Huskers Conclude Homestand vs. Western Illinois

Record (18-2, 0-0 Big 12) ? National Rankings: 9 (CB) ? 20 (BA) ? 16 (Sports Weekly)
Day Date Opponent (Record) Location Time
Wed. March 23 vs. Western Illinois Hawks Field 2:05 p.m.
Fri. March 25 at Kansas (20-8, 0-0 Big 12) Lawrence, Kan. (Hoglund Ballpark) 3 p.m.
Sat. March 26 at Kansas Lawrence, Kan. (Hoglund Ballpark) 1 p.m.
Sun. March 27 at Kansas Lawrence, Kan. (Hoglund Ballpark) 1 p.m.
Polls are listed in the following order: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly

Pitching Probables vs. Western Illinois
Wed. NU - Johnny Dorn, Fr., RHP (2-1, 1.15 ERA) vs. WIU - Clint Buchen, Jr., LHP (0-1, 8.22 ERA)

Media Information
Radio: None
TV: None
Live Stats: Huskers.com

Internet Video Streaming: Both mid-week games will be video streamed live on HuskersNside. For more information or to subscribe for the 2005 season, visit Huskers.com.

Huskers Conclude Homestand vs. Western Illinois
Nebraska wraps up its longest homestand of the year on Wednesday, as the Huskers play host to Western Illinois at 2:05 p.m. at Hawks Field.

NU’s 18-2 mark after 20 games is the program’s best since the 1983 squad opened the year with 26 consecutive wins. The Huskers climbed in the national polls released Monday, jumping to as high as ninth (from 21st) nationally in Collegiate Baseball, 16th in Sports Weekly/ESPN and 20th (from 23rd) in Baseball America’s poll. It is the first time the Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 in any of the national polls since May 25, 2003.

The Huskers have enjoyed the comforts of Hawks Field, hitting .391 as a team and averaging more than 11 runs per game in Lincoln. The Huskers have scored at least 10 runs in seven of their nine home contests while holding opponents to 2.5 runs per contest.

Third baseman Alex Gordon (Lincoln, Neb.) was named Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week on Monday after hitting .560 (14-for-25) with four homers, 10 RBIs and 11 runs scored in six games last week. Shortstop Joe Simokaitis (St. Louis, Mo.) currently brings a 17-game hitting streak into the week and is hitting .333 on the season.

Western Illinois comes to Lincoln with only four wins in its first 21 games, but has faced a treacherous early season schedule. The Leathernecks have played LSU, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas over the last month and come off a three-game sweep by Kansas last weekend.

True freshman Johnny Dorn (Grand Island, Neb.) will make his third start of the season on Wednesday. Dorn is 2-1 with a 1.15 ERA in four appearances, spanning 15.2 innings of work. He has won his last two appearances, including tossing three perfect innings of relief against Northern Colorado on March 17 in his last appearance. Dorn, who struck out two in the outing, has 14 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .170 average.

Following Wednesday's game, the Huskers will travel to Lawrence, Kan., to begin a three-game series with the Jayhawks. First pitch is set for Friday at 3 p.m., with 1 p.m. starts set for Saturday and Sunday. Nebraska then returns home to a four-game week that features Creighton on March 29 and a three-game series against Oklahoma State.

Leading Off
? - At 18-2 entering the week, the Huskers are enjoying one of their best starts in the program’s 100-plus year history. Nebraska’s 20-game start is the best since the 1983 season, when the Huskers opened the year with 26 straight wins.

Best 20-Game Starts in School History

No. 20-Game Record
1983 20-0
2005 18-2
1979 17-3
1980 17-3
1988 17-3

?-The Huskers’ pitching has been a strength in the early season, as NU leads the Big 12 with a 1.87 ERA. In fact, the Huskers have allowed only one opponent - USC on March 6 - to score more than four runs in a game this season.

? - After having just one multi-homer game in 2004, Nebraska has had four in the last seven contests after Bryce Nimmo’s (Cheyenne, Wyo) two-homer game on Saturday. Curtis Ledbetter (Lawrence, Kan.) and Brandon Fusilier (Coppell, Texas) became only the third and fourth Huskers to ever homer twice in an inning on March 13.

The duo joins Matt Hopper (2000) and Marc Sagmoen (1993) as the only Huskers to belt two homers in the same inning.

? - Nebraska is fielding at a .989 clip over the last 10 games and committed only one error in six games last week. In fact, NU has committed just eight errors in its last 15 games (.986 fielding percentage) after committing eight in five games at Hawaii-Hilo during the first weekend of the year.

Cutting Down on Errors
Games Errrors Fielding Pct.
1-5 8 .959
6-20 8 .986

? - Nebraska has scored three runs or more in an inning 22 times already this season, including an 11-run inning against South Dakota State on March 13. On the other hand, no opponent has scored more than two runs in any inning this season.

? - The Huskers have also gotten off to quick starts, scoring at least one run in the first inning in 12 of 20 games and outscoring its opponents 25-6 in the first inning of games this season.

?-Nebraska has scored at least one run in 409 of the last 410 games dating back to the 1998 season. In 2004, the Huskers were the only Big 12 team not shut out.

?-Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson became only the fourth Husker baseball coach to reach 100 wins in Saturday’s 11-2 victory over Seton Hall. With a 101-43 record, Anderson’s .701 winning percentage is the best by a Husker manager.

?-Senior shortstop Joe Simokaitis (St. Louis, Mo.) enters the week with a 17-game hitting streak dating back to Feb. 18. He is two away from tying Will Bolt (2002) and Justin Cowan (1999) for the ninth-longest hitting streak in school history.

?-Nebraska has had two players honored as Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week this season, as Alex Gordon (Lincoln, Neb.) was chosen on Monday, joining Joba Chamberlain (Lincoln, Neb.), who earned the honor after striking out 15 over seven scoreless innings against New Mexico on Feb. 25. Gordon was honored after hitting .560 (14-for-25) with four homers and 10 RBIs in leading the Huskers to 10 straight wins. Gordon is the first Husker position player honored by the publication since All-American Jed Morris in 2002.

?-Gordon will look to become the first position player and only the second player in Big 12 history to repeat as conference player of the year. Baylor’s Jason Jennings is the only other player to win multiple Big 12 Player-of-the-Year awards (1998-99).

? - Nebraska has been efficient on the basepaths, going 44-of-51 in stolen bases in the first 20 games. Last season, NU had just 25 stolen bases at this point of the season.

?-Nebraska is only one of 11 teams nationally - and one of only two schools in the Big 12 - to have team ERAs under 4.00 in each of the last three seasons.

Scouting Western Illinois
The Leathernecks come to Lincoln with a 4-17 record after dropping a three-game series at Kansas last weekend, the end of a seven-game spring break trip. Head Coach Stan Hyman’s (70-130 in four seasons at Western Illinois) team was picked second in the Mid-Continent Conference. Western Illinois, which has a win over Texas Tech in Lubbock this season, dropped the final two games against Kansas last weekend by one run. Outfielder Kyle Malan, a second-team All Mid-Con selection in 2004, paces WIU with a .373 average with five homers and 23 RBIs, while shortstop Ryan Schmidgall and third baseman Tyler Johnson also have 14 RBIs apiece. Nebraska has won all 20 meetings in the series, sweeping the Leathernecks (5-3, 8-0) last season at Hawks Field.

Week in Review:
Friday: Nebraska 6, Seton Hall 2: Joba Chamberlain fanned 12 over eight innings, while Nebraska used a five-run fourth inning to defeat Seton Hall, 6-2, in Friday’s series opener. Chamberlain improved to 4-0 on the season, allowing two runs on four hits over the first eight frames. The sophomore right-hander, who has an 0.83 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 32.2 innings this season, got stronger as the game went on, retiring the final 11 hitters he faced. Nebraska, which improved to 16-2 with its eighth straight win, was challenged in the ninth, as Seton Hall loaded the bases with no outs, but Brett Jensen retired the next three Pirates for his fourth save. Jeff Christy paced the Husker offense with pair of hits and an RBI while Alex Gordon and Daniel Bruce also added two hits apiece. Brandon Fusilier continued his power surge with his seventh homer of the year.

Saturday: Nebraska 11, Seton Hall 2: Zach Kroenke tossed eight innings of shutout ball while Bryce Nimmo went 2-for-3 with two homers and a career-high six RBIs in a 11-2 Husker win. Kroenke (2-0) turned in his best outing of the season, striking out five and allowing two singles, as he faced only two above the minimum over eight innings. Nimmo powered Nebraska’s 13-hit attack with the first two homers of his career, a two-run shot in the sixth and a three-run blast one inning later. Curtis Ledbetter went 2-for-3 with three RBIs while Alex Gordon had two hits, including his seventh round tripper of the season.

Sunday: Nebraska 10, Seton Hall 3: Nebraska used a seventh-run fourth inning to overcome an early 2-1 deficit, completing a three-game sweep with a 10-3 victory. Joe Simokaitis went 1-for-2 with a career-high three stolen bases and scored twice, while Curtis Ledbetter and Alex Gordon (Lincoln, Neb.) had two hits apiece for Nebraska, which won its 10th straight game. Trailing 2-1, the Huskers sent 10 men to the plate and scored seven times on six hits in the fourth, taking advantage of a pair of Seton Hall errors. RBI singles by Jeff Christy and Ryan Wehrle gave NU 3-2 lead before the Huskers tacked on five more runs, taking advantage of two Seton Hall errors and a wild pitch. Phil Shriek (3-0) was the beneficiary of Nebraska’s outburst, allowing two runs on four hits over five innings for the win.