Fifth-Ranked Nebraska Hosts No. 17 Missouri

Record (37-9, 12-6 Big 12) ? National Rankings: 5 (CB) ? 7 (BA) ? 5 (Sports Weekly) ? 4 (NCBWA)
Day Date Opp. Rank Opponent (Record) Location Time
Fri. May 6 21/17/25 Missouri (31-14, 11-7 Big 12) Hawks Field 6:35 p.m.
Sat. May 7 21/17/25 Missouri Hawks Field 2:05 p.m.
Sun. May 8 21/17/25 Missouri 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 (6-1, 1.92 ERA) vs. MU - Max Scherzer, So., RHP (6-2, 1.36 ERA)
Sat. NU - Zach Kroenke, Jr., LHP (5-2, 2.77 ERA) vs. MU - Nathan Culp, So., LHP (7-1, 3.14 ERA)
Sun. NU - Johnny Dorn, Fr., RHP (7-1, 1.89 ERA) vs. MU - Doug Mathis, Jr., RHP (4-4, 3.12 ERA)

Media Information
Tickets: Reserved ($8, sold out); General Admission ($6 and $4); UNL Students Free with ID
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (Jim Rose and John Bishop)
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Television: Saturday’s game will be carried live on Nebraska Educational Television (Ch. 12) and NET-HD (Ch. 112) and simulcast nationally on College Sports Television (Ch. 305 on Time Warner Cable; Ch. 610 on DirecTV)
Announcers: Kevin Kugler and Adrian Fiala
Internet Video Streaming: All three games vs. Missouri will be video streamed on HuskersNside. For more information, log on to Huskers.com

Fifth-Ranked Nebraska Hosts No. 17 Missouri
Following a break for final exams, the Nebraska baseball team begins the homestretch of the regular season this weekend, as No. 17 Missouri visits Hawks Field to take on the fifth-ranked Huskers. Large crowds are expected all three days, as all 4,400 chair-back seats are sold out and only general admission seating is available.

The opener for the three-game set is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on Friday with afternoon starts slated 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, KFAB 1110 AM in Omaha and KRVN 880 in Lexington.

Saturday’s game will also be carried to a statewide and national audience, as the tilt will be shown on Nebraska Educational Television (Ch. 12) and NET-HD (Ch. 112 on Time Warner Cable) and will be simulcast nationally on College Sport Television (Ch. 610 on DirecTV and Ch. 305 on Time Warner Cable). It will be the 12th nationally televised contest of the season for the Huskers and fourth of five NET regularly-scheduled telecasts this season.

The weekend series features two of the top four teams in the Big 12, as Nebraska (37-9) is second in the league with a 12-6 record, one game ahead of fourth-place Missouri, which is 11-7 in conference play. Both teams look to gain ground on league-leader Baylor (15-6) which is off this weekend, while Texas (11-6) travels to Kansas for a weekend series.

The Huskers continued to climb in the national polls, moving to fifth in both the Collegiate Baseball and the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches poll, while jumping to seventh in the Baseball America poll. Missouri (31-14), which lost 10-5 to SMS on Tuesday, is also ranked in all three polls and is as high as 17th in the rankings.

National Champion Bowlers to Be Honored: Head Coach Bill Straub and the Nebraska bowling team will be honored prior to Friday’s contest. The Huskers won their second-straight NCAA crown last month in Orlando, Fla.

Four Current Husker Ballplayers among 63 UNL Grads: Jeremy Becker (agricultural engineering), Jesse Boyer (communication studies), Curtis Ledbetter (news-editorial) and Dustin Timm (communication studies) will join former players Justin Cowan (1999-2000) and John Grose (2002-04) in receiving their degrees Saturday morning. The seven baseball players are among the 60 current or former Husker athletes scheduled to graduate on Saturday.

Leading Off
?-At 37-9, the Huskers are enjoying one of their best marks in the program’s 100-plus year history. Only the 1979 and 1983 teams have enjoyed better records at this point of the season than the 2005 Huskers.

Best 46-Game Starts in School History

No. 46-Game Record Final Record
1979 40-6 49-15
1983 39-7 44-15
2005 37-9 --
1982 36-10 44-13

1999-2005 Records
Game 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
46 31-15 34-12 35-11 30-16 35-11 30-16 37-9
47 32-15 35-12 35-12 31-16 35-12 31-16
48 32-16 36-12 36-12 31-17 36-12 32-16
49 33-16 37-12 37-12 32-17 36-13 33-16

?-Nebraska’s No. 5 ranking this week is its highest in any national poll since May of 2003.

?-Nebraska has 13 come-from-behind wins this season, with the three-run deficits overcome against Northern Iowa on April 20 and Baylor on April 23 equaling NU’s largest deficit overcome in a win this season.

?-The Huskers are 21-3 at Hawks Field this season and 98-22 (.817) since the ballpark opened in 2002.

?-Nebraska is 8-4 against nationally ranked foes this season, including 5-3 against teams ranked in the top-10 of at least one national poll. In addition, NU is 28-11 against ranked opponents at Hawks Field since the ballpark opened in 2002.

?-Five of the last six contests against Missouri have come down to the last at-bat, including all three games in Lincoln two years ago.

?-The Huskers’ pitching has been a strength throughout 2005, as Nebraska leads the Big 12 and ranks second nationally in ERA. Nebraska has held 40 of its 46 opponents to four runs or less and its 2.41 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.

National ERA Team Leaders (as of May 2)
No. Team Team ERA
1. Long Beach State 2.06
2. Nebraska 2.41
3. Texas 2.67
4. Missouri 2.71
5. North Carolina 2.81

?-Nebraska is also among the nation’s top fielding clubs, as its .978 fielding percentage ranks third nationally and would break the school mark of .975 set last season. Three Big 12 teams (Texas A&M, Nebraska and Texas) all rank in the top 10 nationally, while Nebraska is the only team in the nation to rank in the top five in both pitching and fielding percentage.

National Fielding Team Leaders (as of May 2)
No. Team Team ERA
1. Stanford .979
2. Texas A&M .979
3. Nebraska .978
4. San Jose St. .977
5. Washington .977

?-The Huskers have also gotten off to quick starts, scoring at least one run in the first inning in 22 of 46 games and outscoring their opponents 37-11 in the first inning of games this season.

?-NU has scored at least one run in 433 of the last 434 games dating back to the 1998 season. In 2004, the Huskers were the only Big 12 team not shut out.

?-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.

?-Last month, Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson coached his 150th game at Nebraska, becoming only the fourth Husker coach to reach that mark in program history. His winning percentage is the second-highest among any Husker coach at the 150-game mark.

?-Nebraska’s starting pitchers are a combined 24-3 this season and had won their first 19 decisions before Zach Kroenke’s loss to No. 1 Texas on April 9.

?- Six of Nebraska’s nine losses this season have been by one run, as the Huskers are 5-6 in one-run games this year.

?-Nebraska has scored three runs or more in an inning 36 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.

?-Nebraska has had two players honored as Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week this season. Alex Gordon was chosen on March 22, joining Joba Chamberlain, who earned the honor on Feb. 25.

?-Nebraska is averaging a league-best 6,313 fans in its nine Big 12 home contests this season.

Scouting Missouri
Missouri comes to town with a 31-14 record, but is looking to snap a two-game losing streak. The Tigers are currently fourth in the Big 12 with a 11-7 league mark and are one game out of second place. MU, which was picked ninth in the preseason poll, has been ranked as high as 13th nationally before a recent slide which has seen it drop eight of its last 12 contests.

The strength of the Tigers is a pitching staff that ranks fourth nationally with a 2.77 ERA. Sophomore Max Scherzer is the ace of the staff, going 6-2 with a 1.36 ERA, as he also tops the Big 12 in strikeouts (98) and opponent batting average (.141).

James Boone, Hunter Mense and Jacob Priday have been the keys to a Missouri offense averaging nearly nine runs per game. Boone ranks second in the league with 63 RBIs, while hitting .357 with six homers. Mense tops the Tigers in hitting with a .364 mark and is second on the squad with 46 runs scored. Priday tops MU with seven homers and has driven in 53 runs while hitting .315.

Missouri leads the all-time series, 135-97-1, but the games have been highly competitive in recent seasons. In fact, five of the last six games have been decided by one run with all five being decided on the last at-bat. NU took 2-of-3 against MU in their only previous meeting at Hawks Field in 2002.

Last Time Out
Thursday (OU 5, NU 1): Daniel McCutchen scattered six hits in recording his first complete game of the season, as Oklahoma picked up its first win over Nebraska in Norman since 1999, downing the fifth-ranked Huskers, 5-1, in the series opener. McCutchen (2-3) fanned nine Huskers, as he out-dueled NU ace Joba Chamberlain in front of an ESPN national television audience and helped OU snap a four-game losing streak. The Sooner right-hander tossed the first complete game against Nebraska this season, as he gave up an RBI single to Joe Simokaitis in the third before holding the Huskers scoreless over the final six frames. Simokaitis provided most of the Huskers’ offensive attack, going 2-for-4 with an RBI as no other NU player had more than one hit.

Friday (NU 8, OU 1): Zach Kroenke kept Oklahoma’s bats chilled with a complete-game five hitter, as Nebraska evened its series with an 8-1 victory. The junior left-hander was dominant in picking up his first win since April 2, taking a shutout into the ninth and allowing only one runner in scoring position. Kroenke (5-2) struck out six and walked only one in a 110-pitch gem. The Husker bats broke out of a mini slump with 16 hits ? its highest Big 12 total of the year and the most by NU since mid-March. Brandon Buckman and Jeff Christy had two hits and two RBIs apiece, as Nebraska jumped to an 8-0 lead after three innings and cruised to the victory. Alex Gordon and Joe Simokaitis both enjoyed three-hit nights in the win. Timely hitting was the story for the Huskers, as they scored seven of their eight runs with two outs, including a six-run third inning that was highlighted by seven straight two-out hits.

Saturday (NU 7, OU 1): Johnny Dorn pitched 6.2 innings of four-hit ball in his first Big 12 start, while Nebraska turned a pair of Sooner errors into five runs, as the No. 5 Huskers took the rubber match of the three-game series, 7-1, in front of a season-high crowd of 2,419 Saturday afternoon. Dorn, the freshman right-hander from Grand Island, was solid in earning his third straight win in a conference series clincher, allowing one unearned run on four hits, as he took a shutout into the sixth. Andy Gerch paced Nebraska’s nine-hit attack, going 3-for-4 with a run scored while Daniel Bruce had two doubles, extending his hit streak to a career-best 14 games.

Who’s Hot
?-Catcher Jeff Christy has driven in runs with each of his last four hits, including a two-hit effort last Friday against Oklahoma. In addition, he has thrown out six of the last seven baserunners attempting to steal while picking off another runner at first.

?-Outfielder Daniel Bruce is hitting .352 (19-for-54) with eight doubles in his last 13 contests. The senior, who brings a career-best 14-game hit streak into the week, is also hitting .338 in Big 12 play with 10 doubles and 16 runs scored in 18 Big 12 contests.

?-Reliever Ryan Bohanan has not allowed an earned run in his last 11 appearances, dating back to March 5. The freshman from Goddard, Kan., is 1-0 with a 0.53 ERA.

?-Nebraska’s bullpen has not allowed a run in its last 20.2 innings of work, dating back to April 23 and has a 4-0 record with two saves and a 0.77 ERA in its last nine contests. In all, the Husker bullpen has a 2.08 ERA in 155.2 innings this season, more than a run and a half below last season’s bullpen ERA.

Charting the Husker Bullpen (2000-present)

Year ERA W-L IP H R ER BB SO B/Avg
2005 2.08 12-6 155.2 120 43 36 46 132 .215
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

Gordon’s on a Tear
Probably no player in the Big 12 is as hot as NU third baseman Alex Gordon over the past two months. The first-team All-American is hitting .434 (53-for-122) with 12 homers, 35 RBIs and 41 runs scored in NU’s last 35 games, raising his average from .270 on March 11 to .396 entering the week.

Gordon was the Big 12’s Player of the Week for two straight weeks (March 21 & 28), earning national honors from Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America on March 21, after he hit .560 with four homers, 10 RBIs and 11 runs scored in six games. Gordon went 4-for-9 with three homers, four RBIs, eight runs scored and six walks in the series win against Kansas. He went 4-for-7 with a homer and four RBIs against No. 29 Oklahoma State, as he was walked twice and was hit by four pitches. Against Texas A&M, Gordon went 5-for-10 with three walks and two hit by pitches, helping NU win a series in College Station for the first time ever.

Chamberlain Named to Clemens Watch List
The 6-3, 225-pounder has made an immediate impact, going 6-0 this season with a 1.84 ERA, fanning 83 in 68.1 innings of work. He ranks in the top-10 in the Big 12 in strikeouts (second), ERA (third), opponent batting average (.172, fourth), wins (fifth) and innings pitched (seventh). The winner of the second annual honor, designating the top pitcher in college baseball, will be announced on July 14 in Houston, Texas. For more on the award, log on to www.clemensaward.com.

Three Huskers Named to Howser Watch List
Three Husker baseball players were selected to the Xanthus-Dick Howser Trophy watch list released on April 28. Alex Gordon, Curtis Ledbetter and Joba Chamberlain were all on the 64-member watch list for the Dick Howser Trophy. It marked the second straight year Gordon was selected and the first time for both Chamberlain and Ledbetter. The 2005 winner will be announced at the College World Series in Omaha on Friday, June 17, at 9:30 a.m. CDT.

Husker Pitchers Earn Passing Grade
Despite having five pitchers drafted in 2004 - the highest total of Husker pitchers taken in the draft in more than 20 years - Nebraska’s pitching staff has excelled during the 2005 season.

Nebraska pitchers currently...

• Lead the Big 12 and are second nationally with a 2.41 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a league-low .217 batting average. Nebraska has only posted a sub-3.00 ERA three times in school history (1965, 1966 and 1969) - and none since the introduction of the aluminum bat.
• Have held 32 of 46 opponents to three runs or less as only four teams have scored more than four runs.
• Rank third in the Big 12 with 11 saves (sixth on NU’s single-season chart) and allowed just 17 of 77 (22 percent) inherited runners to score.
• Issue a league-low 2.59 walks/nine innings, while ranking third in the league with 7.75 strikeouts/nine innings.

Huskers’ Homegrown Rotation
Pitching Coach Rob Childress has built Nebraska’s pitching staff into one of the Big 12’s best on an annual basis, and 2005 is no exception. The Huskers are second nationally in ERA (2.41) and are holding opponents to a league-low .217 average.

Of Nebraska’s top five starters, four are in-state products, including the entire weekend quartet of Joba Chamberlain (Lincoln), Zach Kroenke (Omaha), Brian Duensing (Omaha) and Johnny Dorn (Grand Island), who are a combined 23-4.

Gordon Piles Up Numbers, Honors
After a season where he earned Big 12 Player-of-the-Year and unanimous first-team All-America honors, Alex Gordon has already racked up a number of impressive honors. He hit .365 with 18 homers and 75 RBIs in his sophomore campaign, a year where he ranked in the top four in the league in nine offensive categories. With Team USA last summer, Gordon hit .388 with four homers and 12 RBIs, while hitting .523 at the World University Games in Taiwan.

This season, Gordon is hitting .396 with 14 homers and 42 RBIs and ranks first or second in the Big 12 in seven different offensive categories. His biggest hit of 2005 so far was a three-run eighth-inning homer to break a 3-all tie against No. 7 Rice on Feb. 27, NU’s first win over the Owls since the 2001 NCAA Super Regional.

Gordon’s 2005 Honors

• Baseball America National Midseason Player of the Year
• USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Watch List
• Wallace Award and Howser Award Watch Lists
• Collegiate Baseball Preaeason Natl. Player of the Year
• Collegiate Baseball Natl. Player of the Week (3/21)
• NCBWA Natl. Player of the Week (3/21)
• Big 12 Player of the Week (3/21 & 3/28)
• First-Team preseason All-American (Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA and Baseball America)
• Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year (Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America)
• Baseball America’s Top Junior in the Country
• Baseball America’s No. 1 College Prospect for the 2005 MLB Draft

The Lincoln native is considered the top collegiate prospect in the country and will look to become the fifth first-round pick in school history and the first since Darin Erstad and Alvie Shepherd in 1995. The following is a list of the previous first-round Husker draft picks.

Previous First-Round Husker Picks
Player No. Team Year
Steve Stanicek 11 San Francisco 1982
Bill McGuire 27 Seattle 1985
Darin Erstad 1 LA Angels of Anaheim 1995
Alvie Shepherd 21 Baltimore 1995

The Story on Joba
Sophomore Joba Chamberlain’s college career has been a whirlwind experience. The right-hander began his collegiate career at Division II Nebraska-Kearney, where he went 3-6 with a 5.23 ERA as a freshman, before transferring to NU last summer.  The 6-3, 225-pounder has made an immediate impact, going 6-1 with a 1.92 ERA in 11 starts for the Huskers. The right-hander ranks among the Big 12 leaders in strikeouts (second), ERA (fifth), opponent batting average (.180, fourth), wins (eighth) and innings pitched (seventh).

Against New Mexico on Feb. 25, Chamberlain struck out 15 in seven shutout innings en route to Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and National Co-Player-of-the-Week honors from Collegiate Baseball. His 15 strikeouts were the most by a Husker pitcher since Shane Komine in 2000 and two shy of the Huskers’ single-game record. Chamberlain then shut down No. 7 Rice, holding the Owls to one unearned run on four hits while striking out nine over 6.1 innings. On April 22, he fanned 10 Baylor hitters while allowing one run in a win over the No. 8 Bears

Joba’s 10-K Days
No. Opponent Date
15 New Mexico Feb. 25
12 Seton Hall March 18
10 Texas April 8
10 Baylor April 22

Jensen Shines at Closing Time
Another pleasant surprise this spring has been the emergence of junior Brett Jensen as the Huskers’ closer. The 6-foot-7, 195-pounder has converted seven of his eight save opportunities, as he is tied for third in the Big 12 in that category. His seven saves are tied for fourth on NU’s single-season list and are the most since Thom Ott set a school record with 11 in 2001.

Johnny Be Good
Freshman right-hander Johnny Dorn has quickly adapted to the Big 12. The Grand Island, Neb., native leads the team in wins with seven and ranks fourth in the Big 12 with a 1.89 ERA. He has made 13 appearances, splitting his time between the rotation and the bullpen. Against Creighton on March 29, he pitched 7.2 innings of no-hit ball in NU’s 10-2 win over the Bluejays. He fanned a career-high 10 CU hitters, the highest total by a Husker freshman in six seasons. Against Texas A&M on April 17, Dorn tossed 4.1 innings of shutout ball, earning not only his first league win, but clinching NU’s first series win in College Station. He came out of the bullpen to go seven shutout innings - the longest relief outing by a Husker since 2001 - scattering three hits and fanning seven in a 4-3 NU win against Baylor on April 23. In his last outing, Dorn did not allow an earned run in 6.2 innings, as NU posted a 7-1 win.

Bruce Named Nebraska Male Student-Athlete of the Year
Senior outfielder Daniel Bruce enjoyed one of the finest days of his four-year career on April 18. Not only did he go 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored in the series-clinching win at Texas A&M, but he was honored later in the day as the Univeristy of Nebraska Male Student-Athlete of the Year. It marks just the second time that a Husker baseball player had been chosen for the prestigious honor (Jeff Leise, 2003). An English major with a 3.86 GPA, Bruce is hitting a career-best .325 with 30 runs scored this season.

Fusilier Provides Spark for Husker Offense
After missing all of the 2004 season with a shoulder injury, fifth-year senior Brandon Fusilier has given the middle of the Husker lineup added protection. He enters the weekend hitting .302 with 11 homers and 43 RBIs. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder from Coppell, Texas, ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 in homers (11, sixth) and RBIs (43, seventh). Fusilier, who has a team-high eight game-winning RBIs, is also 11-of-12 on the basepaths.

The Buck Starts Here
Junior college transfer Brandon Buckman ranks 18th in the Big 12 in hitting with a .336 average. He is third on the team with 15 multi-hit games, including a four-hit effort at Hawaii-Hilo on Feb. 17 and a three-hit game against Texas on April 8. Buckman drove in a season-high four RBIs against Northern Colorado on March 15 and had four RBIs in a doubleheader split against Kansas on March 26. Last season, he earned junior college All-America honors at Garden City Community College, when he hit .460 with 16 homers.