Huskers and Jays Meet at TD Ameritrade Park

Tuesday, May 17 (6:35 p.m. CT)
Probable Starters: LHP Knutson (2-1) vs. TBA
TV: COX/TWC Sports
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: GoCreighton.com/Watch
Radio: Husker Sports Network

Lincoln - With four games left in the 2016 regular season, the Nebraska baseball team (33-18, 13-8 Big Ten) will play its final road game of the regular season on Tuesday night when it visits the Creighton Bluejays (33-13, 11-4) at TD Ameritrade Park. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

Tuesday’s game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, but was postponed due to rain. Creighton will play a day-night doubleheader on Tuesday, as the Jays will also play the Omaha Mavericks at 12:30 p.m.

Even though the game is at TD Ameritrade Park on Tuesday, the Huskers will be the home team on the scoreboard. The Huskers and Jays try to schedule three games at year and for quite some time two of the games have been in Omaha. For the third game of the season series the teams take turns being the home team and its the Huskers’ turn this season.

Tuesday will be the rubber match of the series after the Huskers took game one, 8-2 in Lincoln, while Creighton broke a seven-game losing streak to the Huskers on April 12 with a 4-3 walk-off win at TD Ameritrade Park.

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

Tuesday’s game can be heard in Lincoln on 1400 AM and in Omaha on 590 AM. The game is also scheduled to be carried on TuneIn Radio.

Tuesday’s game will be carried in Omaha on COX (channel 13), in Lincoln on TWC Sports (channel 323) and in Kansas on COX (channel 122 (HD 2122). The game will also be streamed live on gocreighton.com/watch.

Sophomore Slugger
Sophomore Scott Schreiber enters Tuesday with a team-high 13 home runs following his two-homer game against Penn State on Sunday. Schreiber’s 13 home runs lead the Big Ten and his 47 RBIs rank second to Michigan’s Harrison Wenson, who has 54 RBIs. During league play, Schreiber leads the Big Ten with 22 RBIs and ranks second in homers with five.

Schreiber’s 13 homers are the most by a Husker since 2010 when Adam Bailey hit 18 and the most by a Husker sophomore since 2004 when Alex Gordon led the team with 18.

Schreiber has a pair of multi-homer games this season, the first time a Husker has done that since 2006 when Brandon Buckman did it three times.

50-50
Scott Schreiber and Ben Miller have battled all season for the team lead in RBIs, with Schreiber holding a slight 47-42 edge over Miller.

The last time NU had a pair of sluggers each top 50 RBIs was 2010, when Adam Bailey drove in 69 runs and Cody Asche plated 58.

See You in Omaha
Heading into its final Big Ten series of the year, the Nebraska baseball team is one of four teams that has already punched its ticket to the Big Ten Tournament at TD Ameritrade Park next week. The Huskers will be for sure joined in Omaha by Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio State.

Seven other teams are still battling for the final four spots in Omaha, including Michigan (12-8), Michigan State (12-9), Maryland (11-10), Penn State (11-10), Illinois (10-11), Iowa (10-11) and Rutgers (8-13). The top-10 teams in the standing each play another top-10 team this weekend, making each game count. Minnesota enters the week on top with a 15-5 record, but Indiana (15-6), Ohio State (13-8) and Nebraska (13-8) are all still in the race for the regular-season title.

Count on Chesnut
Senior Jeff Chesnut rewrote the Nebraska record book on Monday, May 9, when he made his school record 88th career appearance. Chesnut broke Steve Hale’s record with his team-high 26th appearance this season. Chesnut made a career-high 31 last year, which tied him for sixth on Nebraska’s single-season chart.

Career Appearances
1. 88 Jeff Chesnut 2013-present
2. 87 Steve Hale 1999-03
3. 82 Casey Hauptman 2008-11
4. 80 Brett Jensen 2004-06
5. 79 Dylan Vogt 2010-13
6. 78 Erik Bird 2006-09
78 Jeff Anderson 1981-84
8. 74 Zach Herr 2006-08
9. 73 Jonas Armenta 1994-97
10. 70 Jarod Bearinger 1996-99
70 John Lepley 1985-88

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. Prior to ninth-inning walk-off loss at Rutgers on Friday, April 29, this season the Huskers had won 73 straight games when leading after the eighth inning.

Led by pitching coach Ted Silva, the Huskers are 133-17 since the start of the 2012 season when they lead after the sixth inning. The Huskers are 139-9 when leading after seven innings and are nearly perfect when leading after eight innings with a 151-5 record.

Make it Five
Nebraska, Indiana and Ohio State entered the season as the only three teams in the Big Ten that had qualified for each of the past four Big Ten Baseball Tournaments.

All three teams have continued the streak and will play it the Big Ten’s postseason tournament for the fifth straight year next week.

First Year Wins
True freshman Matt Waldron enters the week with a 6-2 record following his complete-game shutout of Penn State on Saturday. The first complete-game shutout by a Husker pitcher since 2010 when freshman Tom Lemke blanked Texas A&M, 1-0, on May 2.

Waldron’s six wins are the most by a Husker true freshman since 2005 when Johnny Dorn led the team with a 12-2 record.

Nebraska True Freshman Who Have Won At Least Six Game Since 2000
1. Johnny Dorn 12-2 (2005)
2. Jamie Rodrigue 9-4 (2000)
3. Brian Duensing 6-2 (2002)
Zack Kroenke 6-2 (2003)
Matt Waldron 6-2 (2016)

Jake of All Trades
Sophomore Jake Meyers has worn many hats for the Huskers this year, including outfielder, starting pitcher and three-hole hitter. Meyers enters the week ranked second on the team with a .318 battering average over 49 games played and has a team-best 1.63 ERA in seven starts on the mound.

The last time a Husker started at least seven games on the mound and hit in 40 more games was Alvie Shepherd in 1994. That season Shepherd went 2-5 with a 5.71 in 11 starts, while hitting .278 in 57 games at the plate. In 1993, Troy Brohawn went 13-0 with a 3.16 ERA in 14 starts and hit .329 over 58 games at the plate. Brohawn was a first-team All-American in 1993, was drafted in the fourth round of the 1994 MLB Draft by the Giants and played three seasons in the Majors.

Meyers has started on the mound for the Huskers in the finale of the last five weekend series and NU has won each of the sophomore’s last four starts. In the four victories, Meyers has also hit third in NU’s lineup and has helped his own cause, hitting .333 with two doubles, one home run, seven runs scored and four RBIs.

In a victory over Nicholls State on April 24, Meyers not only tossed 7.0 shutout innings and got the win on the mound, but he also drove in the eventual game-winning run with a three-run homer. Meyers is the first Husker to homer and record a pitching win since April 21, 2009, when Adam Bailey hit a solo home run and tossed 2.2 innings of relief in his only pitching win as a Husker.

Longball
Nebraska’s home run total is up in a big way this year, as they have hit 40 in 51 games after totaling 22 in 57 games last season. NU last topped 40 home runs in a season in 2012, when they hit 47.

Nine different players have hit a home run this season, including a team-high 13 from Scott Schreiber, six each from Jake Placzek and Ben Millers, and five from Ryan Boldt. Miller and Tanner Lubach tied for the team lead last season with four each.

Nebraska has 14 multi-homer games this season after notching two all of last year. Nebraska is 20-5 on the year when they hit a home run.

Score Early
In 51 games this year the Huskers have scored a run in the first inning 18 times. The Huskers are 15-3 on the year when they score a run in the first inning.

The Huskers are 27-7 this year when they score first in the game.

Double Digits
Nebraska has amassed double digit hits 26 times in 51 games entering Tuesday and is 20-6 when reaching the mark.

Last season the Huskers totaled 10 or more hits 23 times in 57 games and was 21-2 in those games.

Stolen Bases
Nebraska has been more active on the base paths this season, stealing 60 bases in 51 games, an average of 1.18 per game.

Ryan Boldt leads the team with 19 steals, the most by a Husker since 2005 when Alex Gordon stole 23 bags.

Last year the Huskers totaled 40 stolen bases in 57 games, an average of 0.7 stolen bases per game. Nebraska last topped 60 stolen bases in a season in 2011 when they were 62-for-81. NU last topped 70 stolen bases in 2008 when it was 78-for-104.

Walk this Way
As of Monday morning, senior Jake Placzek was tied for 10th in Division I with 49 walks. Michigan’s Carmen Benedetti ranked second in the Big Ten and was tied for 20th nationally with 43 walks. Miami’s Zack Collins led the nation with 59 walks.

The last time a Husker topped 50 walks in a season was 2005, when Alex Gordon recorded 63 walks and was hit-by-pitch 16 times.

Adding in his nine hit-by-pitches, Placzek has drawn 58 free passes this year and leads the Huskers with an on-base percentage of .454. Placzek would need to record a on-base percentage of .518 or better to crack NU’s single-season top-10 list. Gordon’s .518 on-base percentage in 2005 ranks 10th.

Placzek has accounted for just under 26% of NU’s 189 walks this year. Seven other Huskers have drawn double digit walks in 2016, but Ryan Boldt sits a distance second with 19 walks.

Placzek has drawn multiple walks in 14 games entering Tuesday, including three walks in a game four times this year.

Placzek needs 13 more walks this year to tie Todd Sears (62 - 1997) for 10th place on NU’s single season walks list. Placzek has 105 career walks and needs 10 more walks in 2016 to enter NU’s career walks list. Rich King and Steve Stanicek are tied for 10th with 115 career walks.

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 their first 13 games.

That changed on Saturday, March 12, when the Huskers entered the ninth inning with a 3-0 lead and NU went to true freshman Chad Luensmann. The 6-4 right hander has since saved 11 games in 12 chances. His 11 saves are tied for 13th best in the country and among freshman he only trails Long Beach State’s Chris Rivera (13) and Jacksonville’s Mike Cassala (12).

Luensmann already holds the freshman record at Nebraska for saves and is climbing Nebraska’s single-season top-10 list. His next save would tie him with Josh Roeder (2014) for fourth on NU’s single season list.

Seven of Luensmann’s 11 saves have come during Big Ten play, which leads the league.

Single Season Saves at Nebraska
1. 16 Brett Jensen (Jr.) 2005
2. 15 Josh Roeder (Sr.) 2015
3. 13 Brett Jensen (Sr.) 2006
4. 12 Josh Roeder (Jr.) 2014
5. 11 Thom Ott (Jr.) 2001
11 Chad Luensmann (Fr.) 2016
7. 10 Mike Bellows (Sr.) 1994
8. 9 Steve Boyd (Jr.) 1992
9. 8 Dylan Vogt (Sr.) 2013
8 Casey Hauptman (Sr.) 2011

Boldting Up the List
Recently named one of 60 players on the 2016 Gold Spike Award Midseason Watch list, Ryan Boldt became the 24th member of Nebraska’s 200-hit club on Sunday, April 10, with a single in the ninth inning against Northwestern. Boldt enters Wednesday ranked 21st all time at Nebraska with 215 career hits.

Boldt is just the 15th player in school history to reach the mark in three seasons or less, 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. 215 Ryan Boldt 2014-Present
22. 212 Pat Kelly 2012-14
23. 203 Ken Harvey 1997-99
24. 201 Francis Collins 1995-97