NU v N. Iowa/ @Baylor Seris Thread

[Eric the Red]

Huskers Host Northern Iowa on Wednesday

 

Lincoln – The Nebraska baseball team makes a quick return home on Wednesday night, as the Huskers take on Northern Iowa at Hawks Field. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. and the game will be carried on selected Pinnacle Sports Network stations and on Huskers.com.

 

Live video will also be available for HuskerNside subscribers. General Admission Tickets are available for Wednesday’s game beginning at $5 and can be purchased at the NU Ticket Office (800-8-BIGRED) or at Hawks Field 90 minutes before first pitch.

 

The Huskers, ranked as high as fifth nationally this week, are in the middle of a stretch of playing seven of eight games on the road to open the month of May. NU is 37-8 on the season following Monday’s win at Oklahoma State. In that game, the Huskers hit four homers and used solid pitching performances from Johnny Dorn, Zach Herr and Brett Jensen to take the final game of the three-game set in Stillwater. NU had dropped a pair of one-run decisions the first two games of the series, as OSU became the first team to take a series from the Huskers since April of 2005.

 

Offensively, the Huskers are second in the Big 12 with a .326 average while outfielder Luke Gorsett is hitting a team-best .383 to rank third in the league and is also among the leaders in homers (15, second) and slugging percentage (.720), as his two-run homer on Monday was the first by Gorsett since April 9. Another Husker who is swinging a hot stick is sophomore Andy Gerch, who is hitting .623 (12-for-19) with two homers, four doubles, eight RBIs and eight runs scored over his last five contests.

 

Sophomore Jon Klausing takes the hill on Wednesday for the Big Red, as he is 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA in 17 innings of work. The Arvada, Colo., product has earned victories in his last four appearances and was dominant in his last start against Wichita State. In that outing, he allowed one hit over seven shutout innings and allowed just three balls out of the infield, as the Huskers posted an 11-0 whitewash of the Shockers.

 

Northern Iowa comes to Lincoln with a 23-24 record after one of its best performances of the season, a 10-0 shutout of Bradley on Sunday. The Panthers are beginning a four-game road trip this weekend with a stop at MVC leader Wichita State on the weekend. Brandon Douglass paces the Panthers with a .374 average, while Brett Featherstone is hitting .344 with team-bests in homers (six), RBIs (45) and a MVC best 17 doubles. UNI, which has dropped 23 of 25 meetings to the Huskers, has not announced a starter for Wednesday evening.

[Eric the Red]

5-0 NORTHERN IOWA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KansasHusker]

5-0 NORTHERN IOWA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well thats just great...what the hell is wrong with this team lately...

[Foppa]

Wow...these guys are definitely showing that they are not CWS material right now...losing series to OSU, and melting down to NORTHERN IOWA!?!?!

 

Very ugly right now...

[Eric the Red]

I'm not sure the game is over, but it's late.

[Jarred04]

not the time of year to be doing this. We can't afford to lose ground. We should be fine as long as we can host a regional/supers, but we need to get out of this slump.

[kc_husker]

What was the freaking score???????????????????

[Jarred04]

5-1. we lost again.

[kc_husker]

Thanks

 

Thats really great Ive got to play softball with a

UNI grad tonight. sh#t

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

The UNI game is like tripping on a crack in the sidewalk and stumbling forward a couple steps. Embarrassing, yes. But they will quickly get over it.

[Jarred04]

I hope you are right, but it is unfortunate we tripped over a bigger crack against OSU first. I wouldn't have been as worried if we would have taken the series against them. It is just hard to get over because we could have won the series if the ump would have stuck with the damn call. Dropping 3/4 just hurts us in our seeding unless we rebound quickly.

[Eric the Red]

Huskers still have faith in bullpen

 

BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, May 12, 2006 - 10:49:34 am CDT

 

 

 

Any Nebraska starting pitcher who sees coach Mike Anderson coming to the mound in the late innings should know just to hand over the ball.

 

In the Huskers’ 12 games before their last Big 12 Conference series at Oklahoma State, the bullpen posted a robot-like 0.94 earned run average over 28 2/3 innings.

 

But in Stillwater, Okla., last weekend, NU relievers produced the wrong kind of game-over mentality.

 

On Friday, Oklahoma State scored the first earned run against freshman Erik Bird this season to break an eighth-inning tie and win 5-4. On Saturday, redshirt freshman Charlie Shirek, who retired the first five batters he faced, allowed four straight hits and lost 7-6.

 

Even on Monday, when the Huskers won 10-6 to avoid being swept, preseason All-America closer Brett Jensen proved human by giving up a three-run homer.

 

Jensen did throw 22/3 innings to notch his ninth save, and the home run he allowed was hit to Reynolds Field’s notorious short porch in left field, so maybe his 10.12 ERA for that game is misleading.

 

Still, is there reason for major concern as NU opens a three-game series at Baylor tonight?

 

“You run into good-hitting teams. It happens,” Jensen said. “It’s just a tough situation, tough ballpark. And you’ve got to give them credit. They hit the ball.

 

“But that’s in the past.”

 

Tonight, Nebraska looks to get back on track after losing three of four games, including Wednesday’s 5-1 home loss to Northern Iowa. The only other time this year the Huskers dropped three of four, they responded with a season-high 12-game winning streak.

 

“I think this is where you see a team’s character. How are we going to react?” Jensen said. “Two years ago (when NU failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998), we kind of collapsed down the stretch. We’ve faced adversity this year, we’re going to try to come out to Baylor and get a win on Friday night and try and keep rolling. But this is to see what kind of team you are.”

 

Pitching coach Dave Bingham is pretty sure he knows how his staff will respond. Strong clues come from Jensen’s 2.80 ERA, Bird’s 0.52 and the 2.04 of freshman Zach Herr, who hasn’t allowed a run in his last seven outings.

 

“Don’t underestimate that team down there — they were pretty good,” Bingham said of Oklahoma State. “They had a great plan. They play good in their park, and it’s a big adjustment (for pitchers).

 

“But I was not disappointed. I told our kids on Monday, we’re not going to change our plan, because we’re not going to play in that same ballpark. Every one of the bullpen guys, nobody’s been overused the whole year. All of our guys are strong and we feel really good going into (the weekend).”

 

Pitching matchups

 

All games on Pinnacle Radio Network (1400 AM)

 

Today: Joba Chamberlain (5-3, 3.61), Nebraska, vs. Ryan LaMotta (5-4, 3.53), Baylor, 7 p.m.

 

Saturday: Tony Watson (7-0, 3.00), Nebraska, vs. Cory Van Allen (5-4, 4.71), Baylor, 7 p.m.

 

Sunday: Johnny Dorn (9-2, 3.27), Nebraska, vs. Jeff Mandel (1-2, 4.60), Baylor, 2 p.m.

 

Briefly: Ben Kline, a junior shortstop at Omaha Central, became the first player to commit to Nebraska’s 2007 recruiting class. Kline, an honorable mention all-state selection as a sophomore, led the Eagles to a 12-12 record this past season.

 

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.

[txdrdubya]

Huskers win on Friday???

[kc_husker]

No

[hootin' annie's goatfarm]

hello, NU is sounding horr-if-ic, today...in the 7th they are down 9 to 2 to baylor...yet, through 6 innings NU mustered 2 hits, & then gathered 4 hits in the 7th for their 2 runs

 

1 win out of their last 7 games...eh, gawd!!!