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Tuesday (3/24) News Links

LJS: Nebraska excited about big week of baseball

The Nebraska baseball team's party line: Opponents don't matter.

Success comes from within, not from recognition of different jerseys, nicknames and reputations.

But outside the lines, NU coach Darin Erstad let it slip he was excited for what is possibly one of the biggest home weeks of the season.

The Huskers (17-6, 3-0) play host to perennial college powers Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. and Wednesday at 1:35 p.m. This weekend, Texas visits for a three-game series at Haymarket Park.

"I don't know how many times I've said I couldn't care less who we play," Erstad said Sunday after the Huskers completed a sweep of Michigan with their 10th consecutive victory.

"We're numb to good teams, average teams, teams that haven't won a game; that's not what we've got to worry about," he said.

But moments later, he admitted Husker fans will be excited and his players are very excited to have two of the most storied programs coming to Lincoln in the same week.

"This is going to be a fun week of baseball," he said.

Nebraska senior catcher Tanner Lubach toed the Erstad line about opponents. But he said he'd been to the NU-Texas series when he was a kid growing up in Lincoln.

"I was 13 or so and sat through the entire 16-inning game when we beat Texas and thought I wanted to play in games like that," he said of the 2005 game in Lincoln. He's followed the success of Cal State Fullerton for a long time.

Fullerton coach Rick Vanderhook, whose Titans knocked Nebraska out of the NCAA regional last spring, said he was looking forward to playing in Lincoln.

"I hope it's warm," he said.

He praised the improvement of the Huskers despite his team winning the last six games between the teams over the last two seasons.

Fullerton (11-11) dropped out of the rankings recently and lost two of three at Long Beach State over the weekend. Coincidentally, the Huskers moved into No. 24 on the D1 College Baseball RPI.

"Fullerton is not shabby, and we like to think of ourselves as OK, too," Erstad said. "The excitement is that we get to play. This will be fun. Our guys are on spring break. They should be well-rested and ready to play."

Briefly

* Nebraska pitcher Jake Hohensee returned to action over the weekend after nearly a month off because of an arm injury. Erstad said the sophomore from Lincoln East is a key ingredient to the pitching staff. Shortstop Steven Reveles is expected to miss this week after sustaining a broken finger while bunting last week.

* NU will start Garett King (1-0, 2.63 ERA) on Tuesday and Zack Engelken (1-0, 2.61) against Fullerton. King, a freshman from Anaheim Hills, California, has allowed just three earned runs in nine innings the last two weeks, and Engelken, a freshman from Overland Park, Kansas, has allowed three earned runs in 7 2/3 innings the last two weeks.

LJS: Nebraska excited about big week of baseball
 
NU: Huskers Continue Homestand, Host Cal St. Fullerton

Tuesday, March 24 (6:35 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP King (1-0) vs. RHP Seabold (2-1)
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Wednesday, March 25 (1:35 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP Engelken (1-0) vs. TBA
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Fresh off a three-game sweep of the Michigan Wolverines to open Big Ten play, the Nebraska baseball team (17-6, 3-0 Big Ten) will now play seven non-conference games before paying a visit to Big Ten newcomer Maryland on Friday, April 3.

The Huskers are in the home stretch of a 16-game homestand and after winning the first 10 games of the homestand NU is set to host the Cal State Fullerton Titans (11-11, 0-0 Big West) for a pair of games starting on Tuesday, March 24, at 6:35 p.m. The teams will then meet on Wednesday at 1:35 p.m.

Tuesday's series opener will be the ninth all-time meeting between the two teams, but the first-ever game between the teams in Lincoln. Five of the previous eight meetings took place in Fullerton, while the other three happened in the NCAA Tournament, including a pair of games at last year's NCAA Regional in Stillwater and a game at the 2001 College World Series. The Titans are 8-0 all-time against the Huskers.

The Huskers enter Tuesday on a 10-game winning streak, their longest since 2008, and they are a perfect 10-0 at Hawks Field this season. The Titans are 4-6 in their last 10 games and are just 2-7 away from Goodwin Field, including a 1-5 record in road games. The Titans notched their first road win of the season this past weekend when they won the middle game of their series with Long Beach State by a score of 2-1 in 10 innings.

Husker freshmen right handers Garett King and Zack Engelken are scheduled to throw on Tuesday and Wednesday for the third straight week. Each notched a career-long outing against Indiana State last week, with Engelken producing a career-high five strikeouts over 4.1 innings.

The Titans will start freshman right hander Connor Seabold on Tuesday and have yet to announce a starter for Wednesday.

On the Radio
Fans across Nebraska and around the world can listen to Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle call all of the action on the Husker Sports Network - including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln - and live on Huskers.com, the Official Husker App or the TuneIn Radio App.

TV Coverage
No TV coverage for games between Nebraska and Cal State Fullerton.

Web Streams
Both games against Cal State Fullerton will be streamed live on HuskersNSide (subscription required).

10 in a Row
Nebraska enters Tuesday on a 10-game winning streak. It is the longest streak by a Husker team since 2008 when NU rolled off 14 straight wins from Feb. 29 - March 18.

All 10 of the wins have taken place at Hawks Field and the 10-0 start at home is also the best start to a home schedule since 2008 when the Huskers won their first 11 home games before dropping the second game of a two-game series with Arkansas. NU also won its first 11 home games in 2005 and 1999.

The longest home winning streak to start a season happened in 1988, when the Huskers won their first 24 home games of the year. The first lost in 1988 came in the second game of a doubleheader against Oklahoma State on April 30.

190 and Counting
After Michael Pritchard and Pat Kelly each joined Nebraska's 200-hit club last season, senior Austin Darby is 10 hits away from becoming the program's 23rd member.

If he joins the club, Darby would be the fourth Husker to join over the past three seasons, as Chad Christensen ended his career with 247 hits in 2013.

Prior to Christensen, Jake Opitz was the last Husker to join the club in 2008.

Matt Hopper holds the school record with 338 career hits and is one of just two players in school history to have topped 300 hits.

NU 200-Career Hit Club

1. 338 Matt Hopper 2000-03

2. 305 Jeff Leise 2000-03

3. 281 Will Bolt 1999-02

4. 261 Darin Erstad 1993-95

5. 251 Michael Pritchard 2011-14

6. 250 Paul Meyers 1984-86

7. 249 Joe Simokaitis 2002-05

8. 248 Jed Dalton 1992-95

9. 247 Chad Christensen 2010-13

10. 246 Darin Petersen 1992-95

11. 242 Mark Kister 1985-87

12. 240 Alex Gordon 2003-05

13. 238 DJ Belfonte 2007-10

14. 234 Todd Sears 1995-97

15. 231 Daniel Bruce 2002-05

16. 229 Ken Ramos 1987-89

17. 227 Jake Opitz 2005-08

18. 223 Curtis Ledbetter 2003-05

19. 222 John Cole 1999-01

20. 212 Pat Kelly 2012-14

21. 203 Ken Harvey 1997-99

22. 201 Francis Collins 1995-97

Confidence in the Pen
During Darin Erstad's tenure at Nebraska, the Husker bullpen has done its job when it has a lead.

Led by pitching coach Ted Silva, the Huskers are 93-11 since 2012 when they lead after the sixth inning. The Huskers are 96-6 when leading after seven innings and nearly perfect when leading after eight innings with a 105-4 record.

Year Lead after 6 After 7 After 8

2012 31-5 29-3 31-2

2013 20-3 25-2 28-1

2014 28-3 27-1 31-1

2015 14-0 15-0 15-0

Cruise with Chesnut
Not only does Omaha native Jeff Chesnut have one of the best mustaches in college baseball, but he has also been nearly flawless out of the bullpen in 2015.

Chesnut is 3-0 on the year and holds a 0.55 ERA over 16.1 innings in a team-high 11 appearances. He has allowed one run on the year on five hits and two walks, while striking out 11.

Chesnut has inherited 13 runners on the season and only one has scored. In his first appearance of the season at UNLV on Feb. 14 he entered the game with runners on second and third with one out, and while he didn't allow a hit, a run scored on a RBI ground out.

Going back to last season, Chesnut has allowed just one earned run in his last 19.0 innings over 14 appearances.

Topping 100
Senior Austin Darby is five RBIs away from becoming the 44th Husker since 1986 to notch 100 RBIs for their career.

With a team-high tying 22 RBIs so far in 2015, Blake Headley (80 career RBIs) also has a chance to join the club this year, needing 20 more RBIs in 2015. Headley produced a career-high 27 RBIs last season.

Pat Kelly joined the club last year and ended his three-year career with 125 RBIs, while Michael Pritchard fell four RBIs short of 100 career RBIs.

Matt Hopper is the only Husker to ever top the 200-RBI mark, with a school-record 271 career RBIs.

Early Leads
After scoring just 38 first-inning runs last season in 62 games, the Huskers have gotten their starting pitchers leads early and often in 2015.

Through 23 games, the Huskers are outscoring the opposition 27-6 in the first inning of games this season.

Last season the Huskers outscored their opponents 123-95 in the first three innings of games, while this year NU holds a commanding 52-16 advantage.

Not Nice to Steal
Senior catcher Tanner Lubach enters Tuesday with 37 career runners caught stealing, which ranks third all-time at Nebraska. He is one caught stealing away from moving into a tie for second place.

Cory Burleson (2009-12) holds the school record with 46 runners caught stealing, while current volunteer assistant Jeff Christy ranks second with 38 runners caught stealing in just two years behind the plate in 2005 and 2006.

Miller's Time
Sophomore Ben Miller has been a key cog in NU's offense this season. A left-handed hitter from Clive, Iowa, Miller is tied with Blake Headley for the team lead in RBIs with 22 in 23 games, nine more than the 13 RBIs he totaled in 29 starts last season.

Miller and Headley are each tied with Michigan's Carmen Benedetti for second in the Big Ten in RBIs, while Maryland's Jose Cuas leads the conference with 25 RBIs.

Fullerton Connections
Both of Nebraska's assistant coaches have ties to the Cal State Fullerton program, as Associate Head Coach Ted Silva both played and coached for the Titans, while Assistant Head Coach Mike Kirby coached at CSF for 11 seasons, including each of the last three years.

Silva started the national championship game in 1995 when Fullerton won the College World Series and Kirby was an assistant coach on the squad.

Husker Nation Packs the Park
Husker fans posted a three-day attendance of 17,083 during NU's series with Florida Gulf Coast, which easily broke the previous facility record of 14,885 for a non-conference series at Hawks Field.

The previous mark was set in 2006, when the Huskers opened their home schedule with a three-game series against Alabama.

During the first 10 games on NU's 16-game homestand the Huskers have posted an attendance mark of 40,050 (Avg. 4,005). Last season over 25 dates the Huskers posted a home attendance of 81,044 (Avg. 3,241).

Get the Hits
Last season the Huskers produced double-digit hits in 30 of their 62 games, including 14 of their 27 home games.

The Huskers were 25-5 when notching double-digit hits last season.

Through 23 games this season, the Huskers have notched double-digit hits seven times and are a perfect 7-0 in those games.

The Huskers are 11-1 this year when out-hitting their opponent. The only loss came against LSU, when the Huskers out hit the Tigers, 9-8, but lost 4-2.

Last season, Nebraska was 32-3 when they out hit their opponent, with losses coming against Oregon State, as well as both of NU's losses to Cal State Fullerton in the NCAA Tournament.

Tanner Heating Up
Tanner Lubach didn't get off to the start he wanted in his senior year, going 0-for-18 to start to the season. Lubach broke the dry spell with a double that nearly left the park against BYU on Saturday, Feb. 21.

In the 14 games since, Lubach is hitting .360 (18-for-50) with two doubles, two home runs and six multi-hit performances.

More importantly, Lubach has struck out just five times over the past 14 games, after notching nine strikeouts through his first six games of the season.

Close the Door
After playing his freshman season at Louisburg College in North Carolina, Josh Roeder joined the Huskers in 2013 and helped solidify the back end of NU's bullpen.

During the 2013 season, Roeder saw most of his action in a setup role to Dylan Vogt, but did collect six saves. Roeder took over the closer role in 2014 and saved 12 games.

Already with seven saves in seven chances this season, Roeder enters Tuesday ranked second in NU history with 25 career saves and needs seven more saves in 2015 to break Brett Jensen's school record of 31 saves.

NU: Huskers Continue Homestand, Host CSF
 
B1G: Baseball Weekly Honors

Player of the Week
Brandon Lowe, Maryland
So., 2B, Suffolk, Va. - Nansemond River
• Guided the Terrapins to a 5-0 week with sweeps of Elon and Minnesota in their first Big Ten series
• Notched four multi-hit games, batting .522 (12-for-23) with eight runs scored and seven RBI
• Recorded two home runs, two triples and two doubles, including plating the tying run in the seventh inning of a comeback win over Elon
• Earns his first career Big Ten Player of the Week award
• Last Maryland Big Ten Player of the Week: N/A

Pitcher of the Week
Kevin Duchene, Illinois
Jr., LHP, Dakota Dunes, S.D. - Bishop Heelan Catholic
• Ended South Florida's previous nine-game winning streak and picked up the win after striking out eight batters in 7.0 innings of work
• Allowed only two hits without an earned run
• Improved to 3-1, lowering his ERA to 0.67 on the season
• Records his third career Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor and first this season
• Last Illinois Big Ten Pitcher of the Week: Tyler Jay (March 9, 2015)

Co-Freshmen of the Week
Sal Biasi, Penn State
RHP, Willkes Barre, Pa. - Hazleton
• Struck out nine consecutive batters across two relief appearances against Canisius and Indiana in 4.1 innings pitched
• Struck out three straight batters in one inning against Canisius
• Tossed 3.1 scoreless innings, including six strikeouts and allowing only one hit against the Hoosiers
• Wins his first Big Ten Freshman of the Week award
• Last Penn State Big Ten Freshman of the Week: Jim Haley (April 8, 2014)

Milo Freeman, Rutgers
INF, Millburn, N.J. - Millburn
• Batted .571 (8-for-14), helping the Scarlet Knights to their first conference series win over Purdue
• Went 4-for-4 with an RBI and three stolen bases in the final game against the Boilermakers
• Recorded four putouts at third base
• Wins his first Big Ten Freshman of the Week award
• Last Rutgers Big Ten Freshman of the Week: N/A

2015 Big Ten Baseball Players of the Week
Feb. 16
PL: Nick Ramos, Jr., IND
P: Rob McDonnell, Sr., ILL
F: Austin Guzzo, IOWA


Feb. 23
PL: Ryan Boldt, So., NEB
P: Mike Shawaryn, So., MD
F: Kevin Smith, MD

March 3
PL: Jackson Glines, Sr., MICH
P: Brett Adcock, So., MICH
F: Logan Sowers, IND

March 9
PL: Kyle Wood, Jr., PUR
P: Tyler Jay, Jr., ILL
F: Logan Sowers, IND
F: Alex Troop, MSU

March 16
PL: Austin Cangelosi, So., IND
P: Mike Shawaryn, So., MD
F: Brian Hobbie, IND

March 23
PL: Brandon Lowe, So., MD
P: Kevin Duchene, Jr., ILL
F: Sal Biasi, PSU
F: Milo Freeman, PSU


PL: Player of the Week
P: Pitcher of the Week
F: Freshman of the Week

B1G: Baseball Weekly Honors
 
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