Huskers Host Oklahoma State in First Big 12 Home Series

Date     Date    Opponent                     Radio                   Internet        TV   Time/Result
Friday   April 1 vs. Oklahoma State (19-6) (3-3)                  Husker Sports Network Huskers.com                    6:35 p.m.

Saturday April 2 vs. Oklahoma State Husker Sports Network Huskers.com        NET       2:05 p.m.

Sunday April 3 vs. Oklahoma State        Husker Sports Network              Huskers.com        1:05 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: Huskers.com with paid subscription Friday and Sunday; Free NET stream on Saturday

Television: Saturday on NET-1 (Ch. 12 in Lincoln) and NET-HD (Ch. 112 in Lincoln)

Promotions: Hometown Husker Day (Friday-Omaha, Saturday-Columbus, Sunday-Grand Island)

Probable Starting Pitchers
Day        Nebraska                             Oklahoma State
Friday    Matt Freeman, Sr., RHP (4-1, 1.77)   Mike Strong, Sr., LHP (2-0, 1.05)    
Saturday Jon Keller, Fr., RHP (2-2, 2.70)  Brad Propst, Sr., RHP (4-1, 1.51)
Sunday  Dylan Vogt, So., RHP (1-0, 3.75)       Andrew Heaney, So., LHP (3-1, 2.65)

This Week: Nebraska continues a five-game homestand by hosting its first Big 12 series at Hawks Field, as the Huskers welcome Oklahoma State. Friday's game will be the first night game of the season and is set for 6:35 p.m., with afternoon games to be played Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05 p.m.)

Promotions: Nebraska will honor and recognize several in-state players this weekend with Husker Hometown Husker Days for Omaha (Friday), Columbus (Saturday) and Grand Island (Sunday).

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.

Television: Saturday's game vs. Oklahoma State will be the first of five home games televised on NET this season. The NET television stream will also be available on Huskers.com.

On the Radio: Fans across Nebraska and around the world can listen to Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle 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 four games this week by purchasing a Huskers NSide subscription on Huskers.com.

Preview: Nebraska (18-9, 1-2) will play its second league series of the season this weekend against Oklahoma State (19-6, 3-3), as the Huskers look to make a move up the conference standings. Last week in Lubbock, NU defeated Texas Tech on Friday night and was looking for a road series victory before dropping the next two contests. The Cowboys are .500 in Big 12 play as they upset No. 4 Texas in Stillwater last weekend after dropping a series at Kansas.

Kash Kalkowski and Cody Asche, two of the Big 12's top hitters, will face an Oklahoma State pitching staff that ranks second in the Big 12 with a 2.18 ERA. Kalkowski is third in the league with a .410 batting average, while Asche is hitting .349 and leads the nation with 17 doubles. His playing status remains in question after he suffered a concussion Sunday at Texas Tech.

3 Things to Watch
1. Nebraska, who will face an OSU pitching staff that holds a 2.18 ERA, has three players in the top 15 in Big 12 batting average (Kash Kalkowski-3rd, Kurt Farmer-12th, Cody Asche-14th).

2. Nebraska ranks fourth nationally in hit by pitches with 46. Kash Kalkowski ranks third individually in the category as he has been plunked 12 times.

3. Cody Asche carries a team-best 12-game hit streak into this weekend. His status is in question after a concussion in Sunday's game at Texas Tech. He leads the NCAA with 17 doubles.

Scouting Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are looking to rebound from last year's 10th place league finish and are off to a solid start after upsetting No. 4 Texas in a series win March 25-27. Led by eighth-year head coach Frank Anderson, Oklahoma State is 19-6 overall with a 3-3 conference mark, as it dropped 2-of-3 at Kansas the first week of league play.

Dane Phillips leads OSU with a .419 batting average and .460 on-base percentage while batting second in the order. The sophomore catcher ranks second with 20 RBIs behind Zach Johnson, who ranks first on the team with 25. Newcomers Gabe Weidenaar and Chris Marlowe were each named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week in early March. Weidenaar is the Cowboys' leadoff hitting and is batting .341 while Marlowe has come out of the bullpen for 11 appearances and holds a 3.04 ERA with a 1-2 record and team-best 40 strikeouts.

Right hander Brad Propst has been the top OSU starter, compiling a 4-1 record with a 1.51 ERA. Left handers Mike Strong (2-0, 1.04) and Andrew Heaney (3-1, 2.65) join Propst to make up the weekend rotation.

Series History: Oklahoma State holds a 115-75 lead in the all-time series. The Cowboys won last year's series in Stillwater after the Huskers took the 2009 set in Lincoln. Not team has swept the series sicne Nebraska did so in 2005.

Head Coach Frank Anderson, a Grant, Neb., native played under current NU assistant Dave Bingham at Emporia State.

Last Time Out:
Huskers Take Midweek Game Over Doane
Kash Kalkowski went 3-for-4 and Kurt Farmer drove in four runs as Nebraska (18-9) won its ninth straight home game in a 6-1 victory over Doane (16-8) on Wednesday afternoon at Hawks Field. The game was a rescheduled contest from March 8 when it was postponed due to inclement weather.

Kalkowski improved his season batting average to .410 with this fifth consecutive multiple hit game by singling in three of his four at bats. Farmer went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, including a 2-out, 2-RBI single up the middle in the seventh that helped NU double its 3-0 lead to 6-0 through seven innings.

"There is a little different style," head coach Mike Anderson said. "I thought our guys were a little over aggressive. Some got themselves into some trouble that way and (then) they got themselves out, but that is part of what happens sometimes on a Tuesday and Wednesday. I was ok with it, I felt good about the day."

All eight of Nebraska's hits were singles, as NU saw seven Tiger pitchers. Doane starter Jacob Bartek (0-1) took the loss by allowing two runs on one hit in two innings of work, while Nebraska starter Tyler Niederklein (3-1) earned his third win of the season in a pre-determined outing. Niederklein did not give up any hits and struck out four of the six batters he faced in the first two innings, while five other Husker hurlers combined to keep the Tigers in check the final seven innings.

"I thought our pitching staff did what they needed to do," Anderson added. "I'm pleased that we scored runs early. That's what I think has to happen on a Wednesday. You start to feel comfortable; you start to do the things that you want to do. This was a good opportunity for us. Doane is a class program, Jeremy Jorgensen does a great job, and I told them we would invite them back, so it's a good day."

Nebraska struck early as Kale Kiser was walked and Bryan Peters got hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first. Kalkowski, who moved up to the 3 hole with the absence of third baseman Cody Asche, then blooped an RBI single into right field. Farmer then brought in Peters for the second run on a sacrifice fly to right field and then drove in the third run of the game in the third inning with an RBI single to center.

Asche missed his first game of the season after he suffered a concussion in the fifth inning of Sunday's game at Texas Tech. His status remains day-to-day. Farmer started at third base for the first time this season, while Josh Scheffert moved from right field to first base. With Asche's absence, Michael Pritchard earned his sixth start of the season.

Leading Off

    -The Huskers have won nine of 14 Big 12 opening home series since the league's inception in 1996-97. Nebraska is 27-14-1 in those games, including a 15-8-1 mark at Hawks Field.

    -Nebraska is looking to continue a nine-game home winning streak. Nebraska has not lost at Hawks Field since March 12. The Big Red is 12-3 at home this season with all three losses coming against ranked teams. The Huskers played 15 home games last month.

    -Kash Kalkowski is coming off an 8-for-13 (.615) weekend at Texas Tech, while he also went . Cody Asche was 7-for-12 (.583) in Lubbock.

    -Nebraska scored 15 runs last Friday night in the 15-5 Big 12 opening win at Texas Tech. It marked the most runs the Huskers have scored in a Big 12 road game since March 30, 2002 in a 22-6 victory at Kansas State.

    -Kurt Farmer and Josh Scheffert both enter the Oklahoma State series having reached base in 13 straight games.

    -Chad Christensen had one of his best series against the Cowboys last season, as he hit .462 (6-for-13) with one home run and two RBIs.

To Watch
Asche Among Big 12, National Leaders
Cody Asche enters the week as the national leader in doubles with 17, while also ranking second in the Big 12 with 29 RBIs and five home runs. Asche is on pace to set NU's single-season record for doubles, which is 26 set by Jed Morris (2002) and Mike Duncan (1985).

Asche is the team leader with 29 RBIs and 15 multiple-hit games. He has hit all five homers since March 13. In the last 10 games, he is hitting .487 with 14 RBIs while putting together a 12-game hit streak.

Asche's longest hit streak of 2010 was 12 games, making him the first Husker since Alex Gordon (2004 and 2005) to put together at least a 12-game hit streak in consecutive seasons.

A native of 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 holding opponents to a .244 batting average and holds a 3.48 ERA.

Leading the way are a pair of seniors, Casey Hauptman and Matt Freeman. Hauptman ranks eighth in Big 12 pitching with a 1.48 ERA. His most impressive statistics is walks allowed, where he ranks fourth nationally by allowing just 0.3 walks per nine innings. Freeman is 10th in the Big 12 with a 1.77 ERA, although he led the league with a 0.63 ERA heading into last week's series at Texas Tech.

Opponents are hitting just .198 on Hauptman, which ranks eighth in the Big 12 Conference.

In the last 27 games, Nebraska relievers have held the opponent to one run or less 19 times. Due in large part to the strong relief pitching, the Huskers are 12-0 when leading after six innings.

Huskers Focus on Strong Defense
Nebraska ranks third in the Big 12 in team fielding with a .976 percentage. The Huskers have only had multiple errors one time in the past 15 games. The infield, anchored by sophomores Chad Christensen (SS) and Bryan Peters (2B), has led NU in turning 13 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 third in the Big 12 with a .410 batting average (34-for-83). The sophomore had a 12-game hit streak snapped March 16 at Kansas State, but he has regained form, including a stellar 8-for-13 series at Texas Tech last weekend. He ranks second on the team with 24 RBIs and four homers. 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 .438 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 Season
Nebraska has had seven come-from-behind victories this season, including three in a row in wins over North Dakota and Northern Colorado from March 20-23. 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 .351 and he is one of four Huskers to have started all 27 games. He is hitting .478 with runners on base and .424 with runners in scoring position.

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 March 19 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 seven games.

Husker Offense Thrives in Middle Innings
Nebraska has thrived in the middle innings this season, scoring 60 percent of its runs from the third to seventh innings.  The Huskers' have scored 54 runs in the third frame, while also hitting strong in the seventh with 49 runs.

NU Succeeds with Productive Bats
The Huskers are 88-11 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 32-10 when reaching double-figures in hits, but just 6-23 when held to nine hits or less.

The Huskers are 15-1 this season when outhitting the opposition, with the only loss coming March 27 at Texas Tech.

Huskers Taking Free Bases
The Huskers have been hit by 48 pitches this season and rank fourth nationally in that category. Kash Kalkowski has been plunked a team-leading 12 times, which ranks him third individually in the NCAA. Kurt Farmer ranks second on the team with nine after he was hit six times alone in the first four games of the season.

Freshmen King, Pierce Quietly Strong in Bullpen
A pair of freshmen hurlers have given the Huskers quality depth in the bullpen with the additions of left hander Tyler King and right thander Brandon Pierce.

King has posted a 1.84 ERA and ranks second on the team with 11 appearances behind Casey Hauptman. The Republic, Mo., native has only given up a run in two of his 11 appearances while throwing 14.2 innings.

Pierce, who is 0-1 with a 5.60 ERA, was used as a starter through the majority of March, but has shown his best performances as a reliever. When coming out of the bullpen, the Gunter, Texas native has allowed only two runs in 6.1 innings. He has struck out 21 hitters in only 17.1 innings this 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 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.

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.