NU v Texas Tech series

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Eric the Red

Team HuskerBoard
The Huskers return to action on Thursday evening, as they open Big 12 Conference action at Texas Tech and the game will be carried across the state on the Husker Sports Network. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. and fans in Lincoln and Grand Island can watch the game live on MyTV, which is a digital multicast station of KOLN/KGIN. It can be seen in Lincoln on Time Warner Ch.110, in Grand Island on Charter Ch. 17 and on DirecTV Ch. 25 (click here for complete listings). In addition, it will also be carried nationally on Fox College Sports and fans can click on the following link for more information (http://msn.foxsports.com/fcs)

 
Road-heavy schedule lends inconsistency to 'Huskers

by george watson | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

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- publication data - Posted: Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Updated: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 2:37 a.m.

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It's not unusual for the Nebraska baseball team to start the season playing several straight games on the road. The weather in February and early March tends to dictate that necessity.

But when Cornhuskers head coach Mike Anderson looked at his 2007 schedule, he knew that if his team survived five straight weekends on the road, with just two home games sprinkled in, they would be prepared for Big 12 Conference play.

Coming into the opener on Thursday at Texas Tech, however, the results are mixed.

"I'll tell you this, it's been a grind," said Anderson, who is in his fifth season at the helm of the Huskers. "We had to top it all off with a lot of travel problems with the weather and different things, so I'd say it's been a little unexpected. That's not an excuse, though, but the team has had trouble finding its rhythm of playing, and getting on track has been a little hard."

Anderson

Nebraska (9-5) played its first home game of the season Tuesday in a 6-1 victory over Wayne State. The Cornhuskers' original opener on March 6 against Nebraska-Kearney was postponed due to weather, and a tournament in Deland, Fla., that was supposed to run March 2-3 ended up going off March 4-5 due to rain. That, Anderson said, has contributed to some inconsistent play through the first quarter of the season.

"What we've done is had exceptional days on the mound, we've had exceptional days defensively and we've had exceptional days offensively," Anderson said. "What we've not done is put them all together at one time."

What's not a work in progress is the veteran leadership the Cornhuskers possess, particularly on the mound where they possess three solid starters in juniors Tony Watson and Johnny Dorn and sophomore Charlie Shirek.

Watson and Dorn were mainstays in the rotation last season and bring a wealth of experience back for 2007. Shirek started eight games last season and has fit nicely into the Saturday role between Watson on Friday and Dorn on Sunday. Their numbers, however, are off from last year as the trio has combined to go just 5-3 with a 4.60 ERA. That has contributed to an overall team era of 5.03 which ranked last in the Big 12 Conference entering the week.

College baseball

Who: No. 16 Nebraska at Texas Tech

Where: Dan Law Field

When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday

Records: Nebraska 9-5; Texas Tech 15-7

Radio:KKAM 1340 AM

"Some of their starts throughout the year have been good and some have not been, but we still feel very confident we have the right people in the right spots," Anderson said. "It really starts with pitching, and everything else wraps around that."

The inconsistency isn't relegated to just pitching. Defensively, the Cornhuskers have committed 21 errors on the season, 10 coming in their five losses, and they're averaging 1.61 errors per game. That has created a thin line for Nebraska at times with an offense that has struggled out of the gate.

The Huskers began the week hitting .279 as a team and averaged just 5.5 runs and 9.0 hits per game. They also ranked last in the Big 12 in several key categories, although they had played three fewer games than the next team on the list.

But with veterans like all-American shortstop Ryan Wehrle, second baseman Jake Opitz and outfielder Andy Gerch, Anderson is confident the normally hard-slugging Huskers will be toward the top by the end of the season. He pointed to last weekend, when Nebraska dropped the first game of a series at Alabama and came back to win the next two, as a sign of things beginning to fall into place heading into league play.

"Hopefully we can find that good rhythm," Anderson said. "Everything we've done, all our wins and losses have gone toward the fact of trying to get off to the right start in conference and set everything up for conference. We'll find out how we did

 
Wow they've (Tech) played that many games already? I thought I read something about Huskers.com having a video link up for the game tonight courtesy (Tech)? If that is true you guys should check out Huskers.com at around 6:00 p.m. tonight I believe. I also think that you don't have to be a member to check out the game, if it is not carried by Huskers.com. :bonez

 
Yeah, that game p3ssed me off. We shot ourselves in the foot all game. Base-running errors, wild pitches, numerous walks!!!! I'm not used to seeing Nebraska play with so many mental mistakes. I hope we get this stuff turned around soon. The baseball team needs to get back to Haymarket STAT. :bonez

 
NU Sports Information

LUBBOCK, Texas — Charlie Shirek fanned a career-high seven Red Raiders over seven innings, while Mitch Abeita had two doubles and drove in a career-high three runs, leading No. 16 Nebraska to a 13-1 victory over Texas Tech Friday night at Dan Law Field.

Charlie Shirek struck out seven Texas Tech batters.

The Huskers (10-6, 1-1 Big 12) needed a strong pitching performance from Shirek after going through six pitchers in an 11-inning loss on Thursday, and they received that and more from the sophomore right-hander. Shirek (2-2) scattered five hits and allowed one run in his longest outing of the year, while his seven strikeouts nearly doubled his previous high of four.

Nebraska coach Mike Anderson said that Shirek's effort was just what the doctor ordered.

"This team needed to have a pitching performance like that tonight," Anderson said. "Charlie did a great job for us tonight against a good hitting team. He was able go get us late into the game, and we hope that sets us up for tomorrow."

"I just wanted to give our team a chance to win after the long game last night," Shirek said. "I was throwing strikes and keeping the ball on the ground, and my defense kept making plays behind me. I knew our offense would come around and they did tonight."

The Huskers backed Shirek up with their best offensive performance of the year, setting season highs with 13 runs and 14 hits, while pushing across at least one across in six different frames. The bottom third of the NU lineup provided the offensive punch, as the Nos. 7-9 hitters combined to go 5-for-9 and drive in eight of the Huskers' 14 runs.

Abeita, who has driven in all five of his RBIs during the weekend series, led the charge by going 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs. Steve Edlefsen went 2-for-2 and drove in a career-best three runs, while Jake Mort plated two runs and scored three times.

"They did a good job for us tonight," Anderson said. "They weren't overpowering, but produced base hits that really helped and drove runs in. They understood their roles and didn't try to do too much."

The Huskers would get all the runs they would need on Craig Corriston's two-run single in the top of the second. Abeita was hit by a pitch to open the inning before an Edlefsen single two batters later put runners on first and second. After Tech pitcher Aaron Odem misplayed a grounder to load the bases, Corriston, who had three hits, then lined a 2-2 offering to left to spot NU a 2-0 lead.

The Husker extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth on DJ Belfonte's RBI single before Shirek got the Huskers out of a crucial jam in the bottom half of the inning. Tech (16-8, 1-1 Big 12) used a wild pitch on a strikeout and two errors to load the bases with no outs, but Shirek pitched his way out of trouble, retiring the next three hitters to keep the Red Raiders at bay.

"That inning could have gone either way," Shirek said. "It was a big building point for me. The defense helped me out, and Mitch made some good blocks that allowed me to throw the pitches I wanted."

That was the turning point of the game, as the Huskers chased Odem in the fifth with three runs, including Abeita's RBI double, before breaking the game open one inning later with four runs, including a two-run double by Abeita and a two-run single by Edlefsen.

Odom (3-2) took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits over 4.1 innings.

The Huskers will look to take the series Saturday afternoon, as Johnny Dorn looks for his fourth consecutive win. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be carried on the Husker Sports Network and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com

 
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