Good news and bad news for Nebraska Thursday from Haymarket Park: Pitcher Brian Duensing made a triumphant return to the mound, albeit in a scrimmage, and the Huskers may be without their top catcher for a while.
Brian Duensing
Duensing, the left-handed junior out of Millard South who has missed almost all of the past two seasons with an elbow injury, threw four innings of shutout baseball against his teammates.
"Very good," Coach Mike Anderson said of his pitcher's performance, "exceptional actually. He looks great. It's a milestone. But for me, this is just one more stage."
The Huskers' emerging ace in 2003 after a freshman All-America season in which he started a College World Series game, Duensing tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow 23 months ago. He tried to return last season without an operation but suffered a setback in preseason practice and underwent reconstructive surgery last March.
On Thursday, he faced live hitting in a game situation outdoors for the first time since the initial injury.
Duensing threw 26 of 42 pitches for strikes, allowing three singles and walking one batter. He recorded his only strikeout against the last hitter he faced, fooling Nick Sullivan badly with a slow slider.
Also, junior catcher Adam Moore hobbled Thursday on crutches as Nebraska completed a full nine-inning scrimmage. The first-year transfer from Northeast Texas Community College injured his left knee in practice Wednesday. He will undergo arthroscopic surgery today.
Anderson said the undiagnosed problem may not affect Moore's availability for the season-opening, five-game NU trip to Hawaii. Or it could be serious.
"It might be," the coach said. "But there's no feeling sorry. But if it's a serious thing, we move on."
• NOTES: Nebraska was picked fifth in the Big 12 coaches' poll. Texas was selected first. . . . Warm weather allowed Nebraska to practice outside Thursday for the fourth consecutive day and sixth time in 12 practices this year. . . . True freshman right-hander Johnny Dorn matched Duensing Thursday with four scoreless innings, and his work came against the top NU lineup. . . . The Huskers' preseason banquet at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln features guest speaker Jim Morris. The subject of the movie, "The Rookie," Morris was a high school coach in Texas, out of professional baseball for 11 years, before embarking on a quest to the big leagues. The event is open to the public. Cost is $50 per person or $450 for a table of 10.
