Nebraska Treks to College Station for Texas A&M Series

Date    Date    Opponent                         Radio                Video        TV    Time/Result
Friday May 13 at 12/11/14/14 Texas A&M (33-16, 15-6) Husker Sports Network      Huskers.com                           6:35 p.m.

Saturday May 14    at Texas A&M                                     Husker Sports Network      Huskers.com                           2:05

Sunday May 15      at Texas A&M                                     Husker Sports Network      Huskers.com       FCS Central   1:05 p.m.

Media Info
Live Radio: Select Husker Sports Network affiliates and for free on Huskers.com (affiliate list on page five of today's notes)

Live Stats: Huskers.com

Television: Fox College Sports Central on Sunday (320 on Lincoln Time Warner Cable; 617 on DirecTV)
Live Video: Aggie All-Access on AggieAthletics.com (subscription required)

Probable Starting Pitchers
Day        Nebraska                             Texas A&M
Friday    Logan Ehlers, Fr., LHP (1-2, 4.58) vs. John Stilson, Jr., RHP (5-1, 1.59)

Saturday Tyler Niederklein, So., RHP (7-2, 3.79) vs. Michael Wacha, So., RHP (5-3, 2.30)    

Sunday  Jon Keller, Fr., RHP (2-5, 3.50) vs. Ross Stripling, Jr., RHP (10-2, 2.19)

Rankings in order: Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America, USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, NCBWA

This Week: Nebraska (28-21, 7-13) will face the league leader for the second straight week when it travels to No. 11 Texas A&M (33-16, 15-6) for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6:35 p.m. The Huskers and Aggies will continue the set with afternoon tilts Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05 p.m.).

Tickets: Single-game tickets are available on AggieAthletics.com or by visiting the Olsen Field box office on game day.

Television: Sunday's series finale will be televised nationally on Fox College Sports Central (320 on Lincoln TWC; 617 on DirecTV). Steve Physioc will be the play-by-play annoucer while Joel Klatt will serve as the analyst.

On the Radio: Fans across Nebraska and around the world can listen to Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle call all of the action on the Husker Sports Network - including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, KFAM 1110 AM in Omaha - and on the Internet at Huskers.com. A complete list of HSN affiliates can be found on page 5.

Preview: The Huskers are Aggies are one of three Big 12 series this weekend. With Nebraska's series finale win over Texas last Sunday, Texas A&M moved into first place in the conference standings. The Huskers are looking to move up in the league race as eighth- and ninth-place Kansas State and Kansas are both in non-conference play this weekend. NU meets Missouri at Hawks Field to conclude the regular season May 19-21.

Nebraska has had a recent boost from a couple youngsters in the lineup in freshmen Michael Pritchard and Tanner Krietemeier. Pritchard has started four of the past five games as the designated hitter and seen time in the leadoff spot. The Omaha, Neb., native takes a four-game hit streak into this weekend as he has upped his batting average 65 points during that stretch. Krietemeier, a Castle Rock, Colo., native, has been NU's starting center fielder for five of the past six games. He went 3-for-4 in last Saturday's game against Texas and then had a 2-for-5 game Tuesday at Creighton.

On the mound, the Huskers will have the same three weekend starters, but sophomore Tyler Niederklein (7-2, 3.79) has been moved into the Saturday role, while freshman Jon Keller (2-5, 3.50) will start Sunday's game. Freshman Logan Ehlers (1-2, 4.58) has remained in the Friday night spot. NU will look to get the ball to its bullpen in good hands, as the Husker relievers have led Nebraska to a 23-0 record when leading after six innings.

3 THINGS TO WATCH THIS WEEK
1. Michael Pritchard has gone 7-for-13 over the past four games to raise his batting average 65 points (.265).

2. Kale Kiser takes a 20-game reached base streak into this weekend's series. He had a 25-game reached base streak in 2010.

3. Patric Tolentino has thrown out 54 percent (14-of-26) of attempted base stealers this season.

Scouting Texas A&M
The Aggies are attempting to claim the Big 12 championship as they enter the last two weeks of the regular season in first place in the league standings. Second-place Texas will meet Texas A&M in a three-game series next weekend. Under coach Rob Childress, Texas A&M is 33-16 with a 15-6 conference record. Childress served as Nebraska's pitching coach from 1998 to 2003, and was associate head coach in his final three years at Nebraska. The Aggies are 23-7 at home and have won six of their past eight at Olsen Field. Texas A&M is ranked in the top 15 in every national poll, including 11 by Baseball America.

The Aggie pitching staff ranks second in the league with a 2.64 ERA and holds nearly a 4-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio. All three starters Nebraska will face this weekend are in the top 10 individually in ERA, led by John Stilson, who is fourth (1.59) with a 5-1 record. Ross Stripling is eighth at 2.19, but he ranks second in wins with his 10-2 mark. Michael Wacha is 5-3 with a 2.30 ERA, the best numbers by any underclassman in the Big 12.

Offensively, the Aggies rank third in the league with a .289 team batting average. Tyler Naquin, who leads the conference with a .414 average, takes a 24-game hit streak into this weekend, the highest in the Big 12 this season. Freshman Krey Bratsen is fifth with a .358 average and leads the team with 22 stolen bases.

Series History: The Aggies lead the all-time series, 24-22, since the series began in 1989, as the teams met once before the start of Big 12 action. The Huskers are just 5-22 all-time in College Station, picking up a series win in 2005. Texas A&M was ranked No. 23 the last time NU visited Olsen Field (2009) and swept the Huskers.

Leading Off

    • The Nebraska and Texas A&M baseball staffs are very familiar to one another. Along with Childress, assistant coach Andy Sawyers played for the Huskers in the late 1990s and was part of the NU coaching staff from 2003 to 2007. Justin Seely, who is in his third season as an assistant coach with the Aggies, played at Nebraska in 2001 and 2002, and served as a volunteer assistant for two years (2006-07).

    • The Huskers will be playing in the state of Texas for the fourth time this season. Nebraska took non-conference trips to Texas State (San Marcos) and Sam Houston State (Huntsville), while also opening Big 12 play at Texas Tech (Lubbock). The Huskers are 6-5 in the Lonestar State this season.

    • Nebraska could play in front of some of its biggest crowds of the season as Texas A&M ranks 12th nationally in attendance with 3,824 fans per game. The Huskers have played in the first and third-highest attended games in college baseball this season when it met Creighton twice at Omaha's TD Ameritrade Park (22,197 on April 19; 17,588 on May 10)

    • Three Huskers - all sophomores - have started all 49 games this season in first baseman Kurt Farmer, shortstop Chad Christensen and second baseman Bryan Peters.

    • Six Huskers have at least 10 multiple hit games this season, led by Cody Asche with 19. Kurt Farmer has 16 multiple hit games, followed by Kash Kalkowski (15), Chad Christensen (13), Bryan Peters (12) and Kale Kiser (10).

    • Kale Kiser has reached base in 20 straight games, setting a team-best mark for the 2011 season.

    • Nebraska ranks second in the Big 12 in team fielding with a .976 percentage, falling only behind Texas at .980. NU has only had multiple errors six times in the past 39 games. The infield, anchored by sophomores Chad Christensen (SS) and Bryan Peters (2B), has led NU in turning 23 groundball double plays.

    Nebraska's current .976 field percentage would break the school record of .975 set in both 2004 and 2005.

    • Nebraska has had 13 come-from-behind victories this season, including three in a row in wins over North Dakota and Northern Colorado from March 20-23. The Huskers have 138 come-from-behind wins under Mike Anderson since 2003.  NU had 10 come-from-behind wins last season, including overcoming a 10-run deficit against North Dakota on March 30 and a four-run deficit against Southeast Missouri State on May 8.

    • Nebraska has thrived in the middle innings this season, scoring 70 percent of its runs from the third to seventh innings.  The Huskers' have had the most success in the third with 51 runs in that frame. NU has scored in the third inning in 22-of-49 games this season.

    • The Huskers are 92-11 dating back to 2008 when they out-hit an opponent and have won 90 percent of their games since 2003 when out-hitting an opponent. Last season, NU was 25-4 when out-hitting opponents. The Huskers are also 34-12 when reaching double-figures in hits, but just 9-33 when held to nine hits or less.

The Huskers are 20-1 this season when outhitting the opposition, with the only loss coming March 27 at Texas Tech.

• Nebraska's bullpen has done impressive work in preserving leads this season, as the Huskers are 23-0 when leading after six innings.

    • As Nebraska enters its eighth week in league play this weekend, the Huskers rank third in the Big 12 with 30 home runs. Individually, Cody Asche's 12 homers, including eight in league games only, lead the Big 12.