Huskers Host Wildcats on Tuesday Night

Tuesday, April 21 (6:35 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP King (3-0) vs. TBA
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Lincoln - The Nebraska baseball team (29-13, 6-6 Big Ten) is set to host its final non-conference home game of the season on Tuesday night when it welcomes the Kansas State Wildcats (18-20, 5-10 Big 12) to Hawks Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Tuesday will mark the second and final meeting between the two teams this season, and the Huskers will be going for the season sweep after posting a 5-4 victory in 10 innings on Tuesday, April 7 at Tointon Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.

The Huskers and Wildcats will meet for the 278th time on Tuesday night, with the Huskers holding a 167-110 advantage in the series.

Nebraska is scheduled to start freshman right hander Garett King, who will make his seventh start of the season. On the year King is 3-0 with a 2.72 ERA over 39.2 innings of work. King’s six starts this season are the most by a Husker freshman since 2012, when Kyle Kubat started eight games.

Two weeks ago against Kansas State, King started for Nebraska and gave up three runs on seven hits and one walk over 5.2 innings. He didn’t factor into the decision.

The Wildcats have not yet announced a starter for Tuesday night.

Recapping the Last Meeting: NU 5 - KSU 4 (10 innings) (4/7/15)
Tanner Lubach went 5-for-5 on and drove in the eventual game-winning run with his fifth hit of the night in the 10th inning, as the No. 23 Nebraska baseball team posted a 5-4 win over the Kansas State Wildcats in 10 innings. Lubach notched five of NU’s 12 hits and drove in a pair of runs, as the Huskers won the 277th all-time meeting between the two teams.

Josh Roeder came in for the 10th and picked up his 10th save of the season with a pair of strikeouts.

Extra innings was needed after the Huskers squandered away a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth when the Wildcats scored four runs to even the game. The two teams then went scoreless over the next three innings before Lubach untied the game in the 10th.

On the Radio
Fans across Nebraska and around the world can listen to Greg Sharpe, Lane Grindle and Ben McLaughlin call all of the action on the Husker Sports Network - including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln - and live on Huskers.com, the Official Husker App or the TuneIn Radio App.

TV Coverage
No TV coverage for Tuesday’s night game.

Web Streams
Tuesday’s game will be streamed live on HuskersNSide (subscription required).

Getting to 30 Wins
With a 29-13 record entering Tuesday, the Huskers have a shot to get to 30 wins in 43 games. The last time the Huskers got to 30 wins faster was in 2008, when NU had a 30-7-1 record in 38 games following a 16-7 win at Creighton on April 23.

Last season the Huskers notched their 30th win in their 47th game of the season.

Close the Door
After playing his freshman season at Louisburg College in North Carolina, Josh Roeder joined the Huskers in 2013 and helped solidify the back end of NU’s bullpen.

During the 2013 season, Roeder saw most of his action in a setup role to Dylan Vogt, but did collect six saves. Roeder took over the closer role in 2014 and saved 12 games.

With 12 saves in 13 chances this season, Roeder enters Tuesday ranked second in NU history with 30 career saves and needs two more saves in 2015 to break Brett Jensen’s school record of 31 saves.

Roeder also has a shot at the single-season saves record of 16, also held by Jensen (2005). Jensen holds the top-two single season marks at 16 and 13, while Roeder’s 12 saves this season and last season rank third.

200 and Counting
After Michael Pritchard and Pat Kelly each joined Nebraska’s 200-hit club last season, senior Austin Darby become the program’s 23rd member on Saturday, April 4 at Maryland with a one-out single in the seventh inning. Darby enters Tuesday ranked 20th in school history with 213 career hits.

Darby is the fourth Husker to join the club over the past three seasons, as Chad Christensen ended his career with 247 hits in 2013. 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.   251    Michael Pritchard 2011-14

6.   250    Paul Meyers      1984-86

7.   249    Joe Simokaitis  2002-05

8.   248    Jed Dalton        1992-95

9.   247    Chad Christensen 2010-13

10. 246    Darin Petersen   1992-95

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. 213    Austin Darby 2012-present

21. 212    Pat Kelly           2012-14

22. 203    Ken Harvey       1997-99

23. 201    Francis Collins   1995-97

Three or Less
In 29 of Nebraska’s 42 games this season the Husker pitching staff has allowed three runs or less.

The Huskers are 25-4 when holding the opposition to three runs or less, while they are 4-9 on the year when teams score four or more runs.

Nebraska is 2-6 on the year when opponents score five or more runs.

Confidence in the Pen
During Darin Erstad’s tenure at Nebraska, the Husker bullpen has done its job when it has a lead.

Led by pitching coach Ted Silva, the Huskers are 101-12 since 2012 when they lead after the sixth inning. The Huskers are 105-6 when leading after seven innings and nearly perfect when leading after eight innings with a 113-4 record.

Year  Lead after 6     After 7      After 8

2012              31-5         29-3          31-2

2013              20-3         25-2          28-1

2014              28-3         27-1          31-1

2015              22-1         24-0          23-0

Pound the Zone
The Huskers pitching staff has racked up 278 strikeouts this year, while issuing 103 walks, for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.70 to 1.

Four times in 43 games this season the Husker pitching staff has completed a game without walking a single batter. Last season the Huskers didn’t walk a batter in six of their 62 games.

The Huskers walked in their first run of the season on Sunday, April 12, in the top of the fourth inning against Minnesota, their 37th game of the season.

King of the Hill
Freshman Garett King has stabilized Nebraska’s midweek starter this year, as the Anaheim Hills, Calif., native has started NU’s first six Tuesday games and will make his seventh start of the season on Tuesday night against Kansas State

King has a 2.72 ERA on the year in 10 appearances and holds a 2.63-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The 6-3 right hander has gone at least 5.0 innings in each of his last five starts, including a career-long 8.0 innings against Creighton at Hawks Field on March 31.

Topping 100
On Sunday, April 12, senior Austin Darby collected his 100th career RBI to become the 44th Husker since 1986 to notch 100 RBIs in their career. After producing 15 RBIs as a freshman, Darby topped the 30-RBI during both his sophomore and junior years with 33 and 36 RBIs, respectively. Through 42 games this season, Darby has 19 RBIs.

With a team-high 33 RBIs in 2015, Blake Headley (91 career RBIs) is also on pace to join the club this season.

Headley has improved his RBI total every year at Nebraska. After notching six as a freshman in 2012, he produced 25 in 2013, topped that number with 27 in 2014 and has already set a single-season high with 33 this season.

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

Not Nice to Steal
Senior catcher Tanner Lubach threw out a pair of runners during NU’s series with Ohio State to take over second place on NU’s career caught stealing chart. Lubach enters Tuesday with 39 career runners caught stealing. Last weekend Lubach moved ahead of current volunteer assistant Jeff Christy, who now ranks third with 38 runners caught stealing in just two years behind the plate in 2005 and 2006.

Cory Burleson (2009-12) holds the school record with 46 runners caught stealing. Burleson threw out 20 of his 46 career base stealers as a senior in 2012.

Tanner Tearing It Up
Tanner Lubach didn’t get off to the start he wanted in his senior year, going 0-for-18 to start the season. Lubach broke the dry spell with a double that nearly left the park against BYU on Saturday, Feb. 21.

In his 31 games since, Lubach is hitting .363 (40-for-110) with seven doubles, one triple, three home runs and 14 multi-hit performances. Against Kansas State on Tuesday, April 7, he went 5-for-5 and was a home run short of the cycle with three singles, a double and a triple.

On the year, Lubach is third on the team with a .293 average and is tied for third on the team in RBIs with 19.

Over NU’s last 10 games, Lubach has played in nine and is hitting a team-best .400 (16-for-40) for six runs scored, three double, one triple, one home run and a team-high eight RBIs.

Most importantly, Lubach has struck out 13 times over his past 31 games, after notching nine strikeouts through his first six games of the season.

Get the Hits
Last season the Huskers produced double-digit hits in 30 of their 62 games, including 14 of their 27 home games.

The Huskers were 25-5 when notching double-digit hits last season.

Through 42 games this season, the Huskers have notched double-digit hits 16 times and are a perfect 16-0 in those games.

The Huskers are 21-2 this year when out-hitting their opponent. The only losses came against LSU and Cal State Fullerton.

Last season, Nebraska was 32-3 when they out hit their opponent, with losses coming against Oregon State, as well as both of NU’s losses to Cal State Fullerton in the NCAA Tournament.

Keep Them on Base
The Husker bullpen has inherited 75 runners this season and only 16 have scored, meaning that an inherited runner scores just over 21% of the time.

Junior Jeff Chesnut leads the way with 27 runners inherited, and only four has scored. Fellow junior Colton Howell has inherited 10 runners and none have scored, while freshman Jake Meyers has inherited 12 runners and one has scored.

Start with Boldt
A Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American last season, sophomore leadoff hitter Ryan Boldt has an on-base percentage of .424 and ranks second on the team with a .323 average, while leading the Huskers in runs (36) and hits (50).

Since moving Boldt back to the leadoff spot, the Huskers are 16-7 on the season. Boldt hit third in 15 of NU’s first 19 games and the Huskers were 9-6. Last season with Boldt in the leadoff spot the Huskers were 22-7.

Surging Schleppenbach
Lincoln native Jake Schleppenbach has a solid addition to the Husker lineup this season after transferring from Hutchinson CC. On the season, the sophomore leads the team with a .324 average and is second on the squad with 46 hits.

Schleppenbach has been hot at the plate in Nebraska’s last 10 games. In eight starts, Schleppenbach is hitting .324 with six runs scored, three doubles and three of his eight RBIs on the season. He has also been making defenses work, with just one strikeout in 34 at bats.

Husker Nation Packs the Park
During the first 23 home games of the 2015 season the Huskers posted an attendance mark of 93,282 (avg. 4,055). Last season over 25 dates the Huskers posted a home attendance of 81,044 (avg. 3,241).

Of the top-15 single game home crowds in the Big Ten this year, the Huskers represent the top 11 spots, and hold 14 of the 15 sports. Illinois is the only other team in the top 15, holding the No. 12 spot.