Huskers Host Purdue for Final Home Series of 2015

Saturday, May 9 (12:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP Sinclair (6-6) vs. RHP Lyons 1-1)
TV: NET
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN Plus
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Sunday, May 10 (1:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: LHP Kubat (4-3) vs. RHP Downs (4-4)
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Monday, May 11 (1:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP Burkamper (5-2) vs. RHP Haan (1-8)
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Lincoln - Coming of a series win at Northwestern, the Nebraska baseball team (33-17, 8-10 Big Ten) returns to Lincoln  this weekend to host the Purdue Boilermakers (15-33, 2-16 Big Ten) for the Huskers’ final home series of the 2015 season. Nebraska finishes the regular season next week at Illinois, with the series running Thursday-Friday, Saturday.

This weekend’s series runs Saturday-Sunday-Monday and the opener is scheduled to be played at Hawks Field at 12:05 p.m. on Saturday.

Nebraska enters the weekend eighth in the Big Ten with a 8-10 record. The Huskers are 0.5 game back of Indiana for seventh place in the league and have the opportunity to leap the Hoosiers in the standing since Indiana is playing a non-conference series against Long Beach State this weekend.

Purdue enters the weekend last in the Big Ten with a 2-16 conference mark. The Boilermakers opened league play with a 9-5 win over Rutgers on March 20 and then dropped 16-straight conference games before winning the finale at Michigan State last weekend, 6-4.

This weekend’s series will be the third between Nebraska and Purdue since the Huskers joined the Big Ten, and it will be the Boilermaker’s second trip to Lincoln. Purdue came to Lincoln in 2012 and took 2-of-3 from the Huskers. The Boilermakers went on to win the regular-season and tournament titles in 2012.

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

TV Coverage
Saturday’s game will be shown statewide on NET.

Web Streams
Saturday’s game will be streamed live on BTN Plus (subscription required). Sunday and Monday’s games will be streamed live on HuskersNSide (subscription required)

2015 Senior Class
On Sunday the Nebraska baseball team will honor its seven-member senior class. The group includes Austin Darby, Christian Cox, Tanner Lubach, Kyle Kubat, Josh Roeder, Blake Headley and Chance Sinclair.

The group contains three players who were freshmen during Darin Erstad’s first season in 2012, including Darby, Kubat and Headley.

Entering the weekend, the four senior position players have combined to make 505 starts in 587 games played. The three senior pitchers have made 68 starts over 136 appearances.

The class has helped the Huskers reach the conference tournament each of the past three seasons and Nebraska returned to the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since 2008.

Steven Reveles entered the season as a senior, but an injury early in the season has forced him to miss most of the year. The team is in the process of applying for a medical hardship for Reveles so he can return to the team for another year of eligibility in 2016.

Close the Door
With his 14th save of the season last Friday at Northwestern, Josh Roeder set a new career record at Nebraska with his 32nd career save. Brett Jensen now ranks second on the career list with 31 saves.

While adding to his career mark, Roeder will now try to break Jensen’s single-season record of 16 saves, set by in 2005.

After playing his freshman season at Louisburg College in North Carolina, 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.

This season, Roeder has converted 14 saves in 15 chances. His only blown save of the year was the result of a unearned run that scored on a two-out error.

20 Two-Baggers for 22
In the history of Nebraska baseball, only 18 players have recorded 20 doubles in a season. Senior Blake Headley enters the weekend with 18 doubles on the year and is looking to become the 19th player to join the club before the end of the 2015 season.

Michael Pritchard was the last player to top 20 doubles in a season with 21 doubles in 2014. Cody Asche holds the school record with 27 doubles in 2011.

Three or Less
In 32 of Nebraska’s 50 games this season the Husker pitching staff has allowed three runs or less. The Huskers are 27-5 when holding the opposition to three runs or less, while they are 6-12 on the year when teams score four or more runs.

Nebraska is 3-8 on the year when opponents score five or more runs.

RPI Watch
As of Thursday morning, the Huskers a RPI of 27 and a strength of schedule of 39.

D1Baseball’s latest NCAA Tournament projection has the Huskers on the outside of the bubble as one of the last five teams no in the tournament.

Since the tournament went to the Super Regional formant in 1999, only twice has a team with a RPI of 25 or lower not earned an at-large bid.

Virginia missed the tournament in 2003 with a record of 29-25 and a RPI of 22. Wake Forest also missed the postseason in 2006 with a record of 33-22 and RPI of 25.

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 104-13 since 2012 when they lead after the sixth inning. The Huskers are 108-7 when leading after seven innings and are nearly perfect when leading after eight innings with a 117-4 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              25-2         27-1          27-0

Tough Schedule
The Huskers enter the weekend with the 39th toughest schedule in the country (WarrenNolan.com) and the Huskers also have arguably the most grueling Big Ten schedule as well.

Entering the weekend the Huskers sit eighth in the Big Ten standing. Nebraska has already or will play series against each of the top four teams in the league and five of the league’s top eight teams.

Standings                     Series Against B1G Top 8

1. Illinois                        4 (Michigan State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Indiana)

2. Iowa                          4 (Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan, Indiana)

3. Ohio State                 5 (Michigan State, Nebraska, Illinois, Maryland, Indiana)

4. Maryland                    5 (Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio State)

    Michigan State           3 (Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois)

6. Michigan                    4 (Nebraska, Maryland, Indiana, Iowa)

7. Indiana                       6 (Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Michigan State, Maryland, Ohio State)

8. Nebraska                   5 (Michigan, Maryland, Ohio State, Iowa, Illinois)

Going for 20
Senior Kyle Kubat enters the weekend with a 19-6 career record and is trying to become just the 11th player in program history to notch 20 wins during their career.

Since picking up his 19th career win against Michigan on March 21, Kubat has three losses and three no decisions in his past six starts. Kubat has given up two earned runs or less in four of the six starts and is allowing an average of 2.7 earned runs over the six-game stretch.

Kubat needs more support from his offense, as he has received 2.2 runs per game over his last six starts.

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.

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 50 games this season, the Huskers have notched double-digit hits 21 times and are 20-1 in those games. NU’s lone loss game at Northwestern when the Huskers totaled 11 hits, but were shutout 5-0.

The Huskers are 24-3 this year when out-hitting their opponent. The only losses came against LSU, Cal State Fullerton and Northwestern.

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.

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 the weekend ranked 20th in school history with 221 career hits, his next hit will tie him with John Cole for 19th on the career list.

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. 221    Austin Darby 2012-present

21. 212    Pat Kelly           2012-14

22. 203    Ken Harvey       1997-99

23. 201    Francis Collins   1995-97

Pound the Zone
The Husker pitching staff has racked up 327 strikeouts this year, while issuing 125 walks, for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.62-to-1.

The Huskers haven’t had a strikeout to walk ratio of 2-to-1 or better since 2008 when they finished the year with 491 strikeouts to 192 walks for a ratio of 2:56-to-1

Four times in 50 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.

Experienced Lefty
Senior Kyle Kubat became the eighth Husker in school history to make 40 career starts last Saturday with his 12th start of the season. With his next start in 2015, Kubat will tie Zach Kroenke, Josh Bullock and John Lepley for fifth on the all-time list with 41 starts.

Kubat’s 12th start in 2015 will cement him as the first Husker since Johnny Dorn in 2008 to make 40 career starts. Dorn ranks second all-time at Nebraska with 58 career starts from 2005 to 2008.

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

Start with Boldt
After earning Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors last season, Ryan Boldt has avoided a sophomore slump. The Red Wing, Minn., native leads the Huskers in average (.352), hits (68) and runs (44). Michael Pritchard was the last Husker to score more than 50 runs in a season with 51 in 2012.

The NU leadoff hitter has displayed a great eye at the plate with 24 walks to 22 strikeouts, while he also leads the team with a .438 on-base percentage.

Through Wednesday, Boldt’s 68 hits lead the Big Ten Conference. Michigan’s Jacob Cronenworth and Carmen Benedetti are tied for second with 67 hits.

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 50 games this season, Darby has 22 RBIs.

With 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.

Husker Nation
Over the first 24 home games this season Husker fans have posted a total attendance of 96,684, an average of 4,029 fans per game.

The Huskers haven’t ended the season with an average attendance of 4,000 fans or more per game since 2008, when NU averaged 4,391 fans per contest.

Nebraska entered the week ranked 10th in the country in average attendance and 12th in overall attendance.

In 25 dates last season, the Huskers posted a home attendance of 81,044 for an average of 3,241.

Bonus Baseball
For the first time since 2008, the Nebraska baseball qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season.

The selection snapped a five-year postseason drought for the Huskers, who made their 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their ninth since 2000. Nebraska made five straight trips to the NCAA Tournament from 1999 to 2003.

The Huskers will now look to make the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back season for the first time since 2007 and 2008. The Huskers made four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament from 2005 to 2008.