Turn2

Rotation has been announced (via twitter) and is the same rotation as last weekend. Don't know what this means regarding Lemke? Is he available to pitch this weekend or is he still hurt? Regardless, pitching is significantly better and we have more and better options than last year. Because there are more options, the coaches are doing a better job of mixing it up; power pitcher (92-94) on Friday, thumber (pitches off change-up) Saturday, Power (92-96) Sunday. Add Ehlers to this pitching staff in April and we will be even better. Like everyone else, I to am a little worried about the hitting. However, would like to point out a few things for everybody to think about. Last year OU hosted UT and got humbled. Scored 3 runs in 3 games. They were completely dominated by the Texas pitching, yet they made it to CWS and then some. Point being, there aren't that many pitching staffs out their like UCLA's...Darin Erstad said on Sports Nightly last night that both Bauer and Cole have good enough stuff that they could go win an MLB game right now. Facing that pitching last weekend and winning 2 of 3 might be a real positive for this club. I don't care what kind of numbers Fresno State has, they ain't as good as UCLA. Also, if you have some free time, look up the hitting stats of Texas, Texas A&M, Kansas State. Not very good and their level of competition is mediocre to bad (UT mediocre to A&M bad). Oh by the way, Sam Houston State is 11-2 with a 9 game winning streak...includes 7-0 win over Rice last Tuesday. Texas State is 9-3 with a 10-11 loss to Rice and 13-2 win over Baylor and a 4-6 loss to Baylor. Both these teams are pretty good. I think there is a different outcome if we pitch Lemke or Freeman or Keller or Hauptman against these two teams....if's and nut's. Bottom line is they appear to be pretty good and I think over the course of the season this will be proven.

Pitcher you are referring to is Carson Smith and he did not start game against Nebraska. Starting pitcher was Mitchell Pitts and he threw 6 innings. Carson Smith (wasn't suppose to pitch this weekend) pitched the 7th and 8th innings. Wish Carson would have started. He wasn't sharp and we were only 1 or 2 hits away from scoring a lot of runs against him. Kiser hit a ball down the left field line that the left fielder laid out and caught. the ball gets by him and we score a run and Kiser is on 2nd....at least. Mitchell Pitts was a starter last year and had a 4.61 era...respectable.

Kathy Ireland........................................................................................................................................................................................................... done, thank you.

Sounds like the words from a guy who couldn't get in to UT and ended up in San Marcos. TXST is a very average team....at best!!!

Some, on other boards, are saying 30+ games or = to 60% of season. According to MA in the Journal Star, NCAA has not rendered a decision in writing, i.e official decision yet.

Yes a lot of depth and starts are returning, but where is that in terms of a lefty? Logan Ehlers could be brought along just like Johnny Dorn was a freshman. And IMO that is what this staff needs. Logan has the stuff to be a freaking stud. He will be a weekend starter sooner rather than later. The NCAA is screwing this whole deal over. Let's hope they don't twiddle their thumbs too long over this. Hmmm......the Cam Newton deal got resolved real fast now didn't it? Funny what high profile sports and athletes can do to the process. Some pretty high profile staffs last year that didn't have a lefty play a important role in their success; OU, UT, A&M. Came up with these off the top of my head, sure there are more. However, no doubt we need some lefty pitchers that can get outs. Ehlers has a chance to be really good. However, until he pitches we have a lot of options, including other lefties; Hirsh, Levin and King. I saw King throw this fall he will give us some productive innings this year. Difference between those staffs and ours, we don't have the dominant starters that they had. Ehlers is a big deal whether or not you want to admit it man.. He is. We have nobody proven to be dominant for us.. Sure we have potential, but nothing proven.. This is a big deal Huskerhavoc, I have been lurking on this site for more than a year and can't think of anything that I have EVER disagreed with you on....until now. If Ehlers loses some eligibility I hope the players don't have the same attitude as you have. Secondly, Ehlers has never proven anything at the college level either. Therefore, IMO, we aren't losing anything. I have seen Ehlers throw twice, both during the Red & White series last fall. The first time was on Friday and he never made it out of the first inning. The next day they started him again and he threw very well. Very reminecient of Lemke last year...good outing then a bad outing. Ehlers doesn't have dominant enough stuff (Purke, Garrett Cole, Taylor Jungman...95 mph) to just throw. He is going to have to pitch, locate. set-up hitters and not walk people...just like Lemke. No disrespect intended my friend! Just my opinion. I can't disrespect your opinion.. Just as you said, we will differ here. If he isn't eligible this year, I won't throw in the towel by any means, but I think the kid has a lot of potential to be great. To be honest, when I heard all the people on the prep rivals site talking about him during his junior year I was very skeptical.. He was pitching in Nebraska Class B Baseball... which is very, very weak. I never went and saw him pitch in person, but his numbers were eye-opening, even at that level. His position in the draft also just shows how good he can be. Maybe he won't be great this year, but I think he will be as we move on and he gets experience. The longer that experience is delayed, the worse for the team. I agree with you that we still have the ability to do some pretty good things this year, even without Ehlers, I just think losing him will be a big deal. I agree, the delay in his development is a big deal!!! Another message board has mentioned that, a current player told them that Ehlers will be suspended at least half the season. If that is true then he will miss approximately 8 starts...that is a lot. However, if you look at his entire freshman year as development; fall, practice intersquad, season, summer. still should be able to grow without stunting his development.

Yes a lot of depth and starts are returning, but where is that in terms of a lefty? Logan Ehlers could be brought along just like Johnny Dorn was a freshman. And IMO that is what this staff needs. Logan has the stuff to be a freaking stud. He will be a weekend starter sooner rather than later. The NCAA is screwing this whole deal over. Let's hope they don't twiddle their thumbs too long over this. Hmmm......the Cam Newton deal got resolved real fast now didn't it? Funny what high profile sports and athletes can do to the process. Some pretty high profile staffs last year that didn't have a lefty play a important role in their success; OU, UT, A&M. Came up with these off the top of my head, sure there are more. However, no doubt we need some lefty pitchers that can get outs. Ehlers has a chance to be really good. However, until he pitches we have a lot of options, including other lefties; Hirsh, Levin and King. I saw King throw this fall he will give us some productive innings this year. Difference between those staffs and ours, we don't have the dominant starters that they had. Ehlers is a big deal whether or not you want to admit it man.. He is. We have nobody proven to be dominant for us.. Sure we have potential, but nothing proven.. This is a big deal Huskerhavoc, I have been lurking on this site for more than a year and can't think of anything that I have EVER disagreed with you on....until now. If Ehlers loses some eligibility I hope the players don't have the same attitude as you have. Secondly, Ehlers has never proven anything at the college level either. Therefore, IMO, we aren't losing anything. I have seen Ehlers throw twice, both during the Red & White series last fall. The first time was on Friday and he never made it out of the first inning. The next day they started him again and he threw very well. Very reminecient of Lemke last year...good outing then a bad outing. Ehlers doesn't have dominant enough stuff (Purke, Garrett Cole, Taylor Jungman...95 mph) to just throw. He is going to have to pitch, locate. set-up hitters and not walk people...just like Lemke. No disrespect intended my friend! Just my opinion.

Yes a lot of depth and starts are returning, but where is that in terms of a lefty? Logan Ehlers could be brought along just like Johnny Dorn was a freshman. And IMO that is what this staff needs. Logan has the stuff to be a freaking stud. He will be a weekend starter sooner rather than later. The NCAA is screwing this whole deal over. Let's hope they don't twiddle their thumbs too long over this. Hmmm......the Cam Newton deal got resolved real fast now didn't it? Funny what high profile sports and athletes can do to the process. Some pretty high profile staffs last year that didn't have a lefty play a important role in their success; OU, UT, A&M. Came up with these off the top of my head, sure there are more. However, no doubt we need some lefty pitchers that can get outs. Ehlers has a chance to be really good. However, until he pitches we have a lot of options, including other lefties; Hirsh, Levin and King. I saw King throw this fall he will give us some productive innings this year.

No disrespect intended toward Logan, but he hasn't pitched a single inning in college yet. What I mean by that is, We have a lot of pitching depth and would do just fine with or without Logan this year. I expect Logan will miss part of the season. How much of the season is up to the NCAA and whatever facts they uncover I look forward to seeing Logan pitch. He sounds like a great kid and a great prospect.

I detect some frustration. You make great points and I think the majority of the "message board" fans would like to see Anderson gone. However, I don't think that is the opinion of the overall majority. Nebraska will have some talent this year. If Nebraska doesn't at least make it to a regional, then maybe TO should find a different coach. Personally, I think this years team will surprise a lot of folks. GO BIG RED!

i concur. always playing small ball. which is fine usually in later innings. but in the first couple...... it irks me ....why? So does Texas' style of play irk you also? Wish it irked me.... In my opinion, Texas wins because of players and not style of play. Texas style of play is appealing to others because they win. They win because of pitching and defense not because of offense. Offense is very conservative and is based on scoring 1 or 2 runs and winning with pitching and defense. Problem with Texas last year and this year, and in near future, other programs (UCLA, TCU, CAL ST. FULL, FLORIDA, ETC)can match their arms but have better offenses. Texas gets any player they want in Texas...especially pitchers. Their ballpark is pitcher friendly and thus they recruit to that. By the way, Texas is looking for a Sunday starter and a closer. They have plenty of candidates but none that will be as good or better than Brandon Workman or Chance Ruffin last year. Also, Texas projected starting catcher is out for season. Their two candidates will be projected left fielder and a freshman. Both are average to below average defensively. Also, hearing that Cole Green is having motivational issues...will believe that when I see it. Texas may have to rely on freshman more than in past...last time they had to rely on this many freshman was 2008. Oh yeah, Nebraska took two of 3 in Austin that year. The reason they play small ball on offense is because they have the strong pitching and defense... That's what we've tried to have, and it works... That's what I'm saying..... I didn't say Texas' style of offense, I said Texas' style of play.. which includes offense and defense... Yes, I knew what you meant. I understand why someone would prefer that style of play...especially if they knew they could recruit that type of pitching year in and year out. However, I think their are programs that are equally as blessed with pitching but they are more potent offensively or willing to be more aggressive on the bases. Last year, the Tampa Bay Rays were the second highest scoring offense in the American League despite the fact that they had one of the lowest batting averages. Their style of play is what I would like to immulate...Madden coached under Scoissa(?) and that is where he learned. Style is much more than sacrifice bunting. Their style is an aggressive style built around taking the extra base, i.e bunting, stealing, hit and run, 1st to third on a 1B, second to home on an infield ground ball, bunt and run. This stratgey is developed through practice, scouting, team speed, etc. Not saying that Nebraska will beat Texas 2 out of 3 this year (Nebraska has a lot to prove) but Texas is not the same this year and is ripe for the picking....JMO

i concur. always playing small ball. which is fine usually in later innings. but in the first couple...... it irks me ....why? So does Texas' style of play irk you also? Wish it irked me.... In my opinion, Texas wins because of players and not style of play. Texas style of play is appealing to others because they win. They win because of pitching and defense not because of offense. Offense is very conservative and is based on scoring 1 or 2 runs and winning with pitching and defense. Problem with Texas last year and this year, and in near future, other programs (UCLA, TCU, CAL ST. FULL, FLORIDA, ETC)can match their arms but have better offenses. Texas gets any player they want in Texas...especially pitchers. Their ballpark is pitcher friendly and thus they recruit to that. By the way, Texas is looking for a Sunday starter and a closer. They have plenty of candidates but none that will be as good or better than Brandon Workman or Chance Ruffin last year. Also, Texas projected starting catcher is out for season. Their two candidates will be projected left fielder and a freshman. Both are average to below average defensively. Also, hearing that Cole Green is having motivational issues...will believe that when I see it. Texas may have to rely on freshman more than in past...last time they had to rely on this many freshman was 2008. Oh yeah, Nebraska took two of 3 in Austin that year.

The link below is a 2 minute podcast interview with Coach Anderson following game 1 of the Red & White game last October. Coach Anders singles out one player during this 2 minute interview, Brandon Pierce. Said that come March, baseball fans up here will know who Brandon Pierce is. I found this via a cool new feature on the huskers.com baseball website. When I clicked the link to go to schedule/results I saw at the top of the page a new feature that allows you to click on most recent game completed. This is a link to the recap and boxscore. That is when I noticed the podcast of the interview. Anyways, thought was cool and wanted to share Coach Anderson's sentiments regarding Brandon Pierce. http://www.huskers.com/downloads2/390500.mp3?ATCLID=205011888&SPSID=101&SPID=33&DB_OEM_ID=100

First two weekends of season will be an Audition for the weekend rotation. Each of the first two weekends we play 4 games. What does this mean, the audition will result in a 3 man rotation vs. UCLA on March 4-6. I will be at that series...can't wait. Want to see if we are good enough to compete with the big boys. Don't have to win that series, but need to win one game and be competitive in all!!!

Now if we can just find a better baseball coach. I really think Anderon is a horrible coach. ^^^^^^^^ yep.... so unless im blind, while skimming through this, is there a projection for completion? I thought I saw "next fall" The price tag for the Huskers' new indoor complex under construction at Haymarket Park is almost $5 million, and once completed this fall, the 22,000-square-foot facility should help NU compete with schools who begin practice without worrying about the forecast.

I don't know when Coach Anderson talked to your class, but I am assuming last year...October or November? Anyways, below is a direct quote from Coach Anderson from one of the articles I linked. He also noted that the bats that Easton has been providing this fall are test models, and what the Huskers receive for use next spring may differ from the models that the team is swinging this fall. "Things are somewhat experimental at this point," Anderson noted. "We're trying out some bats, sending them back to Easton with our comments, and then they send us some others to try. I'm confident that by the time next February rolls around Easton will have provided us the best-performing bats available under this new standard. That's what Easton has always been able to do for us in the past. I have no doubt that the bats Nebraska used this fall were bad...I witnessed for myself during the red & White series. However, as mentioned above these were "test models". The bats that are used this spring will be completely different, and I have heard they are much better than the early test models used last spring.

Latest Information on new 2011 BBCOR Bats- This article is from the Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Provides a little science and their expectations for the performance of the bat. http://www.baseballnews.com/features/latest_information_bbcor_bats.htm Less Lively Bats Will Bring Changes to College Baseball in 2011; Coming to High School Baseball in 2012 (Pt 2 of a series) October 5, 2010- This article is from Baseball Nebraska. Some redundant info but offers coaches perspective from Sevis, Anderson and Rardin (Iowa Western coach). http://www.baseballnebraska.com/story_bats_2.htm Maybe this will create some discussion.

In my opinion, going back before Childress and through his tenure, A&M has done less with more than any program out there. They are in a talent rich recruiting area. They have money, facilities are good (need updating). Rabid fan base (If you can go to A&M series this year, do it. Very entertaining). No reason why they can't be on same level as UT or better. If Sawyers does at A&M what he did at KSU, I think you will see A&M in Omaha very soon. I would have to think that the Nebraska head baseball coach position would be considered top 5 among northern schools. That being said, A&M asst coach could be a nice launching ramp into a great opportunity for somebody. I have seen Deggs name mentioned many times as a head coaching candidate, yet I felt like it was his offensive philosophy and lack of detail in playing defense that has kept them from making it to Omaha. Deggs very may be a better head coach than asst. Deggs will re-emerge very soon in the coaching world.

As a bunch are expecting, Ehlers has the potential to help turn the staff around.. Just too bad some of those from last year didn't come back for another year... Freshmen looking for big results I do remember having high hopes this time last year...only to have those hopes dashed. I was really frustrated with Nesseth, until I found out he was pitching with an arm that required Tommy John surgery. To me, that was the big loss last year. We really needed Nesseth to be good last year. Hughes had as much ability as any pitcher we had...just couldn't throw strikes. As I have said before, we have 4 Freshman that i think will have an impact this year on the bump; Ehlers, Pierce, Keller, King.

any thoughts or comments

Did not pay a lot of attention to the interviewers, more so Coach Anderson's answers. Regarding the scheduling and RPI question, I think you make good points for a team that plays in the Big 12 (high RPI conference), however for a team that plays in Big 10...need to schedule a tougher OOC, including midweek. I think you will see Kansas and Kansas State both added to midweek games. I thought Coach Anderson was very generic in his answers about pitching...no names or potential rotation plans, just real vanilla. Did mention the 3 freshman but I felt the interviewers pushed him to do so. Tried to do the same with the offense by spending more time on bat changes instead of talking about our offense. Did mention three players and where they would hit in order but didn't give us a good feel for what kind of offense we would have; i.e., opportunistic, power, small ball. What kind of offense does Coach Erstad like. Don't know, he spent more time talking about the bat changes. Oh well, we are 5 weeks from first pitch and I am sure more info will be forthcoming. We haven't really been a power team.. I'm assuming with the bat changes, it'll just help us because we do like to play small ball, I don't see Erstad changing that much. I agree with what you're saying with the Big 10, however, the conference has an automatic bid just like every other conference.. We'll have to beef it up to host, but even Michigan has hosted in the past... But I think the schedule will beef up a little bit.. The off weekends won't be UC Riverside or U La-La, even though those teams have been decent in the distant/recent past, we will need those to be stronger series to help that RPI. And I agree he was very vanilla, but that's fine with me.. We'll find out soon enough.. Can't wait for it to get here. Power teams this year may look different than past. Nebraska has some serious power potential, however it is relative to can they hit: Asche- no doubter, he can hit and will lead the team in HR's. If no bat change, would hit for 20+. With bat change, 10-15 Scheffert- has power but can he hit good pitching, i.e Texas, UCLA A&M Christensen- has power and should be first off the bus...kid is a specimen. Tailed off last year, probably due to scouting reports catching up with him. Can he make adjustments and make the jump to next level. Cooper- more raw ability than anybody on team. Hoping Erstad can make this his number 1 project and Khiry responds. Would like to see Anderson go with Khiry from day 1 and let him get in a groove. Playing every other game may be what is keeping this kid from breaking out. Kiser- think he has more power than he has showed. Swing is more line drive, doesn't get lift. His power may be gap to gap. This would be fine if he can hit .350 and double Xtra base hits from last year. Tolentino/Burleson- will they rotate or will one catch and one DH? Both are good size, but I like Burleson swing path better for power. Tolentino better as an overall hitter. Peters- OBA...this is what he should be thinking. Don't know anything about freshman. Need at least one to step up and be productive. With Asche, Scheffert, Christensen and Cooper, I think we have 4 kids who can mash. Will they, Asche will, others is yet to be seen. Cooper could wind up being a beast at 9 hole. That is where I see him starting the season: Kiser- 2-5 hrs Peters- 1-3 hrs Asche- 10-15 hrs Scheffert- 6-9 hrs Christensen- 6-9 hrs Tolentino- 1-3 hrs Burleson- 2-5 hrs freshman- 2-5 hrs Cooper- 5-8 hrs. other- 2-5 hrs Here is hoping that Erstad can teach hitting. Go Big Red! Oh yeah, I don't think the new BBCOR bats are going to make as big a difference as first thought. Yes there will be a difference...about 5% in the speed off the bat with the BBCOR vs. last year.

Did not pay a lot of attention to the interviewers, more so Coach Anderson's answers. Regarding the scheduling and RPI question, I think you make good points for a team that plays in the Big 12 (high RPI conference), however for a team that plays in Big 10...need to schedule a tougher OOC, including midweek. I think you will see Kansas and Kansas State both added to midweek games. I thought Coach Anderson was very generic in his answers about pitching...no names or potential rotation plans, just real vanilla. Did mention the 3 freshman but I felt the interviewers pushed him to do so. Tried to do the same with the offense by spending more time on bat changes instead of talking about our offense. Did mention three players and where they would hit in order but didn't give us a good feel for what kind of offense we would have; i.e., opportunistic, power, small ball. What kind of offense does Coach Erstad like. Don't know, he spent more time talking about the bat changes. Oh well, we are 5 weeks from first pitch and I am sure more info will be forthcoming. We haven't really been a power team.. I'm assuming with the bat changes, it'll just help us because we do like to play small ball, I don't see Erstad changing that much. I agree with what you're saying with the Big 10, however, the conference has an automatic bid just like every other conference.. We'll have to beef it up to host, but even Michigan has hosted in the past... But I think the schedule will beef up a little bit.. The off weekends won't be UC Riverside or U La-La, even though those teams have been decent in the distant/recent past, we will need those to be stronger series to help that RPI. And I agree he was very vanilla, but that's fine with me.. We'll find out soon enough.. Can't wait for it to get here. Power teams this year may look different than past. Nebraska has some serious power potential, however it is relative to can they hit: Asche- no doubter, he can hit and will lead the team in HR's. If no bat change, would hit for 20+. With bat change, 10-15 Scheffert- has power but can he hit good pitching, i.e Texas, UCLA A&M Christensen- has power and should be first off the bus...kid is a specimen. Tailed off last year, probably due to scouting reports catching up with him. Can he make adjustments and make the jump to next level. Cooper- more raw ability than anybody on team. Hoping Erstad can make this his number 1 project and Khiry responds. Would like to see Anderson go with Khiry from day 1 and let him get in a groove. Playing every other game may be what is keeping this kid from breaking out. Kiser- think he has more power than he has showed. Swing is more line drive, doesn't get lift. His power may be gap to gap. This would be fine if he can hit .350 and double Xtra base hits from last year. Tolentino/Burleson- will they rotate or will one catch and one DH? Both are good size, but I like Burleson swing path better for power. Tolentino better as an overall hitter. Peters- OBA...this is what he should be thinking. Don't know anything about freshman. Need at least one to step up and be productive. With Asche, Scheffert, Christensen and Cooper, I think we have 4 kids who can mash. Will they, Asche will, others is yet to be seen. Cooper could wind up being a beast at 9 hole. That is where I see him starting the season: Kiser- 2-5 hrs Peters- 1-3 hrs Asche- 10-15 hrs Scheffert- 6-9 hrs Christensen- 6-9 hrs Tolentino- 1-3 hrs Burleson- 2-5 hrs freshman- 2-5 hrs Cooper- 5-8 hrs. other- 2-5 hrs Here is hoping that Erstad can teach hitting. Go Big Red!

Andy Sawyers has taken Matt Deggs place at A&M. With Childress ability to coach pitchers, Sawyers proven track record to build an offense and Texas as a recruiting area...A&M has a chance to step-up into the upper echelon of college baseball. I know a lot of people in Nebraska liked Matt Deggs and hoped he would become Nebraska's head coach one of these days (still could happen), but he wasn't (IMO) a good hitting/offense coach. Sawyers on the other hand already has a great track record...has done more with less at KSU last two years. COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M baseball head coach Rob Childress announced Wednesday that Andy Sawyers will rejoin the Aggie baseball staff as the team's associate head coach. He will coordinate the Aggie hitters in addition to working with the team's catchers defensively. Prior to a very successful two-year stint at Kansas State, Sawyers spent the 2008 season at Texas A&M helping the Aggies capture a Big 12 Championship and advance to an NCAA Super Regional. "We are very excited to announce the hiring of Andy Sawyers as our associate head coach," Childress said. "I have known Andy for some time and have truly been amazed to watch him develop as a coach. He was very successful at Kansas State the last two seasons in helping Coach Brad Hill's teams to the postseason for the first two times in their school history. He helped take an offense that hit .261 in 2008 to the top of the Big 12 Conference the last two seasons in batting average and stolen bases. They have also been among the top two in the league both seasons in on-base percentage and runs per game. We are truly proud to welcome Andy, his wife Dena and six-month-old son AJ to College Station and the Texas A&M baseball program." Sawyers returns to Texas A&M following two seasons at KSU where Sawyers helped the Wildcats transform into one of the top hitting clubs in the Big 12 and advance to the NCAA Regionals in both 2009 and 2010, the first two postseason appearances in school history. Besides leading the Big 12 in batting average and steals in 2010, Sawyers saw his KSU hitters finish second in the league in runs (448) and RBI (414) despite hitting fewer home runs (39) than any other team in the league. The Wildcats led the Big 12 in both batting average and steals in both of his seasons at KSU, hitting .323 in 2010 and .317 in 2009. Additionally, the Wildcats also stole 149 bases in 2009 to break the school record and tallied 120 steals in 2010 to rank as the third highest season total in school history. Under Sawyers' eye, Nick Martini led the league in both batting average (.416) and on-base percentage (.509) en route to Big 12 Player of the Year honors. It was the sixth time in the history of the league that a player coached by Sawyers was named the Big 12 Player of the Year after Matt Hopper (Nebraska) in 2002, Alex Gordon (Nebraska) in 2004 and 2005, and Jose Duran (Texas A&M) in 2008. "I'm very excited to be back at Texas A&M and have the chance to work with Rob Childress and his staff," Sawyers said. "The new facility improvements that are on the horizon, the talent level and the unbelievable fan support make this a very special place. My family and I are certainly excited about this opportunity and the chance to be around a lot of people we know." Prior to taking his position at KSU, Sawyers joined Childress in the Aggie dugout as the team's volunteer coach during the 2008 season. While at A&M, Sawyers handled the outfielders and assisted hitting coach Jeremy Talbot, helping the Aggies win a Big 12 regular-season championship and earn a berth into the school's second-straight NCAA Super Regional. He helped tutor Duran to both Big 12 Newcomer and Player of the Year Awards, as well as five other Aggies who were named All-Big 12 in 2008. "We are very pleased to welcome Andy Sawyers back to the Texas A&M baseball program," Director of Athletics Bill Byrne said. "He brings with him an impressive list of coaching credentials as well as an understanding of the rich tradition and proud heritage of Aggie baseball." Sawyers, a native of Willits, Calif., has also worked alongside Childress at Nebraska where he served as an assistant coach from 2003-07, the last two as the team's hitting coach. Additionally, Sawyers served as the academic coordinator and worked with the catchers during his time in Lincoln. After serving as the volunteer assistant at Nebraska in 2000, Sawyers spent the 2001 and 2002 seasons as the head coach at Hutchinson Community College, compiling an 87-30 record and two postseason berths. In 2001, the Dragons went 40-16 and won the Jayhawk West Sub-Regional, while the 2002 squad set a school record with 47 wins and was ranked as high as seventh by the NJCAA. Sawyers' coaching career began at Northwestern (La.) State in 1999 as a volunteer assistant coach. That season, the Demons went 38-21 en route to a second-place finish in the Southland Conference.

Huskerswreckhavoc (HWH), where is everybody else? It is baseball preseason, let's get some good discussion going. Will be out of pocket for a few days. Going to my Uncle's funeral and won't have internet access.

Did not pay a lot of attention to the interviewers, more so Coach Anderson's answers. Regarding the scheduling and RPI question, I think you make good points for a team that plays in the Big 12 (high RPI conference), however for a team that plays in Big 10...need to schedule a tougher OOC, including midweek. I think you will see Kansas and Kansas State both added to midweek games. I thought Coach Anderson was very generic in his answers about pitching...no names or potential rotation plans, just real vanilla. Did mention the 3 freshman but I felt the interviewers pushed him to do so. Tried to do the same with the offense by spending more time on bat changes instead of talking about our offense. Did mention three players and where they would hit in order but didn't give us a good feel for what kind of offense we would have; i.e., opportunistic, power, small ball. What kind of offense does Coach Erstad like. Don't know, he spent more time talking about the bat changes. Oh well, we are 5 weeks from first pitch and I am sure more info will be forthcoming.