Huskers Take on ‘Horns for Big 12 Lead
2006 Record (30-5, 10-2 Big 12)
National Rankings: 4 (CB) • 4 (BA) • 4 (Sports Weekly) • 3 (NCBWA)
Day Date Rank Opponent Location TV Video Time
Fri. April 21 5/5/6 Texas (27-13, 12-2 Big 12) 6:15 p.m.
Sat. April 22 5/5/6 Texas 2:06 p.m.
Sun. April 23 5/5/6 Texas 1 p.m.
Polls are in the following order: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly
Pitching Probables
Fri.
Joba Chamberlain, Jr., RHP (5-2, 2.76 ERA, 42.1 IP)
Kyle McCulloch, Jr., RHP (5-4, 3.03 ERA, 71.1 IP)
Sat.
Tony Watson, So., LHP (6-0, 2.05 ERA, 61.1)
Adrian Alaniz, So., RHP (5-1, 3.65 ERA, 66.2 IP)
Sun.
Johnny Dorn, So., RHP (6-2, 3.46 ERA, 52.0 IP)
TBA
Media Information
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network
Internet Radio: Huskers.com
Video Steaming: Texassports.com
Television: Saturday’s game will be shown nationally on Fox Sports Net (FSN)
Satelitte Radio: SIRIUS (Ch. 155 on Saturday and Sunday)
Huskers Take on ‘Horns for Big 12 Lead
The eyes of the college baseball world will be on Austin, Texas, this weekend, as No. 4 Nebraska takes on No. 5 Texas in a series with both Big 12 and national implications.
The three-game set at Disch-Falk Field begins Friday evening at 6:15 p.m. with afternoon games set for both Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) Saturday’s start time was moved from 3 p.m. to 2 p.m. so the game could be shown nationally on Fox Sports Net (Ch. 37 in Lincoln).
The series will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, a 20-station network that includes KFAB 1110 AM in Omaha, 1400 AM in Lincoln and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington, along with an Internet broadcast at Huskers.com. Saturday and Sunday’s games will also be carried on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Ch. 155).
The Huskers, who are 5-1 against ranked teams this season, brings a 12-game winning streak, the second-longest streak in the country, into Austin. Nebraska (30-5, 10-2 Big 12) tuned up for the weekend by earning wins over Creighton (4-2) and Nebraska-Kearney (15-2) during the week, as NU has allowed 11 runs in its last five contest.
In both games, the Huskers relied on their young arms, as redshirt freshman Charlie Shirek and true freshman Erik Bird combined for the win over Creighton, while six pitchers fired a four-hitter against the Lopers. Texas comes into the weekend looking to rebound following a 14-10 loss to Texas-San Antonio on Tuesday.
In the Big 12 race, Texas is 12-2 and sits in first place, a game up on the Huskers, who are 10-2 and have played one less weekend series. The Longhorns have won six straight in Big 12 play, including a sweep of No. 19 Baylor last weekend, while the Huskers have won eight in a row in conference play, including sweeps at Missouri and against Texas A&M. The two teams have distanced themselves in the league race, as only the Huskers, Longhorns and Oklahoma are above .500 in the league.
The Huskers have been an excellent road team in 2006, going 15-3 away from Hawks Field, including a 9-3 record in true road contests. NU brings a streak of 10 straight Big 12 series wins dating back to last April, including six in a road on the road.
Texas has been equally tough at home, winning 15 of 17 games and have not dropped a three-game league series in Austin since dropping 2-of-3 to the Huskers in 2003. Nebraska leads the all-time series, 20-16, including a 9-6 record at Disch-Falk Field, but have not won the season series since 2003.
Leading Off
•-Nebraska brings the 12-game winning streak that dates back to April 1. It is the second-longest active streak in the country heading into this weekend’s action.
Nation’s Longest Winning Streaks
No. Team Games
1 Notre Dame 19
2. Nebraska 12
3. Elon University 8
Rhode Island 8
Savannah State 8
• Nebraska’s .857 winning percentage is the best in the country heading into this weekend.
•-Nebraska has gotten off to fast starts, outscoring its opponents 41-7 in the first inning of games this season. In fact, NU has scored at least one run in the first inning of 15 of its last 21 contests.
•-Entering this weekend’s series at Texas, NU is now as high as fifth in the latest simulated RPI (warrennolan.com and Boydsworld.com). NU is 20-3 against teams rated in the top-100 of the RPI. As a league, the Big 12 is third in the RPI, as all 10 members are ranked in the top-75 nationally.
•-NU is off to one of its best starts in school history, as its 30-5 record is the second-best start after 35 games in school history, a game ahead of last season’s team that won a school-record 57 games. That fact is more impressive since NU has played one of the most difficult preconference schedules in school history.
•-Nebraska is well represented in the latest NCAA stats released April 19. The Huskers rank in the top-20 in four team categories, including fielding percentage (.976, 10th), ERA (3.07, 10th) slugging percentage. (.512, 10th) and batting average (.326, 19th). Individually, Luke Gorsett ranks among the national leaders in homers per game (sixth), slugging percentage (sixth) and RBIs per game (49th). Other Huskers ranked include Brandon Buckman, who is 19th in homers per game and Brett Jensen, who is 25th nationally in saves with seven. Gorsett’s 14 homers also ranks in the top-10 in total homers.
•-Nebraska and Cal State Fullerton are the only two schools in the country to rank in the top-10 in both ERA and fielding percentage.
•-One of NU’s keys to success is the ability to run while shutting down other team’s running games. NU is second in the Big 12 with 62 stolen bases, including 21-of-26 in Big 12 play, and is allowing a league-low 16 stolen bases, including four in conference play.
•-Nebraska’s offense has been on a tear over the last three weeks, hitting .335 as a team over the last 18 games, including a season-high 24 hits at Iowa on April 11. The 24 hits against Iowa was NU’s highest single-game total since a school-record 35 hits against Chicago State on March 16, 1999.
•-Jeff Christy has been effective offensively and behind the plate in recent weeks. He is hitting .369 in his last 15 games, raising his average from .177 to a career-best .284.
•-Nebraska has held 27 of its first 35 opponents to four runs or less this season and its 3.5 runs allowed per game is fifth nationally.
•-Nebraska has already sold out all the reserved and club seats at Hawks Field for the 2006 season. NU ranked sixth nationally in average attendance, averaging a school-record 4,984 fans per game in 2005. NU’s number is based on actual game attendance, not tickets sold.
•-Nebraska is one of only three teams in the country that returned two pitchers who won at least 10 games in 2005 (Oregon State and Miami of Ohio are the others).
•-Nebraska is one of only seven teams in all of Division I baseball to post team ERAs below 4.00 over the last four years, joining Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Oral Roberts, Rice, Texas and Wichita State. The Huskers were second nationally with a 2.69 team ERA in 2005.
•-Nebraska is one of only six programs nationally to reach the College World Series in three of the past five seasons, joining Cal State Fullerton, Miami, South Carolina, Stanford and Texas. The Big 12 is the only league with more than one team in that group.
•- Nebraska has scored at least one run in each of its last 166 games dating back to the start of the 2004 campaign. The streak is the longest in the Big 12, while NU has scored in 497 of the last 498 games dating back to the 1998 season.
•-NU already has nine come-from-behind wins this season, including overcoming a four-run deficit at Missouri on April 9.
•-NU already has nine come-from-behind wins this season, including overcoming a four-run deficit at Missouri on April 9.
•-Junior right fielder Luke Gorsett enters the weekend riding a 16-game hit streak that dates back to March 25 and is closing in on NU’s top-10 list for longest hit streak.
Last Time Out
Wednesday (NU 15, UNK 2): – Nick Jaros hit two homers and drove in four RBIs, while six Husker pitchers held Nebraska-Kearney to just four hits in a 15-2 win. Jaros paced a 19-hit Husker attack with his first career four-hit game, belting his third and fourth homers of the season and driving in career-high four RBIs. Jaros was one of three Huskers who picked up four-hit days in the win, as Nick Sullivan and Brandon Buckman also enjoyed four-hit afternoons. Jon Klausing picked up the win, allowing one hit over three shutout innings, as he retired the final nine hitters he faced.
Tuesday (NU 4, Creighton 2): Charlie Shirek allowed two runs over 7.2 innings, while Luke Gorsett drove in two runs, leading No. 4 Nebraska to a 4-2 win over Creighton. Shirek took a shutout into the eighth, as he scattered nine hits and fanned three to improve to 2-1 on the season. Erik Bird then slammed the door, getting the Huskers out of a two-on, two-out situation in the eighth before retiring the side in order in the ninth for his first career save. Gorsett provided the game’s big hit with a two-run double in the first off Creighton starter and loser Jeff Daneff. Bryce Nimmo also homered for NU, which was out-hit 9-6, by the Bluejays.
Scouting Texas
Legendary Head Coach Augie Garrido’s Longhorns are 27-13 on the year and sit in first place in the Big 12 with a 12-2 mark. The Longhorns, who were tabbed No. 1 at the start of the year, got off to a slow start, going 8-9 in its first 17 games before 19-4 since then to enjoy its best Big 12 start since the 2000 season.
Offensively, the Longhorns feature two of the Big 12’s top offensive threats in outfielders Drew Stubbs and Carson Kainer. Stubbs, a two-year member of Team USA and a likely first-round pick, is hitting .333 with nine homers, 36 RBIs and a team-best 15 stolen bases. Kainer has been UT’s top run producer, hitting .377 with 15 doubles and a team-best 43 RBIs.
On the mound, Texas returns its entire starting rotation from last year’s CWS champions, including right-handers Kyle McCulloch (5-4, 3.03 ERA) and Adrian Alaniz (5-1, 3.65 ERA), while the Longhorn bullpen has combined for 12 saves, including four by Austin Wood and three by Kenn Kasparek.
Nebraska has the distinction of being the only Big 12 team with an all-time series lead over Texas, posting a 20-16 mark in a series that dates back to 1954. Last season, Texas won 2-of-3 games in Lincoln, which is the last Big 12 series the Huskers have lost. NU is looking for its first series win since 2003 and last won in Austin in 2002, taking 2-of-3 from a team that won the NCAA title that season
