Huskers Return Home, Host Mavericks

Lincoln - After playing four straight road games, including a series victory at Minnesota, the Nebraska baseball team (23-15-1, 7-4-1 Big Ten) returns to Hawks Field on Tuesday for a meeting with the Omaha Mavericks (10-29, 7-11 Summit) at 6:35 p.m.

Tuesday’s showdown will be the second and final meeting between the two teams this season, with the Huskers taking the first meeting earlier this season in Omaha by a score of 3-1.

The Huskers are coming off a series win at Minnesota, who led the Big Ten Conference entering the weekend. The Gophers now sit second in the standings with a 8-4 league record and the Huskers are 0.5 game back in third place with a 7-4-1 record. Maryland sits at the top of the standings with a 12-3 record.

The Mavs also went on the road and won this past weekend, taking 2-for-3 from North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D. Omaha also split a pair of midweek games against Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Nebraska is 11-5 at home this season, but is yet to lose a midweek contest at Hawks Field. Omaha is 10-29 on the season, but eight of its 10 wins have come on the road. The Mavericks are 8-15 away from Omaha this year, including a 8-14 record in true road games.

Nebraska is 58-9 all-time against Omaha and has won nine straight against the
Mavs. Omaha last beat the Huskers on April 30, 1997, when it took the first game of a doubleheader, 17-13. Nebraska took game two of the double dip, 21-5.

Nebraska will be back in conference action this weekend with a three-game series at Ohio State. It will be the fifth conference series between the two teams since Nebraska joined the Big Ten, but just the second time to two teams have met for a series in Columbus. The only other time the Huskers went to Columbus for a league series was in 2012 and Nebraska took the series, 2-1. Nebraska dropped the opener, 10-2, but rallied to win the series with a doubleheader sweep on Sunday after a rain out on Saturday.

How to Listen/Watch the Huskers
Fans can listen to Greg Sharpe, Ben McLaughlin and Nick Handley call all the action this season on the Husker Sports Network. Every game this season can be heard on Huskers.com and the Official Nebraska Huskers App for both iOS and android devices.

Tuesday’s game will be carried on 1400 AM in Lincoln and 590 AM in Omaha. Fans can also listen on TuneIn.com or the TuneIn App on the Husker IMG Sports Network channel.

Tuesday’s game will also be carried statewide on NET and will also be streamed live on BTN2Go.

All three games this weekend in Columbus will be carried on 1400 AM in Lincoln and 590 AM in Omaha. Fans can also listen on TuneIn.com or the TuneIn App on the Husker IMG Sports Network channel.

All three games will be video streamed on Buckeye Vision (subscription required).

Heating Up in April
Ben Miller entered his senior season as a career .303 hitter, but entering Nebraska’s series finale at Indiana on April 1 he was hitting just .205 on the year. Since the calendar switched from March to April, Miller has played in each of NU’s 15 games and coming into Tuesday the Clive, Iowa, native has posted a .369 batting average (24-for-65) at the plate, raising his season average 68 points to .273.

During the 15-game stretch, Miller leads the Huskers in hits (24), doubles (5) and RBIs (13).

Earlier this month against Maryland, Miller went 10-for-13 (.769) in the series with two doubles, four runs scored and three RBIs. The senior first baseman slugged .923 on the weekend and had an on-base percentage of .786. For his efforts he was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday, April 10.

Join the Club
Ben Miller was taken in the 32nd round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but turned down professional baseball to instead return to Nebraska for his senior season. The Clive, Iowa, native now has a chance to cement his name near the top of Nebraska’s all-time hits list.

Miller became the 25th player in school history to total 200 career hits on Saturday, April 8, with a 4-for-4 game against Maryland, his first career four-hit game. He followed it up the next day with a 4-for-5 performance in the series clincher.

Miller enters Tuesday with 213 hits, ranking him 22nd all-time at Nebraska. Last weekend at Minnesota he passed Pat Kelly, who had 212 hits during his three-year career from 2012-14 and currently serves as Nebraska’s undergraduate assistant coach.

Over the past two seasons Miller has averaged 68.5 hits and with that average in 2017 he would end his career just outside of NU’s all-time top 10. If Miller can match his 77 hits from last season, he would tie Michael Pritchard for fifth all-time at Nebraska with 251 hits.

The Huskers have had at least one player join the 200 hit club in each of the past five seasons, including 2016 second-round pick Ryan Boldt last year.

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
223 Ryan Boldt 2014-2016
21. 222 John Cole 1999-01
22. 213 Ben Miller 2014-Present
23. 212 Pat Kelly 2012-14
24. 203 Ken Harvey 1997-99
25. 201 Francis Collins 1995-97

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 last season at Rutgers on Friday, April 29, the Huskers had won 73 straight games when leading after the eighth inning. Since the loss at Rutgers, the Huskers have won 34 straight games when leading after eight innings.

Led by pitching coach Ted Silva, the Huskers are 157-17 since the start of the 2012 season when they lead after the sixth inning. The Huskers are 164-10 when leading after seven innings and are nearly perfect when leading after eight innings with a 176-5 record.

Angelo’s Arrival
After making a pair of starts last season as a true freshman, Angelo Altavilla has become a key contributor in 2017. The sophomore infielder is tied with Luis Alvarado for the team lead in doubles with nine, ranks second on the team in RBIs with 24 and is third on the team with a .302 average.

Altavilla has started 37 of NU’s 39 games, and has shown versatility in the field with 27 starts at shortstop, eight at third base and two at second base.

Get the First One On the Road
Since joining the Big Ten Conference for the 2012 season, Nebraska has played 22 league series on the road and has a record of 15-7. In 65 regular-season Big Ten road games, NU is 38-26-1.

Including last weekend at Minnesota, the Huskers have won the opening game of a Big Ten road series 15 times and have won 13 straight series when they have taken the opener on the road.

The last time NU didn’t win the series after winning the opener was in 2012 at Indiana. Nebraska took game one 13-2, but then dropped a doubleheader the next day, 7-5 and 9-6.

In the seven road series when the Huskers have started with a loss, they have gone on to win the series just twice, including last season at Rutgers when NU dropped the opener and then took a doubleheader on Saturday. Prior to the comeback at Piscataway, the only other time NU had lost an opener on the road and then won the series was in 2012 at Ohio State. NU lost 10-2 on Friday and then swept a doubleheader on Sunday, 5-4 and 17-9.

Turn the Power On
Through the first 22 games of the year the Huskers hit just three home runs and didn’t have a multi-home run game. The power numbers are starting to climb though, as the Huskers head into Tuesday with nine home runs over their last 17 games and have produced two multi-home run games.

Last season the Huskers saw a spike in home runs with 43 on the year, which was more than the 41 they totaled in 2014 (19) and 2015 (22) combined.

Double Digits
Nebraska has totaled 10 or more hits 17 times in 39 games entering Tuesday. Nebraska is 14-3 on the year when notching double-digit hits, the only losses came in a 7-5 defeat to Utah on Feb. 24, an 8-6 loss at CSU Bakersfield on March 21 and a 7-6 extra-inning loss to Iowa on April 14.

The Huskers produced a season-high 19 hits against Creighton on Tuesday, April 4.

Last season the Huskers totaled 10 or more hits 27 times in 59 games and were 21-6 in those games.

Home Sweet Hawks
The Nebraska baseball program is celebrating its 16th year at Hawks Field.

The Huskers enter Tuesday with a 333-120-1 (.735) record at Hawks Field since opening the park on March 5, 2002 with a 23-1 win over Nebraska-Kearney.

Since Head Coach Darin Erstad took over in 2012, the Huskers are 104-42 (.712) at Hawks Field.

The Huskers have posted a winning home record in each of the last 15 seasons. Nebraska has won 60% or more of its home games 13 times over the past 15 seasons, including each of the past seven seasons.

NU’s worst home season at Hawks Field came in 2009, NU posted a 16-14 record (.533).

Nearing 200
Head Coach Darin Erstad enters Nebraska’s game against Omaha on Tuesday with 199 career wins. In Nebraska’s next win Erstad would become the fifth head coach in program history to reach 200 wins.

Nebraska Baseball Head Coaches with 200 Wins
1. John Sanders 767-453-1 (.629) 20 Years
2. Tony Sharpe 394-388-6 (.503) 31 Years
3. Mike Anderson 337-196-2 (.632) 10 Years
4. Dave Van Horn 214-92-0 (.699) 5 Years

-- Darin Erstad 199-134-1 (.597) 6th Year

Leave it to Luensmann
Chad Luensmann had a tough task last season as a true freshman, he had to replace career saves holder Josh Roeder as NU’s closer. Luensmann went on to save 13 games in 14 chances, a NU freshman record, and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Husker baseball player to win the award.

Luensmann’s 13 saves tied Brett Jensen (2006) for third place in NU’s single-season record book and Luensmann ranked fourth nationally in saves. Among freshmen, Luensmann tied Long Beach State’s Chris Rivera for the most saves in the country.

Luensmann ranks second on the team with six saves this season, one behind Luis Alvarado’s seven saves. Luensmann enters Tuesday ranked third all time at Nebraska with 19 career saves. Luensmann needs 12 more saves to tie Jensen for second place on the all-time list.