Husker Baseball Begins Fall Drills, Set to Host Scrimmage

Lincoln -- The University of Nebraska baseball team kicked off its 28-day fall season Wednesday in preparation for the 2000 baseball season. The Huskers will head into the season looking to improve on last year's 42-18 performance that saw them win the Big 12 Conference tournament championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1985.

Head Coach Dave Van Horn said the fall season should be as exciting as he's ever had as a coach.

"We're excited about the athletic ability we have this season," Van Horn said. "They all bring something to the table, whether it's speed or power. This should be the most competitive fall season I've ever had as a coach. It should be a very competitive. It will make our scrimmages a little better, with the players knowing they have to beat out somebody every day. "

Nebraska fans will get their first chance to see the new Huskers Saturday, Sept. 18, at Buck Beltzer Stadium. The Huskers will host a six-inning, intrasquad scrimmage at 9 a.m. The scrimmage is open to the public and is free of charge. The fall season will tentatively conclude Oct. 14, with the annual Red-White series, a three to five-game intrasquad series at Buck Beltzer Stadium.

"The fall season will give us an opportunity to evaluate our pitching staff and see where we are at," Van Horn said. "We have a lot of new quality arms in some freshmen and junior college transfers. We will try and see how some of our returners come in and we hope to see them solidify a starting position. Of course, with our freshman, we want to see how they fit in and where they can help us the most."

While the Huskers lose nine letterwinners from 1999, including first-team All-American Ken Harvey at first base, Van Horn still returns 17 lettermen, including six position players who started at least 31 games last season.

Van Horn said the this year's infield will take on a new look, as he hopes to move sophomore Will Bolt from second base to short stop, senior Brandt Vlieger from shortstop to third base and bring sophomore John Cole from the outfield to play second base. With the loss of Harvey at first base, junior Dan Wright, a transfer from Dixie College (Utah), and junior Dan Johnson, a transfer from Iowa Western, will battle for the starting spot.

"We would like to see if John Cole can play second base on a full-time basis, which would allow us to get more speed in the outfield with Adam Stern," Van Horn said. "The first base position is a question mark, but we have a couple of guys that will challenge for that spot. Josh Hesse is a transfer from Meridian Community College (Miss.) and will also compete for some time in the middle infield. We also have 15 pitchers trying to battle for the top 10 spots on the mound."