Huskers Make Trek Across Indiana

Tuesday, March 22 (3 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP Engelken (0-1) vs. TBA
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: USTREAM
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Wednesday, March 23 (3 p.m.)
Probable Starters: TBA vs. TBA
TV: None
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: USTREAM
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Lincoln - Following an 8-1 homestand that included sweeps of Northern Colorado and Loyola Marymount, as well as a series win against Wichita State, the Nebraska baseball team (11-7 0-0 Big Ten) heads back on the road for a weeklong trip to the state of Indiana. The Huskers will play a two-game midweek series at Indiana State, before opening Big Ten play at Purdue on Friday.

The Huskers swept a two-game midweek series from the Sycamores last season in Lincoln, the first ever meetings between the two teams. Indiana State started a six-game homestand last weekend with a 2-1 series victory over Siena. Following a pair of games with the Huskers, Indiana State will host Indiana on Friday.

Tuesday and Wednesday’s games at Bob Warn Field are both scheduled for 3 p.m. (CT).

After wrapping up the midweek games at Indiana State, the Huskers will head north to West Lafayette, Ind., for a three-game series against the Boilermakers. It will be the Big Ten opener for both teams and the Boilermakers lead the all-time series, 9-7. Purdue took 2-of-3 in Lincoln last year, while the Huskers last visited Alexander Field in 2013 and swept a three-game series.

Friday’s series opener is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (CT), while Saturday’s game is set for 1 p.m. and Sunday’s finale is scheduled for Noon.

How to Listen/Watch the Huskers
Fans can listen to Greg Sharpe and Ben McLaughlin call all the action on the Husker Sports Network this week, including on Huskers.com and the Official Husker App.

All five games this week can be heard in Lincoln on 1400 AM and in Omaha on 590 AM. Every game is also scheduled to be carried on TuneIn Radio.

Fans can watch Nebraska’s two games on Indiana State’s USTREAM channel at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/indstbaseball. Saturday and Sunday’s games at Purdue are scheduled to be carried on BTN Plus (subscription required).

Rough On the Road
Nebraska played its first nine games away from home and went 3-6 to start the year. Nebraska now holds a 11-7 record following a 8-1 homestand.

The Huskers have hit for a slightly higher average on the road this season, but the biggest change has come from the Husker pitching staff, who has allowed 30 less runs at Hawks Field.

Schreiber Finds his Stroke
Sophomore Scott Schreiber has been putting together quite the season so far in just 15 games played. Schreiber is hitting .317 with 15 runs, four doubles, six home runs and 17 RBIs. In 40 games as a freshman last year, Schreiber hit .271 with 25 runs, two doubles, three home runs and 18 RBIs.

With six home runs on the year, Schreiber already has more home runs than any Husker had in 57 games last season. Ben Miller and Tanner Lubach tied for the team lead last year with four each.

Big Ben
Junior Ben Miller enters Tuesday with a team-high .380 batting average, with four doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs. He has a team-high 10 multi-hit games in 2016, including a pair of three-hit performances

Slotted as the Huskers’ No. 3 hitter in 16 of the first 18 games, opposing pitchers have not been able to pitcher around Miller with slugger Scott Schreiber hitting behind him.

After striking out twice in the season opener, Miller has struck out just eight times over his past 17 games, with three of the eight strikeouts coming in the series opener at Long Beach State.

Get a Lead for the Bullpen
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 114-15 since the start of the 2012 season when they lead after the sixth inning. The Huskers are 119-8 when leading after seven innings and are nearly perfect when leading after eight innings with a 128-4 record.

The last time the Huskers lost a game when leading going into the ninth inning was March 21, 2014, in Iowa City, Iowa. The Huskers held a 1-0 leading going into the bottom of the ninth, but the Hawkeyes rallied for a 2-1 walk-off victory.

Count on Chesnut
Senior Jeff Chesnut enters Tuesday with 72 career appearances, including 31 last season. His 31 appearances in 2015 are tied for sixth on Nebraska’s single-season chart.

With 10 appearances in 2016, Chesnut needs one more appearances to tie Jonas Armenta (1994-97) for eighth place on NU’s career list.

Steve Hale holds the school record with 87 career appearances from 1999-2003.

Career Appearances
1. 87 Steve Hale 1999-03
2. 82 Casey Hauptman 2008-11
3. 80 Brett Jensen 2004-06
4. 79 Dylan Vogt 2010-13
5. 78 Erik Bird 2006-09
78 Jeff Anderson 1981-84
7. 74 Zach Herr 2006-08
8. 73 Jonas Armeta 1994-97
9. 72 Jeff Chesnut 2013-present
10. 70 Jarod Bearinger 1996-99
70 John Lepley 1985-88

Stolen Bases
Nebraska has been more active on the base paths this season, stealing 18 bases in its first 18 games, an average of 1.0 per game. Last year the Huskers totaled 40 stolen bases in 57 games, an average of 0.7 stolen bases per game.

Longball
Nebraska’s home run totals are up this year, as they have hit 19 in 18 games after totaling 22 in 57 games last season.

Eight different players have hit a home run this season, including a team-high six from Scott Schreiber and three each from Ben Miller and Jake Placzek. Miller and Tanner Lubach tied for the team lead last season with four each.

Nebraska already has six multi-homer games this season after notching two all of last year

The Huskers did change equipment prior to this season, as the team is swinging adidas bats this year after using Rawlings bats each of the last four years.

Boldt Keeps hitting
Ryan Boldt broke onto the collegiate scene as a freshman in 2014 with a .311 average and 74 hits. He avoided a sophomore slump in 2015 by hitting .344 with 75 hits.

Entering the Tuesday, Boldt is hitting .308 (24-for-78) with seven multi-hit games, including five games with three-hits.

Boldt needs 27 more hits this season to become the 24th player in school history with 200 career hits.

Just a junior, Boldt would be just the 15th player to reach the mark in three seasons, and the first since his cousin, Pat Kelly, notched 212 hits from 2012-14.

Other Huskers who have reached 200 or more hits in three seasons include: Darin Erstad (261), Paul Meyers (250), Matt Hooper (249), Mark Kister (242), Alex Gordon (240), Todd Sears (234), Ken Ramos (229), Curtis Ledbetter (223), John Cole (222), Jeff Leise (217), Pat Kelly (212), Will Bolt (205), Ken Harvey (203), Francis Collins (201).

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. 226 Austin Darby 2012-15
19. 223 Curtis Ledbetter 2003-05
20. 222 John Cole 1999-01
21. 212 Pat Kelly 2012-14
22. 203 Ken Harvey 1997-99
23. 201 Francis Collins 1995-97

-- 173 Ryan Boldt 2014-Present

Meyers Makes an Impact
After seeing a majority of his time on the mound as a freshman in 2015, sophomore Jake Meyers has been making a name for himself at the plate in 2016.

Meyers enters Tuesday with a .353 batting average and five doubles, which both rank second on the team, and he leads the team in triples with four. He has made one appearance on the mound in 2016, his first career start against Northern Colorado on March 9.

Meyers made 16 appearances out of the bullpen last year and was 3-1 with a 2.38 ERA over 34.0 innings. He ended the year with 10.1 scoreless innings.

In the field he made 12 appearances, including six starts, and hit .167 (3-for-18) with no extra-base hits and two RBIs.

Meyers is the son of Nebraska 1986 first-team All-American Paul Meyers, who was taken in the fourth round of the 1986 MLB Draft by San Francisco

.

New Blood on the Mound
Multiple newcomers have seen time on the mound through 18 games. Out of the 18 pitchers that have seen time this season, nine are true or redshirt freshmen

The nine young arms have combined to throw 75.0 innings, including a team-high 26.0 innings from Matt Waldron. The nine newcomers have accounted for over 46% of Nebraska’s innings pitched.

Filthy Freshman
After career saves holder Josh Roeder graduated last year, the Huskers needed to find a new closer. It wasn’t a problem early on, as the Huskers didn’t have a save opportunity during the first 13 games of the year.

That changed on Saturday, March 12, when the Huskers entered the ninth inning with a 3-0 lead and NU went to freshman Chad Luensmann. The 6-4 right hander worked a scoreless ninth for his first career save. The Huskers then had a 5-4 lead the following day and with a four-game sweep on the line, NU again went to Luensmann, who tossed a 1-2-3 inning against the top of Loyola Marymount’s lineup.

On the season, Luensmann has thrown 12.0 innings over seven appearances and is yet to allow an earned run. He has allowed seven hits and walked three, while striking out nine.

Home Sweet Hawks
The Nebraska baseball team is celebrating its 15th season at Hawks Field in 2016. Since playing their first game at the park in 2002, the Huskers have posted a 309-110-1 (.737) record at the facility entering, including a 8-1 record this season.

The Huskers notched a .778 winning percentage at home last year, the highest home winning percentage since 2008 when Nebraska posted a .843 winning percentage with a 29-5-1 record.

Nebraska has won 60% or more of its home games 12 times over the past 14 seasons, including each of the past six seasons. NU’s worst home season came in 2009 when the Huskers posted a 16-14 record (.533).

Golden Spikes Watch List
Junior outfielder Ryan Boldt was one of 50 players named to USA Baseball’s preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list on Tuesday, Feb. 16. Boldt has already been named a preseason All-American by multiple publications and is ranked as the #13 college prospect for the 2016 MLB Draft by Baseball America.

Boldt was one of three Big Ten players named to the watch list, joining Michigan’s Carmen Benedetti and Maryland’s Mike Shawaryn.

Alex Gordon is the only Husker to ever win the Golden Spikes Award, as he won the Golden Spikes, Brooks Wallace and Dick Howser Awards in 2005, and he was also named ABCA Player of the Year. Two other Huskers have been finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, including Darin Erstad (1995) and Ken Harvey (1999).