Huskers Put Big 12 Title Hopes on Line vs. KSU

Record (43-12, 16-8 Big 12) ? National Rankings: 5 (CB) ? 7 (BA) ? 7 (Sports Weekly) ? 6 (NCBWA)
Day Date Opp. Rank Opponent (Record) Location Time
Tues. May 17 Northern Illinois Hawks Field W, 10-2
Wed. May 18 Northern Illinois Hawks Field W, 3-2
Fri. May 20 Kansas State (30-22, 8-16 Big 12) Hawks Field 6:35 p.m.
Sat. May 21 Kansas State Hawks Field 2:05 p.m.
Sun. May 22 Kansas State Hawks Field 1:05 p.m.
Polls are listed in the following order: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly

Pitching Probables
Fri. NU - Joba Chamberlain, So., RHP (6-2, 2.21 ERA) vs. KSU - Chase Mitchell, Jr., RHP (7-5, 4.50 ERA)
Sat. NU - Johnny Dorn, Fr., RHP (7-1, 1.85 ERA) vs. KSU - Brad Hutt, Fr., RHP (2-0, 2.37 ERA)
Sun. NU - Zach Kroenke, Jr., LHP (5-2, 3.09 ERA) vs. KSU - Adam Cowart, Jr., RHP (7-3, 3.94 ERA)

Media Information
Tickets: Reserved ($8, sold out); General Admission ($6 and $4); University of Nebraska Students Free with ID
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (all three games) \
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Television: Sat. (NET-1 - Ch. 12 in Lincoln; CSTV)
Internet Video Streaming: HuskersNside

Huskers Put Big 12 Title Hopes on Line vs. KSU
The Nebraska baseball team looks to improve its postseason position and attempt to win a share of its third Big 12 title in five years, as the Huskers host Kansas State at Hawks Field this weekend. The series between the Huskers (43-12, 16-8 Big 12) and Wildcats (30-18, 8-16 Big 12) begins Friday evening at 6:35 p.m. with afternoon contests set for both Saturday (2:05) and Sunday (1:05).

All three games will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, including KLIN (1400 AM) in Lincoln, 1110 (KFAB AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington and will also be available on Huskers.com. All three games will also be video-streamed on HuskersNside, NU’s premium subscription-based service.

Saturday’s game will be carried both state-wide on Nebraska Educational Television (Ch. 12 and Ch. 112 in HD in Lincoln) with a live simulcast on College Sports Television (Ch. 610 on DirecTV and Ch. 305 on Time Warner Cable in Lincoln).

Both teams enter the final weekend of the regular season with plenty of motivation. The Huskers are 16-8 in the Big 12 and two games behind Baylor in the chase for the league crown. The Huskers need at least a series win - and most likely a sweep of KSU to have a shot at the conference regular-season title and the top seed in next week’s Big 12 Tournament.

Nebraska can finish anywhere between first and fourth in the league standings, while a series win will guarantee no worse than a top-two league finish - the fifth time in the last six seasons that the Huskers would finish either first or second in the Big 12 race.

Kansas State, which leaves the state of Kansas for the first time since April 10, comes into Lincoln looking to extend its season into next week’s conference tournament in Oklahoma City. With an 8-16 mark, the Wildcats are tied for ninth with Texas A&M in the league race, but are only two games out of seventh. KSU had won its last five games, sweeping South Dakota State during its midweek series.

In addition to Nebraska’s series with KSU, Baylor hosts Missouri, Kansas hosts Oklahoma State, Oklahoma hosts Texas Tech, while Texas A&M and Texas will square off three times, with the final two games taking place in Austin.

Leading Off
?-With 43 wins entering the weekend, Nebraska has already eclipsed the 40-win plateau and could reach 45 wins before the conference tournament for just the fifth time in school history and the first since 1988.

?-The Huskers’ pitching has been a strength throughout 2005, as Nebraska leads the Big 12 and ranks second nationally in ERA.

National ERA Team Leaders (as of May 17)
No. Team Team ERA
1. Long Beach State 2.24
2. Nebraska 2.45
3. Texas 2.67
4. Oregon State 2.74
5. Missouri 2.74

?-Nebraska has held 45 of its 55 opponents to four runs or less and its 2.45 ERA is on pace to break the school record of 2.64 set in 1965. Since the aluminum bat was introduced into college baseball in 1974, NU has never posted an ERA below 3.00.

Single-Season Team ERA Totals
No. Team ERA Year
-- 2.45 2005
1. 2.64 1965
2. 2.69 1969
3. 2.73 1966
4. 3.07 1984
3.07 1961

?-Nebraska has won the last seven meetings against Kansas State dating back to the 2002 season, its longest winning streak against KSU since a nine-game winning streak over the Wildcats in the mid-1990s. In Lincoln, the current Husker winning streak is eight games dating back to the 1997 season.

?-The Huskers are 25-4 at Hawks Field this season and 102-23 (.816) since the ballpark opened in 2002.

?-The Huskers’ No. 3 ranking last week was its highest in any national poll since the 2001 season - a year the Huskers were ranked first for two weeks in Baseball America.

?-At 43-12, the Huskers are enjoying one of their best marks in the program’s 100-plus year history. The 2005 Huskers are only one game off the program’s best 55-game mark (44-11 in both 1979 and 1980).

?-The Huskers have gotten off to quick starts, scoring at least one run in the first inning in 27 of 55 games and outscoring their opponents 43-13 in the first inning of games this season.

?-NU has 16 come-from-behind wins this season, including overcoming a four-run deficit against No. 17 Missouri on May 8.

?-NU has scored at least one run in 442 of the last 443 games dating back to the 1998 season. In 2004, the Huskers were the only Big 12 team not shut out, and NU currently has a string of 114 games with at least one run.

?-After having just one multi-homer game in 2004, Nebraska has eight this season, including four by first baseman/catcher Curtis Ledbetter and two by All-American third baseman Alex Gordon.

?-Nebraska’s starting pitchers are a combined 28-4 this season and had won their first 19 decisions before Zach Kroenke’s loss to No. 1 Texas on April 9.

?- Eight of Nebraska’s 12 losses this season have been by one run, as the Huskers are 7-8 in one-run games this year.

?-Nebraska has scored three runs or more in an inning 41 times this season, including an 11-run inning against South Dakota State on March 13.

?-Third baseman Alex Gordon is looking 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.

Cook’s Hams Trading Card Day on Saturday
For the third straight season, the Husker baseball team has teamed up with Cook’s Hams and the Lancaster Country Sheriff’s Office to produce a set of trading cards for the 2005 season. The 40-card sets, which features a mixture of action and posed pictures along with a team photo, will be available to the first 750 kids ages 12-and-under prior to Saturday’s 2:05 p.m. against Kansas State.

The Class of 2005
Eight members of the Nebraska baseball team will make their final regular-season appearances at Hawks Field this weekend. The group, which includes four fifth-year seniors, will be honored prior to Sunday’s regular-season finale, have helped Nebraska compile a 223-90 (.712) record with two CWS appearances (2001-02), two Big 12 regular-season titles (2001 and 2003) and three NCAA regional appearances (2001-03). Members of the Huskers’ 2005 class include Jeremy Becker, Jesse Boyer, Daniel Bruce, Brandon Fusilier, Curtis Ledbetter, Phil Shirek, Joe Simokaitis and Dustin Timm.

What to Watch For
?-Shortstop Joe Simokaitis enters the wekend needing three assists to pass NU Volunteer coach Will Bolt for the school record in career assists. Simokaitis, a four-year starter at shortstop, has 637 career assists, two behind Bolt’s mark of 639. With 165 assists in 2005, Simokaitis now holds two of the top-10 assist seasons in school history.

?-Alex Gordon and Daniel Bruce both enter the weekend with 49 career doubles, tying for third on NU’s career list, and could become only the third and fourth Huskers to ever have 50 doubles in their career. Gordon is also one homer away from moving into fourth place on NU’s career homer list.

?-Lawrence, Kan., native Curtis Ledbetter has been a thorn in the side of the Wildcats throughout his Husker career. Ledbetter is a career .429 hitter with four homers and 14 RBIs in six career games against KSU.

?-Ledbetter is one of three Sunflower state products on the Husker roster, joining two-way performer Ryan Bohanan (Goddard) and relief pitcher Matt Foust (Overland Park). Bohanan, who has shined out of the bullpen for most of the 2004 campaign, has showed a potent bat in the last week, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs in NU’s last three games.

?-Nebraska’s bullpen has been superb in 2005, posting a 15-8 record with a 1.96 ERA in 193 innings of work. NU has 13 saves, a total that is already third in school annals. The Huskers had a streak of 37.2 innings without allowing an earned run from April 23 until May 10, and has not allowed a run in its last eight innings of work.

Charting the Husker Bullpen (2000-present)
Year ERA W-L IP H R ER BB SO B/Avg
2005 1.96 15-8 193.0 145 54 42 61 164 .210
2004 3.70 11-11 201.2 206 97 83 63 161 .269
2003 3.94 14-7 205.1 207 117 90 73 180 .266
2002 4.26 12-13 228.0 232 129 108 69 172 .263
2001 3.21 20-8 232.2 223 122 83 99 189 .250
2000* 3.34 18-7 218.1 204 99 81 71 164 .247
*-Nebraska’s pitching staff led nation with 3.14 ERA

Scouting Kansas State
Kansas State comes to Lincoln riding a five-game winning streak after sweeping South Dakota State in a midweek series. The Wildcats (30-22) are tied for ninth in the Big 12 race with an 8-16 mark, trailing eighth-place Kansas by a game and a half.

KSU leads the Big 12 in hitting, as they enter the weekend with a .315 average. Third baseman Barrett Rice is one of four KSU players hitting above .340, as he is hitting .357 with six homers and 26 RBIs. Terry Blunt is also hitting .356 and is among the conference leaders with 26 stolen bases in 28 attempts. All-Big 12 performer Steve Murphy tops KSU in both homers (10) and RBIs (44), while hitting .348 in 50 contests.

On the mound, junior college transfer Adam Cowart anchors KSU’s rotation, as he enters the weekend with a 7-3 record and a 3.94 ERA in a team-high 93.2 innings. Friday’s starter, right-hander Chase Mitchell also has seven wins and a 4.50 ERA in 80 innings.

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 149-96 and is riding a seven-game winning streak dating back to the 2002 Big 12 Tournament in Arlington, Texas. Last season, the Huskers swept KSU in Manhattan, including a pair of shutouts (8-0, 4-0).