#23 Huskers and Gophers Open Series on BTN

#23 Huskers and Gophers Open Series on Friday Night on BTN

Friday, April 10 (7:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP Sinclair (4-4) vs. RHP Meyer (1-4)
TV: BTN
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN2Go
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Saturday, April 11 (6:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: LHP Kubat (4-1) vs. TBA
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Sunday, April 12 (1:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP Burkamper (4-1) vs. RHP Shannon (1-3)
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN Plus
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Lincoln - Following an extra-inning win at Kansas State on Tuesday night, the No. 23 Nebraska baseball team (24-10, 3-3 Big Ten) gets back to Big Ten Conference action this weekend when it hosts the Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-17, 2-7 Big Ten) for a three-game series at Hawks Field.

The series is scheduled to open on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. and the game will be carried nationally on the Big Ten Network. Due to the Nebraska Football Spring Game on Saturday, the Huskers and Gophers will meet at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday night, before wrapping up the series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

Nebraska is 15-1 at Hawks Field this season and has outscored the opposition 92-34. At Hawks Field in 2015, NU’s pitching staff has notched 122 strikeouts compared to 34 walks.

The Gophers enter the series with a 8-15 record away from Siebert Field, including a 7-14 road record. This weekend will be the Gophers third league road series of the year and they are 1-5 on the road in league play, with the lone win coming last weekend at Rutgers.

The Huskers are set to start senior Chance Sinclair on Friday night and he will look to add to his 7-1 career record during Big Ten Play. The third-team preseason All-American has gone at least 6.0 innings in three of his last four starts. Minnesota is scheduled to start right-handed senior Ben Meyer, who is 1-4 on the year with a 5.65 ERA in eight starts. Meyer started the series finale last year against the Huskers in Minneapolis and went 6.2 innings in a no decision. The New Brighton, Minn., native allowed two runs on nine hits and one walk, while striking out four.

Senior Kyle Kubat will climb the hill on Saturday and will be in search of 20th career victory. Kubat is coming off a 4.2 innings outing at Maryland, where he gave up a career-high six runs. Kubat had gone at least 7.0 innings in five of his last six starts heading into last Saturday. The Gophers have not announced a starter for Saturday.

Sophomore Derek Burkamper will look to pick up his fifth win of the season on Sunday after taking a no decision last weekend in Maryland. Burkamper is 4-1 on the year with a 3.14 ERA over 43.0 innings. The Gophers announced that 6-7 sophomore Tim Shannon will start on Sunday. The Hopkins, Minn., native is 1-3 on the year with a 5.82 ERA in seven appearances, including six starts. In three starts during Big Ten play, Shannon is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA over 13 innings.

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. Saturday’s game will not be carried on TuneIn because of the Nebraska football spring game.

TV Coverage
Friday’s game will be carried nationally on the Big Ten Network. Eric Collins will provide play-by-play, while Danan Hughes will provide color.

Web Streams
Friday’s game will be streamed live on BTN2Go.com and the BTN2Go app. Saturday’s game will be carried live on HuskersNSide (subscription required). Sunday’s game will be carried on BTN Plus and the BTN2Go app (subscription required).

Can We Make it Four Straight?
The Huskers have swept each of their first three weekend series at Hawks Field this season, including sweeps of Florida Gulf Coast, Michigan and Texas. The Huskers have never swept four straight home weekend series to start a season.

The Huskers have previously started with three straight weekend sweeps three times, including 2005, 1999 and 1988.

Nebraska nearly achieved the feat in 2008, when NU opened with home sweeps of UC Riverside and Northern Colorado. The Huskers then took the first two games against Oklahoma before the third game ended in a tie. Two weeks later, NU swept Texas Tech at Hawks Field.

2005 CWS Anniversary
The Nebraska baseball team will celebrate a 10-year anniversary of the Huskers’ 2005 College World Series team this weekend at Hawks Field.

The 2005 team won a school-record 57 games, were Big 12 regular-season and tournament champions and notched the Huskers lone win at the College World Series with a victory over Arizona State. 20 members of  the 2005 team were drafted during their career, including six after the 2005 season. Four members of the 2005 team are still playing in the Majors today, including Alex Gordon (Royals), Joba Chamberlain (Tigers), Brian Duensing (Twins) and Tony Watson (Pirates).

Daniel Bruce and Johnny Dorn will both throw out first pitches on Friday, with Jeff Christy and Curtis Ledbetter catching. Zach Kroenke will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Saturday.

Replica jersey t-shirts will be given out to the first 2,000 fans through the gates on Friday night.

#Love4Laney Day on Sunday
The Huskers will be raising awareness for organ donation on Sunday. Nebraska Organ Recovery Systems will be on site with volunteers handing out information on organ donation as well as signing people up to become organ donors if they aren’t already. 400 t-shirts will be handed out pre-game.

 

The issue hits close to home for the baseball team, as Director of Operations Curtis Ledbetter and his wife Monica have a daughter, Laney, who will one day need a liver transplant after being diagnosed with Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis Type 2.

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 97-12 since 2012 when they lead after the sixth inning. The Huskers are 100-6 when leading after seven innings and nearly perfect when leading after eight innings with a 109-4 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              18-1         19-0          19-0

Topping 100
On Saturday, April 4, senior Austin Darby collected his 99th career RBI and needs one more 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 34 games this season, Darby has 15 RBIs.

With a team-high 30 RBIs so far in 2015, Blake Headley (88 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 30 through 34 games this season.

Pat Kelly joined the club last year and ended his three-year career with 125 RBIs.

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

Rest the Pen
Nebraska’s weekend rotation of Chance Sinclair, Kyle Kubat and Derek Burkamper have done their jobs this year by pitching late into games and have posted a 12-6 record.

In 23 combined starts this season, the trio has only two outings of less than 5.0 innings, while they have combined to go at least 6.0 innings 15 times. On average, the trio is throwing just over 6.1 innings per start.

Like Your Chances with Sinclair
A third-team All-American and unanimous first-team All-Big Ten performer last season, Sinclair has a career record of 13-5, including a 7-1 record during Big Ten play.

During his career, the right-hander has gone 6.0 or more innings in 17 of his 23 starts, including 12 outings of at least 7.0 innings or more. He has gone 8.0 innings or more twice, including a 9.0-inning complete game against Ohio State in 2014.

Going for 20
Senior Kyle Kubat enters the weekend with a 19-4 career record and is trying to become just the 11th player in program history to notch 20 wins during their career.

If Kubat reaches 20 wins, he would tie Zach Kroenke (2003-05) and Jim Sandstedt (1946-49) for ninth place in the NU’s career record book.

Shane Komine holds the school record for wins with 41 during his career from 1999 to 2002.

Experienced Lefty

Senior Kyle Kubat has eight starts under his belt in 2015 and enters his start on Saturday against Minnesota with 36 career starts on the mound, which ties him for eighth place on the career list with Phil Shirek (2002-05). Kubat’s 37th career start will give him sole possession of eighth place.

After staring 28 games during this first three season, Kubat needs 12 starts in 2015 to become the first Husker since Johnny Dorn to make at least 40 career starts. Dorn ranks second all-time at Nebraska with 58 career starts from 2000 to 2003.

Since 2000, only four pitchers at Nebraska have made at least 40 career starts, including Shane Komine (59), Dorn (58), Jamie Rodrigue (53) and Zach Kroenke (41).

Not Nice to Steal

Senior catcher Tanner Lubach enters Friday with 37 career runners caught stealing, which ranks third all-time at Nebraska. He is one caught stealing away from moving into a tie for second place.

Cory Burleson (2009-12) holds the school record with 46 runners caught stealing, while current volunteer assistant Jeff Christy ranks second with 38 runners caught stealing in just two years behind the plate in 2005 and 2006.

 

Three or Less

In 25 of Nebraska’s 34 games this season the Husker pitching staff has allowed three runs or less.

The Huskers are 23-2 when holding the opposition to three runs or less, but are 1-8 on the year when teams score four or more runs.

Early Leads

After scoring just 38 first-inning runs last season in 62 games, the Huskers have gotten their starting pitchers leads early and often in 2015.

Through 34 games, the Huskers are outscoring the opposition 31-13 in the first inning of games this season.

Last season the Huskers outscored their opponents 123-95 in the first three innings of games, while this year NU holds a commanding 74-25 advantage.

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 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. 212    Pat Kelly           2012-14

21. 203    Ken Harvey       1997-99

22. 201    Francis Collins   1995-97

23. 200    Austin Darby    2012-15

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 10 saves in 10 chances this season, Roeder enters Friday ranked second in NU history with 28 career saves and needs four more saves in 2015 to break Brett Jensen’s school record of 31 saves.

Keep Them on Base

The Husker bullpen has inherited 51 runners this season and only nine have scored.

Junior Jeff Chesnut leads the way with 19 runners inherited, and only two has scored. Fellow junior Colton Howell has inherited eight runners and none have scored.

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 34 games this season, the Huskers have notched double-digit hits 12 times and are a perfect 12-0 in those games.

The Huskers are 17-2 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.

Tanner Heating 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 24 games since, Lubach is hitting .363 (29-for-80) with five doubles, one triple, two home runs and 10 multi-hit performances. Against Kansas State on Tuesday, he went 5-for-5 and was a home run short of the cycle with three singles, a double and a triple.

Most importantly, Lubach has struck out 10 times over his past 24 games, after notching nine strikeouts through his first six games of the season.

Start with Boldt

Since moving Ryan Boldt back to the leadoff spot, the Huskers are 11-4 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.

A Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American last season, Boldt leads the Huskers with a .333 batting average, while also leading the team in  runs (31) and hits (41).

Husker Nation Packs the Park

During the first 16 home games of the 2015 season the Huskers posted an attendance mark of 66,641 (avg. 4,135). 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 12 spots, while Indiana holds the other three spots in the top 15.