No. 20 Huskers Open B1G Tournament with Ohio State

No. 20 Nebraska Open Big Ten Tournament with Ohio State

Wednesday, May 21 – 1:05 p.m. (CT)
Probable Starters: RHP Sinclair (9-1) vs. LHP Tully (6-3)
TV: None
Stream: Free Radio (Huskers.com) | Video Stream (None)
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Up Next for the Huskers
After wrapping up the regular season with a 2-1 series win over the Illinois Fighting Illini, the No. 20 Nebraska baseball team (37-18, 18-6 Big Ten) enters the postseason as the No. 2 seed at the Big Ten Tournament.

The Huskers open tournament play on Wednesday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. when they meet the No. 7 seed Ohio State Buckeyes (30-26, 10-14 Big Ten) at TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha.

The Huskers and Buckeyes met earlier this season for a three-game series in Lincoln, with NU sweeping the series. All three games were close, as Nebraska posted three-straight comeback victories, including a pair of walk-off wins, while NU’s starting rotation of Christian DeLeon, Chance Sinclair and Aaron Bummer each threw complete games.

Wednesday will be the fourth time in three years that the Huskers and Buckeyes have meet at the Big Ten Tournament.

At the 2012 tournament in Columbus, Ohio, the Buckeyes ended NU’s season with a 6-2 win in an elimination game. Last season in Minneapolis, the Buckeyes knocked the Huskers out of the winner’s bracket with a 3-2 win, before the Huskers eliminated the Buckeyes two days later, 5-0.

Nebraska Starter - Chance Sinclair
Chance Sinclair is scheduled to make his 15th start of the season on Wednesday, and will be in search of his 10 win of the year. The junior is 9-1 and ranks second in the Big Ten with a 1.88 ERA.

Sinclair is coming  off his 12th start of at least 6.0 innings, following a 7.0-inning outing against Illinois.

Sinclair is one of three pitchers in the Big Ten with an ERA under 2.00, as Joey DeNato leads the league with a 1.83 ERA and DeNato’s teammate Christian Morris ranks third with a 1.99 ERA.

In Sinclair’s start against the Buckeyes on April 5, the junior gave up three runs (all unearned) on seven hits and no walks in his first career complete game.

On the Radio this Week
Fans across Nebraska and around the world can listen to Greg Sharpe and Ben McLaughlin call all of the action on the Husker Sports Network - including KLIN 1400 AM and 94.5 FM in Lincoln - and live on the Internet at Huskers.com or the Official Husker App.

TV Coverage for Ohio State Game
None

Web Streams for Ohio State Game
None

Nebraska-Ohio State History
The Huskers lead the all-time series against the Buckeyes, 8-6, with NU also holding a 7-5 advantage since the Huskers joined the Big Ten Conference for the 2012 season.

The all-time series started in 1991 when the Buckeyes earned a 5-2 victory in Phoenix, Ariz. The Huskers evened the series in 2001 with a 10-5 victory at the Mardi Gras Ball in Lafayette, La.

Ohio State won the first ever conference meeting, 10-2, in April 13, 2012, but the Huskers won the series in Columbus two days later with a doubleheader sweep.

The Buckeyes eliminated the Huskers from the 2012 Big Ten Tournament with a 6-2 victory.

Last season the Huskers took the first game of a three-game set in Lincoln, but then the Buckeyes came back and won the next two games, including a 6-5 winning in 11 innings on Saturday.

OSU knocked the Huskers into the losers bracket at the 2013 Big Ten Tournament, but the Huskers got revenge two days later with a 5-0 victory that eliminated Ohio State from postseason play.

Nebraska swept the Buckeyes this season in Lincoln, with NU’s weekend starters each throwing complete games.

Over the Past 10 Games for Nebraska

• Nebraska was 9-1, including an 4-0 road record and an 8-1 Big Ten record.

• Pat Kelly hit .429 (15-for-35) with three doubles, two home runs and 15 RBIs

• Michael Pritchard hit a team-high four doubles

• Zach Hirsch threw 10.2 innings of scoreless relief

• Nebraska’s offense worked 32 walks and was HBP four times, while striking out 47 times.

• Blake Headley hit .371 (13-for-35) with two doubles and two homers

• Pat Kelly and Blake Headley each had five multi-hit games

• Four Huskers had double-digit hits, including Pat Kelly (15), Blake Headley (13), Michael Pritchard (12) and Ryan Boldt (11)

• Jake Placzek scored a team-best 10 runs and walked a team-high seven times

• Nebraska out-homered opponents 9-to-4

• Nebraska pitchers totaled 68 strikeouts, while walking 23

• Nebraska posted a .280 batting average, while holding opponents to a .204 average

• Closer Josh Roeder threw 5.1 innings of scoreless relief over five appearances, while earning a win and three saves

• Nebraska’s pitching staff posted a 2.12 ERA, while opposing pitchers were at a 5.66 ERA

• Nebraska outscored opponents 57-25

Keep Grinding
If you could only use one word to describe Head Coach Darin Erstad, the word would be “grind”.

No matter what the score is, Erstad preaches to his team that they need to grind at-bats and stick to the team’s offensive approach.

A total of 12 times this year the Huskers have been behind or tied after six innings and have come back to win.

Like Your Chances with Sinclair
Junior Chance Sinclair has been a key addition to the Husker pitching staff in 2014 with his 9-1 record and an 1.88 ERA, which ranks 63rd nationally and second in the Big Ten Conference.

A transfer from Neosho County CC, Sinclair has gone 6.0 or more innings in 12 of his 14 starts, including nine outings of at least 7.0 innings or more and a 9.0-inning complete game against Ohio State.

Huskers Get Hot in April & May
Since the calendar rolled over to the month of April, the Huskers have been one of the hottest teams in the country, posting a 23-6 mark after starting the season 15-12.

The Huskers lost their first game in April, a 4-3 loss to Arkansas, and sat 15-13 on the year. Since the loss to the Razorbacks the Huskers have posted a 23-5 record.

Nebraska is 8-1 in the month of May after sweeping Penn State and Michigan State, along with a 2-1 series win over Illinois.

Win No. 100
Head Coach Darin Erstad enters the Big Ten Tournament with 101 career wins. He picked up his 100th career win in NU’s series-opening win over Illinois on Thursday, May 15.

Erstad is one of five head baseball coach in Nebraska history at least 100 career wins.

NU Baseball Coaches with 100 Win
John Sanders   767 (1978-1997)

Tony Sharpe    394 (1947-1977)

Mike Anderson 337 (2003-2011)

Dan Van Horn  214 (1998-2002)

Darin Erstad     101 (2012-present)

Four Straight
The Huskers ended the regular season with four straight Big Ten series wins, including victories over Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State and Illinois.

The Huskers last won fourth straight series as a member of the Big 12 Conference in 2008.

Nebraska opened league play with series wins over Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech. The streak came to an end when NU dropped 2-of-3 at Oklahoma State.

Pencil Him In
Junior Pat Kelly has been a regular in the Husker lineup ever since he was a freshman in 2012.

Entering Wednesday’s game against Ohio State, Kelly has started 128 straight games dating back to his freshman season.

Kelly has started all 55 games this season and was in the starting lineup for all 59 games in 2013. Kelly started 41 games as a freshman in 2012, including the final 14 games of the year.

The last time Kelly didn’t start was on April 28, 2012, when he didn’t play in the second game of a doubleheader against CSU Bakersfield.

Join the Club
Senior Michael Pritchard joined Nebraska’s 200-hit club earlier this year on Friday, March 21, with a first inning single at Iowa and was recently joined by Pat Kelly, who picked up his 200th career hit with a single against Michigan State on Sunday, May 11.

Entering this season, only 20 players in school history were in the program’s 200-hit club.

Pritchard enters the week ranked 10th in school history with 243 hits and is three hits shy of tying Darin Petersen (1992-95) for ninth in school history.

Kelly, a junior, ranks 20th in school history with 204 hits and needs 18 hits to tie John Cole (1992-95) for 19th on the chart. Kelly totaled a team-high 85 hits last season and his 68 hits this season lead the team, one ahead of Pritchard’s 67 hits.

Last season, Chad Christensen became the 20th player in Nebraska history to join the 200-hit club with his walk-off single in the bottom of the 16th inning against Northwestern on Friday, March 29. He ended his career eighth in school history with 247 career hits.

Prior to Christensen, Jake Opitz was the last Husker to join the club in 2008.

Matt Hopper holds the school record with 338 career hits and is one of just two players in school history to have topped 300 hits.

NU 200-Career Hit Club

1.   338    Matt Hopper      2000-03

2.   305    Jeff Leise          2000-03

3.   281    Will Bolt            1999-02

4.   261    Darin Erstad      1993-95

5.   250    Paul Meyers      1984-86

6.   249    Joe Simokaitis  2002-05

7.   248    Jed Dalton        1992-95

8.   247    Chad Christensen 2010-13

9.   246    Darin Petersen   1992-95

10. 243    Michael Pritchard 2011-present

11. 242    Mark Kister        1985-87

12. 240    Alex Gordon      2003-05

13. 238    DJ Belfonte       2007-10

14. 234    Todd Sears       1995-97

15. 231    Daniel Bruce      2002-05

16. 229    Ken Ramos       1987-89

17. 227    Jake Opitz         2005-08

18. 223    Curtis Ledbetter 2003-05

19. 222    John Cole         1999-01

20. 204    Pat Kelly   2012-present

21. 203    Ken Harvey       1997-99

22. 201    Francis Collins   1995-97

Get out the Brooms
The Huskers swept four Big Ten series in 2014, including sweeps of Michigan State, Penn State, Minnesota and Ohio State.

Nebraska last posted four conference sweeps in the same season in 2000, when the Huskers swept four straight Big 12 series against Kansas, Missouri, Texas A&M and Iowa State.

The Huskers have never swept five conference series in the same season.

Extending the Season
The Huskers punched their ticket to their third straight Big Ten Tournament on Sunday, May 4 with their win over Penn State. The Huskers failed to reach the Big 12 Tournament during their final three seasons in the league from 2009-2011.

The last time the Huskers made three-straight trips to the conference tournament was 2006-2007-2008.

Nebraska is also looking to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008.

Walk it Off
Following a 10th-inning three-run homer by Pat Kelly that powered Nebraska to a 7-4 win over Illinois in the finale game of the 2014 regular season, the Huskers have posted five walk-off wins in 2014.

Game Walk-Off Hit

St. John’s (3/8)  Taylor Fish (RBI Single)

Creighton (3/19) Jake Placzek (RBI Single)

Ohio State (4/5) Michael Pritchard (2-RBI Single)

Ohio State (4/6) Tanner Lubach (RBI Single)

Illinois (5/17)      Pat Kelly (3-Run HR)

Rely on Roeder
Since blowing a save at Iowa on March 21, junior closer Josh Roeder has converted nine straight save opportunities and enters the week ranked 17th in the country with 12 saves on the year.

In nine save chances since the Iowa game, Roeder hasn’t allowed a run over 9.1 innings of work and has struck out 13 batters, while walking just one.

On the year, Roeder is 3-1 with a 2.37 ERA over 19.0 innings of work. He has struck out 21 and walked six.

Nebraska is 29-1 this year when leading after the eighth inning.

Hitting the Century Mark
Junior Pat Kelly became the 43rd Husker since 1986 to notch 100 RBIs for their career when he drove in a run in the first game of a doubleheader with Northwestern on April 19.

Kelly enters the week with 121 career RBIs and ranks second in the Big Ten with 51 RBIs, the most by a Husker since Cody Asche produced 56 in 2011.

Michael Pritchard needs 11 more RBIs in 2014 to also join the club.

Kash Kalkowski (123), Chad Christensen (118) and Josh Scheffert (113) all joined the club last season. Prior to the three seniors in 2012, Cody Asche was the last to join in 2011, ending his career with 135 RBIs

Matt Hopper is the only Husker to ever top the 200-RBI mark, with a school-record 271 RBIs.

8-Straight
Nebraska had an eight-game winning streak snapped by Illinois on May 16, when the Illini won game two of a three-game series between the two teams.

It was the longest streak by a Husker team since 2008 season when NU rolled off 14 straight wins from Feb. 29 - March 18.

Lean on Hirsch
Zach Hirsch has been one of Nebraska’s best arms out of the bullpen in 2014.

For his efforts he was one of 50 relievers in the nation recently named to the NCBWA Mid-Season Stopper of the Year Award Watch List.

The one-time starter has made a team-high 27 appearances, all out of the pen, in 2014 and holds a 1.24 ERA, while holding opposing batters to a .183 average over 43.2 innings of work.

Hirsch is tied for second on the team with 45 strikeouts, as he is averaging 1.03 strikeout per inning, while walking only 11 batters on the year.

Earlier this season the senior lefty had a streak of 14.1 innings of scoreless relief before Minnesota scored a run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh on April 11 that tied the game 6-6. The Huskers still won the game, 8-6.

Since the Minnesota game, Hirsch has allowed two earned runs on eight hits over 16.1 innings of relief in 10 appearances.

Over Hirsch’s last seven appearances, he has thrown 11.1 innings of scoreless relief on five hits and nine strikeouts.

Hirsch has 18 appearances this season where he has thrown at least 1.0 inning of relief and hasn’t given up a run. In 10 of those appearances he hasn’t given up a hit.

He’s Back
Michael Pritchard has been a hit machine during his career at Nebraska, ranking 10th all-time in school history with 243 career hits. Earlier this season he fell into a slump, but since found his stroke at the plate.

Pritchard was hitting .407 after the Huskers’ first two weeks of play and was at .373 after a 3-for-5 day against Northern Colorado on March 11, NU’s 14th game of the season.

Over his next 16 games, Pritchard went 9-for-60 with only two multi-hit games and saw his average fall to .261 on April 6.

Over his past 23 games entering Wednesday, Pritchard has raised his average 57 points to .318.

He is hitting .391 during the stretch (36-for-92) with nine multi-hit games, including a career-high 5-for-5 night against Kansas State on April 15.

During the 23-game stretch Pritchard has 12 doubles and has notched 21 of his 42 RBIs on the season. Steven Reveles ranks second on the team with 10 doubles all season.

In 2014, Pritchard has 11 multi-RBI games, three more than the eight he had during his first three seasons at Nebraska combined.

Double Digits
The Huskers have produced double-digit hits 28 times this year in 55 games, including 14 of their 27 home games.

The Huskers are 23-5 when notching double-digit hits on the season.

Nebraska produced a season-high 22 hits on Tuesday April 15, in a 14-5 win over Kansas State. It was the most hits by a Husker offense since 2012, when the Huskers notched 24 hits in a 22-3 win over Louisiana Tech.

Nebraska is 29-1 this year when they out hit their opponent, with the lone loss coming against Oregon State in the second game of the year. The Huskers out hit the Beavers 15-13.

Double Machine
Senior Michael Pritchard enters the week with 19 doubles on the year, which ranks 26th nationally and second in the Big Ten to Blaise Salter’s 20 doubles.

With one more double this year, Pritchard would become the eight player at Nebraska since 2000 to total 20 doubles in a season.