Huskers Head West for Tony Gwynn Classic

Friday, Feb. 26 (8 p.m. CT)
Probable Starters: RHP Howell (0-0) vs. LHP Conyers (0-1)
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: WCCSports.com
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Lincoln – 1400 AM  |  Omaha – 590 AM)

Saturday, Feb. 27 (3 p.m. CT)
Probable Starters: RHP King (0-1) vs. TBA (Arizona or Tulane)
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: CampusInsiders.com
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Lincoln – 1400 AM  |  Omaha – 590 AM)

Sunday, Feb. 28 (TBA)
Probable Starters: RHP Engelken (0-1) vs. TBA (San Diego State, Kentucky, Bryant, UC Santa Barbara)
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: None
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Lincoln – 1400 AM  |  Omaha – 105.9 FM)

Lincoln - The Nebraska baseball team (1-2, 0-0 Big Ten) will make its first of two trips to California this season when it heads to San Diego, Calif., for the inaugural Tony Gwynn Classic. The Huskers will be on the West Coast next weekend as well for a three-game series at Long Beach State.

The Huskers are part of an eight-team field this weekend. NU is joined by San Diego, San Diego State, Tulane, Kentucky, Arizona, Bryant and UC Santa Barbara. Games will take place at Fowler Park (University of San Diego) and Tony Gwynn Stadium (San Diego State).

Nebraska opens play on Friday night at 8 p.m. (CT) against San Diego at Fowler Park and the Huskers will then play Arizona or Tulane at Fowler Park on Saturday at 3 p.m. (CT). Sunday’s game will be against a team from the other side of the bracket (San Diego State, Kentucky, Bryant, UC Santa Barbara) and could be at either stadium. If Nebraska wins on Friday and Saturday, it will play at Tony Gwynn Stadium in Sunday’s championship game at Noon (CT).

Fans can listen to Greg Sharpe and Ben McLaughlin call all the action on the Husker Sports Network this weekend, including on Huskers.com and the Official Husker App. All three games can be heard in Lincoln on 1400 AM. Friday and Saturday’s game can be heard on 590 AM in Omaha, while Sunday’s game will be on 105.9 FM. TuneIn Radio is scheduled to carry Friday and Saturday’s games, but will not carry Sunday’s game due to Nebraska women’s basketball.

Howell’s New Role
Colton Howell had the opportunity to pursue professional baseball after the end of the 2015 season when he was selected in the 27th round of the MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. The O’Fallon, Mo., native turned down the Padres and instead returned to Nebraska for his senior year in 2016.

During the offseason Howell worked on transitioning from a reliever to a starter and made his first career start last Friday in Charleston, S.C. Howell went a career-high 5.0 innings and didn’t allow a run on one hit and two walks, while striking out four. Howell is scheduled to start on Friday night at San Diego.

During his first three years at Nebraska, Howell made 47 appearances on the mound, all out of the bullpen. Last season he notched a 2.08 ERA and two saves, while posting career highs in innings pitched (30.1) and appearances (25).

Get a Lead for the Bullpen
During Darin Erstad’s tenure at Nebraska, the Husker bullpen has done its job when it has a lead.

Led by pitching coach Ted Silva, the Huskers are 105-14 since the start of the 2012 season when they lead after the sixth inning. The Huskers are 110-8 when leading after seven innings and are nearly perfect when leading after eight innings with a 119-4 record.

The last time the Huskers lost a game when leading going into the ninth inning was March 21, 2014, in Iowa City, Iowa. The Huskers held a 1-0 leading going into the bottom of the ninth, but the Hawkeyes rallied for a 2-1 walk-off victory.

Year      Lead after 6       After 7        After 8
2012                31-5          29-3           31-2
2013                20-3          25-2           28-1
2014                28-3          27-1           31-1
2015                26-3          28-2           28-0
2016                 0-0            1-0            1-0
Total            105-14         110-8         119-4

Golden Spikes Watch List
Junior outfielder Ryan Boldt was one of 50 players named to USA Baseball’s preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list on Tuesday, Feb. 16. Boldt has already been named a preseason All-American by multiple publications and is ranked as the #13 college prospect for the 2016 MLB Draft by Baseball America.

Boldt was one of three Big Ten players named to the watch list, joining Michigan’s Carmen Benedetti and Maryland’s Mike Shawaryn.

Alex Gordon is the only Husker to ever win the Golden Spikes Award, as he won the Golden Spikes, Brooks Wallace and Dick Howser Awards in 2005, and he was also named ABCA Player of the Year. Two other Huskers have been finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, including Darin Erstad (1995) and Ken Harvey (1999).

Count on Chesnut
Senior Jeff Chesnut enters the weekend with 64 career appearances, including 31 last season. His 31 appearances in 2015 are tied for sixth on Nebraska’s single-season chart.

Chesnut needs six appearances more appearances this year to tie Jarod Bearinger (1996-99) and John Lepley (1985-88) for ninth place on NU’s career list.

Steve Hale holds the school record with 87 career appearances from 1999-2003.

Boldt Keeps hitting
Ryan Boldt broke onto the collegiate scene as a freshman in 2014 with a .311 average and 74 hits. He avoided a sophomore slump in 2015 by hitting .344 with 75 hits.

Boldt needs 50 more hits this season to become the 24th player in school history with 200 career hits.

Just a junior, Boldt would be just the 15th player to reach the mark in three seasons, and the first since his cousin, Pat Kelly, notched 212 hits from 2012-14.

Other Huskers who have reached 200 or more hits in three seasons include: Darin Erstad (261), Paul Meyers (250), Matt Hooper (249), Mark Kister (242), Alex Gordon (240), Todd Sears (234), Ken Ramos (229), Curtis Ledbetter (223), John Cole (222), Jeff Leise (217), Pat Kelly (212), Will Bolt (205), Ken Harvey (203), Francis Collins (201).

Sophomore Class Contributes
The Huskers are expecting contributions from their sophomore class this season, especially on offense. Four players, including Jake Meyers, Scott Schreiber, Luis Alvarado and Elijah Dilday, each started at least two games last weekend, and three of the four started every game in Charleston.

Of the team’s 27 hits, 12 runs and 10 RBIs last weekend, the foursome accounted for 13 hits, five runs and four RBIs.

New Blood on the Mound
Multiple newcomers saw time last weekend on the mound in Charleston, as five true freshman time in a relief role.

Three of the five pitched at least 1.0 inning of scoreless relief, including Chad Luensmann, who threw 2.0 scoreless innings in Friday night’s 4-0 season-opening shutout.

Noting the 2016 season

* 12 games against 2015 NCAA Tournament teams (could increase depending on matchups at the Tony Gwynn Classic)
- 3 at College of Charleston (Feb. 19-21)
- 3 vs. Illinois (April 1-3)
- 3 at Michigan (April 15-17)
- 3 vs. Indiana (May 19-21)

* Nebraska’s 55-game schedule consists of  27 home games, 23 road games and 5 neutral site games

* Nebraska will play eight Big Ten Conference series (4 home/4 road)
- Home series: Illinois, Northwestern, Penn State, Indiana
- Road series: Purdue, Michigan, Rutgers, Michigan State

* Nebraska’s Big Ten series at Michigan State will mark the second time the teams have met in East Lansing since NU joined the Big Ten. The teams have never played a series in Lincoln, but have met six times, with three of the meetings coming at the Big Ten Tournament.

* For the first time since 2010, the Huskers won’t play a non-conference game against a team that played in the College World Series the previous season.

* Nebraska and Kansas are set to play a midweek game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on Wednesday, April 27.

* The Huskers end the season with seven-straight home games. The last time Nebraska hosted seven or more games to end a season was 2009 when NU played its final 11 games of the season at Hawks Field.

Wilkening with a Nice Welcome
Freshman catcher Jesse Wilkening was picked in the 28th round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, but the Cedar Lake, Ind., native turned down professional baseball to join the Huskers. He ended his career at Hanover Central High School as the Indiana state record holder in career hits with 206.

Wilkening made his Husker debut on Saturday, Feb. 20, and roped a double in his second career at bat. He was even better in his fourth at bat, as he launched a two-run home run to left field. It marked the first time a Husker had hit a home run in their first career game since Tanner Lubach homered in the 2013 season opener at CSU Bakersfield. It was also the first time a freshman had homered in their debut since 2010 when Chad Christensen did it against Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Feb. 26.

Road Warriors
The Huskers will play nine-straight games away from Lincoln to start the year. Nebraska played 13 (7-6) straight games on the road last year, after playing 10 (5-5) in 2014 and seven (0-7) in 2013. In Head Coach Darin Erstad’s first season in 2012 the Huskers started the year with 10 straight road games and went 6-4.

The last time the Huskers opened the season at home was 1990, when NU hosted Kearney at Feb. 11 at Buck Beltzer Field.

Reveles Returns
Steven Reveles was 16 games into his senior season in 2015 when he broke his finger attempting a bunt against Michigan on March 20. The shortstop ended up missing the rest of the season and was granted a medical hardship, giving him another shot at his senior year in 2016.

To be eligible for a medical hardship Reveles needed to have played in no more than 30% of NU’s  regular-season games for the year and it had to take place in the first half of the season. Reveles’ game total was 29.1%, if he had played in one more game he would have went over 30% and would not have been eligible to apply for a medical hardship.

Reveles started two of NU’s three games last weekend in Charleston and hit his first career home run in the ninth inning of Sunday’s series finale.

McSteen Back on the Mound
Jake McSteen was issued a medical hardship in 2015 after he had season-ending shoulder surgery following the third week of the regular season.

Last Sunday in Charleston the redshirt freshman made his first appearance since Feb. 27, 2015 and he was impressive on the mound, as he didn’t allow a run on two hits over a career-high 3.1 innings.

New Face at First
Fans will see a new face coaching first base in 2016, as Brad Smith will be the Huskers’ volunteer assistant coach this season. Smith is not new to the program though, as he has served as a graduate manager each of the past for seasons.

A three-time All-MIAA selection at Pittsburgh State, Smith works with Nebraska’s infielders. Smith was a .383 career hitter and led Division II in doubles per game during the 2006 season with 22 in 42 games.

Smith takes over for Jeff Christy, who took a full-time assistant coach position at Central Oklahoma after serving as NU’s volunteer coach the last four seasons. Christy works with the Bronchos’ pitchers, catchers and is the team’s recruiting coordinator.

Burkamper Out
Prior to the start of the 2016 season, Head Coach Darin Erstad announced that Derek Burkamper will be suspended for the first two weeks of the season for a violation of team rules.

Burkamper was NU’s Sunday starter last year. He was third on the team with 65.2 innings over 12 starts.

Huskers in MLB
A total of 19 former Huskers were part of a Major League organization in 2015, including five that are currently at the MLB level.

MLB
Cody Asche - Phillies
Alex Gordon - Royals
Dan Jennings - White Sox
Michael Mariot - Phillies
Tony Watson - Pirates

Minor Leagues
Andrew Brown - Angels
Aaron Bummer - White Sox
Joba Chamberlain - Indians
Chad Christensen - Twins
Brian Duensing - Royals
Blake Headley - Cubs
Zach Hirsch - Brewers
Dan Johnson - Cardinals
Pat Kelly - Twins
Kyle Kubat - Royals
Tanner Lubach - Angels
Michael Pritchard - Cardinals
Josh Roeder - Yankees
Thad Weber - Tigers

Draft History
Eight members of the 2016 Husker baseball team have previously been drafted:

Luis Alvarado - 2014 (Boston Red Sox, 33rd Round)
Ryan Boldt - 2013 (Boston Red Sox, 22nd Round)
Derek Burkamper - 2013 (Boston Red Sox, 20th Round)
Sean Chandler - 2015 (Milwaukee Brewers, 32nd Round)
Colton Howell - 2015 (San Diego Padres, 27th Round)
Garett King - 2014 (New York Mets, 36th Round)
Chad Luensmann - 2015 (New York Mets, 39th Round)
Jesse Wilkening - 2015 (Arizona Diamondbacks, 28th Round)