Huskers Set to Finish Season Series with KSU

Nebraska (19-11, 3-3 Big Ten) at Kansas State (14-13, 3-6 Big 12)
Tues., April 3 - 6:35 p.m.: Tyler King, So., LHP (0-0) vs. Kansas State: Jared Moore, So., LHP (2-1)

This Week: With a pair of wins at home over the Kansas State Wildcats already in the books this season, the Nebraska baseball team will look to sweep the season series with KSU on Tuesday night when the Huskers travel to Manhattan, Kan.

After going 1-2 over the weekend at Northwestern, the Huskers will try to end a two-game losing streak and pick up their 20th win of the year on Tuesday night.

The Huskers are schedule to start left-hander sophomore Tyler King, who will be making his first career start. The Wildcats are set to counter with lefty Jared Moore, who is 2-1 on the year with a 6.75 ERA in nine appearances, including two starts.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium

Tickets: Tickets can be purchased at www.kstatesports.com. Reserved chairback seats are $12 and general admission chairback seats are $10. Adult general admission bench seats are $8, while youth general admission seats are $5.

Television: Tuesday's game at Kansas State will be shown on KStateSports.com (subscription needed).

On the Radio: Fans across Nebraska and around the world can listen Greg Sharpe and Jeff Culhane call all of the action on the Husker Sports Network - including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln - and on the Internet at Huskers.com or the Official Husker App. A complete list of HSN affiliates can be found on page 8.

New Kid on the Block
The Husker offense has taken over the Big Ten charts, as NU ranks first in runs (237), hits (337), RBI's (213), doubles (60), home runs (27), at-bats (1,054), slugging (.467), total bases (492) and on-base percentage (.402).

Nebraska also ranks second in batting average (.320), walks (115) and fewest strikeouts (151).

Bolt on Energy
The Husker offense has seen major improvement under the direction of Associate Head Coach Will Bolt.

Looking at NU's numbers through 30 games in 2011 and 2012, the Huskers have struck out 64 fewer times, walked 19 more times, produced 34 more hits and scored 39 more runs.

Take it for the Team
In 2011 the Huskers were hit by pitch 89 times, which tied them for 13th nationally. The team was led by Bryan Peters, who was hit 18 times to tie for 20th nationally.

A junior in 2012, Peters continues to climb the Husker career chart in hit-by-pitches and entered the year with 36, which tied him for fifth with Jake Mort (2005-09). Peters took over sole possession of third place on the career list with a HBP against Kansas State on Tuesday, March 6. It broke a three-way tie between Peters, Alex Gordon and Nick Sullivan. Peters enters Tuesday's game with 43 career HBP's.

Senior Kale Kiser is right on Peters' heels with 42 career hit-by-pitches after being hit twice in two at-bats against Northwestern this past weekend.

DJ Belfonte (2007-10) sits second on the career list with 59 hit-by-pitches and Daniel Bruce (2002-05) holds the NU career record with 67 hit-by-pitches.

When It Counts
After hitting below .300 last season with runners in scoring position, the Huskers have come up with big hits and are hitting .356 on the season.

Three Huskers are hitting over .400 with runners in scoring position, led by Richard Stock's .486 average (18-for-37), while Kurt Farmer's is close behind with a .474 average (9-for-19). Pat Kelly is also hitting over .400 with a .450 average (9-for-20), while 10 Huskers are hitting .300 or better.

Cory Cuts Them Down
Catch Cory Burleson has been one of the most important cogs of the Husker defense this season with 14 runners caught stealing, which matches he season total from 2011.

The senior backstop has slowed down the opposition's running game, as team's have stolen just eight bases in 22 attempts (36%) this season, with two of the steals coming from Illinois on a double steal.

Burleson has worked hard in the offseason to improve his game after allowing 26 steals in 40 attempts a year ago.

Pat on the Back
Freshman Pat Kelly has made a quick transition to college pitching, as the Red Wing, Minn., native leads the team with a .418 batting average and a .727 slugging percentage

Kelly has hit throughout the Husker lineup, totaling 23 hits in 55 at bats, including three doubles, one triple and four home runs, while driving in 16 runs and scoring another 11.

Kelly is even better with a teammate on base, hitting .500 on the season with 14 hits in 28 at-bats.

Pitcher's Best Friend
Through 30 games the Huskers have turned 28 double plays. NU is on pace to turn just over 52 double plays this season after only converting 35 a year ago.

The Right 'Hander'
Junior Ryan Hander is the Huskers' go-to guy this year against right-handed hitters, as he is holding righties to a .133 batting average. Hander has a 1.38 ERA on the year over 13.0 innings of work and has given up only one extra-base hit this season.

Tough With Two
The Huskers have come up with clutch hits all season with two outs, as the team has 74 two-out RBI's. Leading the way is Chad Christensen, who  has driven in 16 of his team-leading 34 RBI's with two outs. Junior college transfer Richard Stock also has double-digit two-out RBI's with 13.

In 55 games a year ago, All-American Cody Asche led the team with 16 two-out RBI's, while only three players had 10 or more on the year, including Asche, Kash Kalkowski (14) and Bryan Peters (12).

Last season Christensen played in all 55 games and totaled just four two-out RBI's.

20-20
Senior Kale Kiser is tough on opposing pitchers with his great eye at the plate. During his career at Nebraska Kiser has walked 86 times and struck out just 62 times. His 86 career walks rank 10th on the Huskers' all-time charts, while Joe Simokaitis is ninth (90) and Associate Head Coach Will Bolt ranks eighth (91).

Kiser is hitting just .200 on the season, but continues to get on base for the Huskers with a .426 on base percentage.

Home Sweet Hawks
The Nebraska baseball program is celebrating its 11th year at Hawks Field in 2012. The Huskers are 241-83-1 (.743) since opening the park on March 5, 2002 with a 23-1 win over Nebraska-Kearney.

Nebraska plays a total of 31 games at Hawks Field in 2012, and are 12-5 at Hawks Field after wrapping up a 17-game homestand with a 6-3 win over Kansas State.

What a Fourth
The Huskers strongest inning this season has been the fourth, where they've outscored opponents 40-7. The Huskers didn't give up a run in the fourth inning until Illinois plated one run against the Huskers in the team's 25th game of the season on Saturday, March 24.

Looking at just the first eight innings of a game, Nebraska has outscored or tied their opponents this season in every inning but the first, where they have just 13 runs on the year, while giving up 16.

In the first three innings of the game the Huskers hold a 71-56 advantage in runs, but have destroyed opponent pitching their second time through the order in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings with a 98-36 advantage.

In the seventh and eighth innings the Huskers hold a 53-30 advantage, including 39 runs in the eighth alone.

Just the Right Pritch
Sophomore Michael Pritchard has been one of the Huskers' most lethal weapons this season with a .404 batting average and an on-base percentage of .473. With Pritchard in the leadoff spot, the Huskers are 13-5 on the season.

A left-handed batter, Pritchard has been tough against right and left-handed pitching, with a .429 average (12-for-28) against lefties and a .394 average (28-for-71) against righties.

Huskers Picked Fourth by League Coaches
The Big Ten coaches have picked Nebraska to finish fourth out of the league's 11 teams in 2012. Three Husker juniors were also named to the 'Players to Watch List', including right-handled pitcher Travis Huber, right-handed pitcher Tom Lemke and first baseman/designated hitter Kash Kalkowski.

After winning a share of the of the Big Ten title last season for the first time since 1979, Michigan State was picked as the league favorite. The Spartans were followed by Purdue, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Illinois, as only the top six teams were released by the conference office.

Small Ball
Even though the Huskers lead the Big Ten Conference with 27 home runs through April 1, the Huskers have also put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses with their bunting.

On the year, the Huskers have 22 bunt singles through 30 games. In 55 games a year ago, the Huskers had just 16 bunt singles all season.