Huskers Finish Season Series with Jays

Tuesday, April 28 (6:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP King (4-1) vs. RHP Rogalla (1-0)
TV: CBS Sports Network
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: None
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Lincoln - After winning the its first two games against the Creighton Bluejays (24-12, 8-3 Big East) this season, the Nebraska baseball team (30-16, 6-9 Big Ten) will go for the season sweep on Tuesday night when the two teams meet at TD Ameritrade Park. The game is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. be shown nationally on CBS Sports Network.

The Huskers have won five straight games over the Jays dating back to the 2013 season, but the Huskers haven’t won gone 3-0 against the Jays in a single season since 2008.

Tuesday will mark the 129th all-time meeting between Nebraska and Creighton dating back to 1902 and Nebraska holds a 77-49-2 record all-time against Creighton.

Creighton is 13-5 at TD Ameritrade this season, with one of the losses coming to the Huskers on April 14. Since loss, the Jays have posted a 4-2 record, with one of the losses coming to St. John’s at home on April 18.

The Huskers are looking to add to their road resume, as they are 6-9 on the road this year after they were swept at then #19 Iowa last weekend. Nebraska is 5-5 in its last 10 games.

Freshman Garett King will make his eighth start of the season on Tuesday night and will face the Bluejays for the third time this season. King has started each of the first two games against Creighton this year. Over 12 appearances King is 4-1 on the year with a 2.64 ERA in 44.1 innings of work with 24 strikeouts to 10 walks.

Creighton is scheduled to start right hander Jack Rogalla, who will be making his four appearance of the season and third start. In 11.1 innings the freshman for Oak Park, Ill., has a 1.59 ERA , he has given up seven hits while striking out seven and walking two.

The Last Meeting: Nebraska 7 - Creighton 6 (4/14/15)
Nebraska came away with a 7-6 victory on at TD Ameritrade Park and for the third time in four games against the Creighton Bluejays, Nebraska’s Jake Placzek delivered the game-winning hit.

A junior from La Vista, Neb., Placzek came through with a RBI single in the top of the ninth to give the Huskers a 7-6 lead. In 2014, Placzek produced a walk-off single in Lincoln on March 19 and later delivered an eighth-inning two-RBI single in a 4-2 win at TD Ameritrade Park on April 8.

Josh Roeder got the final five outs of the game for the Huskers and picked up his first win of the season after notching 11 saves on the year.

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 - and live on Huskers.com, the Official Husker App or the TuneIn Radio App.

TV Coverage
Tuesday’s game will be carried nationally on the CBS Sports Network.

Web Streams
None.

Three or Less
In 30 of Nebraska’s 46 games this season the Husker pitching staff has allowed three runs or less. The Huskers are 25-5 when holding the opposition to three runs or less, while they are 5-11 on the year when teams score four or more runs.

Nebraska is 2-7 on the year when opponents score five or more runs.

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 seven Tuesday games and will make his eighth start of the season on Tuesday night against Creighton. The Huskers are 7-0 in games that King has started this year.

King has a 2.64 ERA on the year in 12 appearances and holds a 2.40-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The 6-3 right hander has gone at least 5.0 innings in five of his last six starts, including a career-long 8.0 innings against Creighton at Hawks Field on March 31.

King will be on a pitch count Tuesday and is not expected to pitch more than a few innings.

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.

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.

Lubach moved ahead of current volunteer assistant Jeff Christy, threw out 38 runners 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.

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 102-13 since 2012 when they lead after the sixth inning. The Huskers are 106-7 when leading after seven innings and nearly perfect when leading after eight innings with a 114-4 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              23-2         25-1          24-0

Pound the Zone
The Huskers pitching staff has racked up 303 strikeouts this year, while issuing 113 walks, for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.68 to 1.

Four times in 46 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.

Miller Gets His Cuts
Sophomore Ben Miller walked twice in a game for the first time in his career in NU’s series opener at Iowa on April 25. In Miller’s first 71 starts he had a total of 24 walks and had never walked more than once in a game.

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 46 games this season, the Huskers have notched double-digit hits 17 times and are a perfect 17-0 in those games.

The Huskers are 22-2 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.

30 Wins
Nebraska picked up its 30th win in its 43rd game of the year on Tuesday with a 10-4 victory over Kansas State.

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.

Topping the Century Mark
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 46 games this season, Darby has 20 RBIs.

With a team-high 34 RBIs in 2015, Blake Headley (92 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 34 this season.

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

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 Friday ranked 20th in school history with 217 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. 217    Austin Darby 2012-present

21. 212    Pat Kelly           2012-14

22. 203    Ken Harvey       1997-99

23. 201    Francis Collins   1995-97