Huskers Meet Wichita State for Tuesday Night Road Battle

Date      Date      Opponent                Radio                 Internet Audio                             Time/Result

Tuesday April 12 at Wichita State (21-13)                      Husker Sports Network Huskers.com                        6:30 p.m.

Friday    April 15 vs. Kansas State (18-12, 4-8)               Husker Sports Network Huskers.com                        6:35 p.m.

Saturday April 16 vs. Kansas State       Husker Sports Network          Huskers.com             3:05 p.m.

Sunday  April 17 vs. Kansas 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: GoShockers.com (subscription required)

Television: Kansas Now 22 (statewide in Kansas), Cox Communications Ch. 2 (in Omaha), Time Warner Cable Metro Sports Ch. 232 (in Nebraska)

Probable Starting Pitchers

Day        Nebraska                             Wichita State

Tuesday Tyler Niederklein, So., RHP (4-1, 4.22)            Zach Beringer, Fr., RHP (1-1, 3.71)

This Week: Nebraska has traveled south after a road series at Kansas and will take on Wichita State in a Tuesday night non-conference match at Eck Stadium at 6:30 p.m. The Huskers will return home from the four-game road swing this weekend to host Kansas State at Hawks Field, ending a string of seven straight games against opponents from the Sunflower State.

Tickets: Single-game tickets for Tuesday night's game at Wichita State can be purchased online at goshockers.com or on game day at the Eck Stadium ticket office. Ticket prices range from $8-12.

Live Video: Fans can watch Tuesday night's game between Nebraska and Wichita State by purchasing a monthly subscription to ShockerVision on goshockers.com.

Television: Tuesday night's game will be televised by Kansas Now 22, Omaha's Cox Communications (Ch. 2) and Time Warner Cable's Metro Sports (Ch. 232 in Nebraska)

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.

Preview: The Huskers (21-13, 3-6) are looking to get back on the winning track after dropping 2-of-3 at Kansas over the weekend. Nebraska will be playing its third game against a Missouri Valley Conference opponent this season, as it has previously defeated Missouri State and Creighton.

Junior third baseman Cody Asche continues to pace the Big 12 in nearly every major offensive category, as he leads the league in home runs (9), doubles (18) and RBIs (Tied-41). He also ranks ninth in the conference with a .348 batting average, just ahead of teammates Kash Kalkowski (12th, .342) and Kurt Farmer (13th).

Nebraska and Wichita State have met every year since 2000. The home team has won the past five meetings, as the last road victory in the series occurred in 2005 when the Huskers took a 4-2 win in Wichita. The Huskers defeated the Shockers last year in Lincoln, 14-0, while Wichita State tabbed a 9-7 comeback win in the last matchup at Eck Stadium in 2009.

Tyler Niederklein will make his seventh start of the season Tuesday night. The Omaha, Neb., native is 4-1 with a 4.22 ERA after picking up the win last week against Creighton. Niederklein earned the win in last year's win over Wichita State at Hawks Field, throwing 5.0 innings of one-hit ball.

3 THINGS TO WATCH THIS WEEK
1.  Tyler Niederklein took a no-hitter into the sixth inning (5.1) last week against Creighton. He will start Tuesday night at Wichita State.

2.  Cody Asche is hitting .500 (6-for-12) over the past four games with three home runs and nine RBIs. Asche has had five straight multiple RBI games and hit safely in six consecutive contests.

3.  Nebraska has been hit by 64 pitches this season, ranking fourth nationally in the latest NCAA statistics April 5. The Huskers were hit six times in the Kansas series last weekend.

Scouting Wichita State
The Shockers, under the direction of 34th-year Gene Stephenson, head into Tuesday night's game with a 21-13 record. Wichita State opened league play over the weekend and dropped 2-of-3 at Missouri State. The Shockers have five wins over ranked opponents this season, including a two-game sweep of then-No. 11 Arizona on March 15-16 in Wichita. Stephenson's squad returned five starters from last year's team that went 41-19 and won the Missouri Valley Conference title for the fifth straight year.

Chris O'Brien provides the majority of the offensive power for the Shockers, as he leads the team in batting average (.406), RBIs (43) and home runs (5). O'Brien is the only WSU starter hitting over .300. Tyler Grimes is hitting at a .292 clip with 20 RBIs, while Preston Springer holds the third-best average at .286 with 22 RBIs.

Wichita State is one of the nation's most aggressive teams on the basepaths, taking 67-of-76 attempted stolen bases. Grimes has nabbed 19-of-21, while Kevin Hall has taken 18-of-19 and Don Lambert is a perfect 10-of-10.

Freshman right hander Zach Beringer will start Tuesday night against the Huskers. Beringer is 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA. He has 18 strikeouts and 10 walks on the season.

Series History: The all-time series between Nebraska and Wichita State is tied, 21-21. The teams have played annually since a matchup at the 2000 NCAA Minneapolis regional and have had a home-and-home series since 2001. The Huskers have won five of the last seven meetings dating back to 2004, but have not won in Wichita since 2005.

Leading Off

    -Nebraska is looking to take the lead in the all-time series against Wichita State, as the teams have split the previous 42 contests, 21-21. The Huskers are on the end of a six-day road trip after playing a weekend series at Kansas before traveling to Wichita on Sunday night.

    -Former Nebraska catcher Jeff Christy (2005-06) is in his first year as a volunteer assistant coach at Wichita State. Christy, a native of Lincoln, Neb., was the starting catcher in the Huskers' 2005 school-record breaking 57-win that included a victory in the College World Series.

    -Cody Asche is coming off another strong week, as he continues to swing one of the hottest sticks in the nation. Asche produced a .500 batting average (6-for-12) that included three home runs in four games last week. The junior led the Huskers to an 8-5 win over Creighton on Tuesday night with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate while also hitting a 2-run homer. Asche hit .444 (4-for-9) with a pair of homers in Nebraska's weekend series at Kansas as he continued a streak of five straight multiple RBI games. Asche was 1-for-3 with a home run in the Friday and Sunday games, while also going 2-for-3 with a 2-RBI double in Saturday's win.

    -Nebraska had four sacrifice hits in last Tuesday's win over Creighton, matching its highest single-game total since having four against Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 20, 2009. The Huskers rank 27th nationally in sacrifice flies and 49th in sacrifice bunts.

    -Four Huskers have double-digit multiple-hit games this season, led by Cody Asche with 17, followed by Kurt Farmer and Kash Kalkowski with 11. Chad Christensen has nine.

    -Nebraska has had nine 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 134 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.

    -Nebraska has thrived in the middle innings this season, scoring 72 percent of its runs from the third to seventh innings. 

The Huskers' have scored their most in the third inning with 42. NU scored in the third and fifth inning of every game of the Kansas series last weekend.

-The Huskers are 89-11 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 9-27 when held to nine hits or less.

The Huskers are 16-1 this season when outhitting the opposition, with the only loss coming March 27 at Texas Tech.

-Nebraska's bullpen has done impressive work in preserving leads this season, as the Huskers are 16-0 when leading after six innings.