Red/White Series to Begin Wednesday

Lincoln -- The Nebraska baseball team will conclude fall drills this week with the annual Red/White Series at Buck Beltzer Stadium. The series begins Wednesday afternoon and all games are free to the public.

With 15 letterwinners and six everyday starters back from last season's 51-17 team which finished one win away from the College World Series, the Husker coaching staff is anxious to see the culmination of four weeks of fall drills.

"It's been a very good fall as far as evaluation of our new players," Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. "It's been good to see them play in scrimmage situations against live pitching. Our pitching staff is very solid, so it gives us a pretty good indication of what our hitters need to work on."

The series opener features two of the nation's top hurlers as Preseason National Player-of-the-Year candidate Shane Komine (11-4, 2.24 ERA in 2000) will square off against R.D. Spiehs (8-2, 3.23). Komine, the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, struck out a school-record 159 batters last season, while Spiehs, who spent the summer pitching in the prestigious Cape Cod League, held opposing hitters to a .244 average last season and stuck out 44 in 59 2/3 innings.

Thursday's twinbill will match Thom Ott (2-1, 1.26) against Brian Rodaway (1-1, 6.31) in the opener, while Jamie Rodrigue (9-4, 2.64) will face redshirt freshman Justin Pekarek in the nightcap.

Despite the absence of infielder Will Bolt (.350-3 HR 41 RBI), who has missed the fall after having his knee cleaned out, the Husker offense will be strong with the return of designated hitter Matt Hopper (.352-21-71 RBI) and and first baseman Dan Johnson (.352-21-53), along with Adam Stern (.356-0-45), Josh Hesse (.327-2-26) and John Cole (.322-2-26). Other than Bolt, the Huskers have been healthy during fall workouts.

While Van Horn's team looks to replace six players who were selected in the Major League Baseball draft, including All-American catcher Justin Cowan and starting pitcher Trevor Bullock, the newcomers in camp have already made an impression on the Husker skipper.

"I've been impressed with several of our juco position players and a couple of our freshman pitchers have really done a good job on the mound," Van Horn said.

Red/White Schedule

Date	Time
Wednesday, October 18	5:30pm
Thursday, October 19	2:45pm (DH)
Friday, October 20	2:45pm
Saturday, October 21	9:30am
Sunday, October 22	1pm (DH, if necessary)