Turn2

link below to an interview with Coach Anderson. Interview was on Nebraska Sports Daily, 4th and Going For It. http://nebraskasportsdaily.com/Jan13th4AGFI.html

Not saying this will happen, but Nebraska could very easily have won 2 of 3 last year at UCLA. A lot of question marks surround this team...especially hitting. I was concerned for our offense last year, when we had Bailey and Belfonte, really have question marks this year. Will Erstad make a difference in our offensive production? He will need to IMHO!

I should explain a little bit further (somewhat said in initial post). He is a one person trying to cover 300+ teams in college baseball...very tough to do a good job and he does.

Rogers does a good job as a one man show, but don't give him to much credit. Have seen as much I don't agree with as I do

Following quotes are from Kendall Rogers twitter. Mr. Rogers got these quotes from coach Anderson and Coach Erstad at the ABCA show in Nashville. #huskers coach mike anderson said watch out for lhp logan ehlers. The top prospect is 91-92 with a nasty slider. Just the arm they need. Just chatted with former #mlb star darin erstad who is now coaching at #nebraska. said he absolutely loves coaching. #huskers

Top 30 poll from College baseball line-up. Nebraska not among the top 30...no surprise. OU heads the Big 12 at no. 5, UT 10, Tx A&M 15, Baylor completes Big 12 representatiion at 26. First two weekends in March will be fun in lincoln. UCLA and Fresno come to town, both ranked in this poll. UCLA is loaded with pitching and Fresno loaded with big bats. http://www.collegebaseballlineup.com/rankings/di_top30.php

he did sit out with an injury. i actually was out in vegas in march, the same weekend the skers were playing texas i believe, and met him and his parents in the airport. i think he will be back this year and in full health He played in the Red & White series this fall, but as a second baseman. If he fielded a ball cleanly, the batter was out...he did not make any throws. Also, when he was hitting, they used a pinch runner for him...even at the plate.

Admittedly Hauptman is a bit of a stretch. But here is my thinking. He throws strikes- last summer he walked 3 batters in 50 innings. with the new "wood bat like" aluminum bats, not walking, HBP or putting runners on base by error will be huge advantage. Last year vs. teams using the old (more pop) bats, Hauptman had a .282 against batting avg...new bats mean this will go down. As I said in my initial post, he doesn't just throw strikes, he throws quality strikes. if I'm right and your right, then that's two thirds of the rotation we don't have to worry about. The potentially big difference between this years staff and last, is the closer. Now we know Nesseth was never healthy last year, and that is why he wasn't able to close out any weekend games last year. Once he went on IR, we used a host of pitchers, including Hauptman, to close, without much success. We never had a shut down backend of the bullpen last year. As I said first post, Pierce is going to excite Husker fans. 94 to 95, give me the damn ball, I am going to win this game for us right now, type of attitude. We will have two LHP (Ehlers (unless he becomes weekend starter) and King). Add power RHP- Yost, Keller, Tate and I think better. Would love to have Mariot with this staff, but he was our only loss from last years staff. Hughes has potential but no results...couldn't throw strikes.

First time on this board. Look forward to some good baseball discussion. Last year was disappointing, considering I thought the team had a chance to be more successful. This years team has a chance as well but, IMO, the pitching is better (deeper) and offense won't be as good. Nebraska lost much more offense from last years team than pitching; Offensive losses- Bailey, Belfonte, Thompson; Pitching- Mariot (Nesseth doesn't count due to injury). I was able to attend the Red & White series this fall and counted 25 pitchers combined on the two rosters. 12 or 13 of those names have a chance to be very successful this year: Hauptman- I predict will be a top pitcher. Not a power thrower but he doesn't walk anybody. Doesn't just throw strikes but quality strikes. New bats (wood like performance) should benefit pitchers like hauptman. Lemke- can be very dominating (see OU game last year) or average. Is average when he doesn't command the strike zone. if he can be more consistent getting ahead of hitters early in count, he will be very good. Niederkline- Could be Hauptman with more power. Came in last year and pitched well. Down hill thrower with decent velo (88-91) and throws slider and change for strikes Tate- has potentially best stuff on staff (that's coming back from last year). Needs to throw strikes with all pitches Yost- if Tate doesn't have best stuff then Yost does. When he pitches at 87-88 ball is on knees with movement. When he pitches at 91-93, ball is flat and elevated. Ehlers- looked bad one day great the next. Has three above average pitches. Pierce- will be closer this year. Nebraska fans are going to love this kid. Keller- best stuff of incoming freshman King- LHP out of bullpen. did well in Red & White series...should contribute this year Adams- Bullpen guy with experience Freeman- see Adams but with a better out pitch (change-up) Vogt and Williams two other arms with some innings last year After writing this I feel more confident that we will be a better team. These arms rival anybody in Big 12 except UT and maybe A&M.