday, April 5, 6:35 p.m.), Baylor (Saturday, April 30, 2:05 p.m.), Texas (Friday, May 6, 6:35 p.m.) and Missouri (Saturday, May 21, 3:05 p.m.) will also be carried live. Both televised games against Creighton and the regular-season finale against Missouri will be simulcast nationally on CBS College Sports.

2011 Nebraska Baseball Television Schedule
Sat., April 2 - Oklahoma State at Nebraska - 2:05 p.m. (NET)
Tues., April 5 - Creighton at Nebraska - 6:35 p.m. (NET/CBS CS)
Tues., April 19 - Nebraska at Creighton - 6:30 p.m. (NET/CBS CS)
Sat., April 30 - Baylor at Nebraska - 2:05 p.m. (NET)
Fri., May 6 - Texas at Nebraska - 6:35 p.m. (NET)
Sat., May 21 - Missouri at Nebraska - 3:05 p.m. (NET/CBS CS)

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 nearly 1,250 career wins. Anderson, who is in his eighth season, has 307 wins entering the 2011 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.

Join the Husker Home Run Club at Oklahoma
The Husker Home Run Club is sponsoring a bus trip to Norman, Okla., to support the baseball team against Big 12-preseason favorite Oklahoma on Friday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23.

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.