Curtis Ledbetter Season 2003

Honors & Awards

• 2005 MLB 18th-round Draft Pick (Seatlle)
• 2005 First-Team All-Big 12
• 2005 Big 12 Tournament MVP
• 2005 Lincoln Regional All-Tournament Team
• 2004 Honorable-Mention All-Big 12 (Coaches)
• 2004 Second-Team Academic All-Big 12
• Big 12 Player of the Week (4/19/04)
• 2003 First-Team All-Big 12 (Coaches)
• 2003 Lincoln Regional All-Tournament Team
• Big 12 Co-Player of the Week (4/29/03)
• 2003 Second-Team Academic All-Big 12
• Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Fall 2002; Fall 2003)
• 2000 MLB 39th-round Draft Pick (Cleveland)

2005: Curtis Ledbetter played in 71 of the Huskers' 72 games in 2005, starting 70 of them • Was the Big 12 Tournament MVP and earned first-team All-Big 12 and Lincoln Regional All-Tournament team honors • Hit .319 on the season in a team-high 288 at bats and was second on the team in hits (92), home runs (13), RBIs (55), total bases (151) and slugging percentage (.524) • Blasted two solo home runs to lead the Huskers to a 12-0 win over New Mexico on Feb. 25 • Both him and teammate Brandon Fusilier tied a NCAA and school record against SDSU on March 13 by hitting two homers in an inning • Also hit two doubles, scored four runs and drove in four • Homered again in the next game against Northern Colorado on March 15, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a RBI • Knocked in three runs on three hits and scored twice in a 10-2 win over Northern Colorado on March 17 • Hit .455 (5-for-11) in a three-game sweep of Seton Hall with three runs scored, three RBIs and two walks • Enjoyed a 16-game hit streak, stretching from March 12 to April 3 • Recorded another multi-homer game for the season on April 6 against Iowa, notching a two-run home run and a solo shot in the game • Recorded his fourth multi-homer game on April 15, with his two solo home runs being the only Husker runs scored in the 2-1 victory over Texas A&M • Batted .533 (8-for-15) with six RBIs and four runs scored in the three-game series against Texas Tech • Matched a Big 12 Tournament record and set a career high with five hits while driving in three and scoring four runs against Missouri on May 28 to advance to the championship game • Started the championship game against Baylor with two hits in his first two at bats, tying a Big 12 Tournament record with seven consecutive hits • Helped the Huskers secure the NCAA Lincoln Regional title by going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and one RBI against Creighton in the championship game.

2004: Ledbetter took advantage of his first full season at first base, hitting .297 with eight homers and 56 RBIs in 56 games • Named honorable-mention All-Big 12 after ranking second on the team in homers and RBIs, trailing only Big 12 Player-of-the-Year Alex Gordon • Was superb at first base, committing one error in 473 chances (.998 fielding percentage) and did not make an error in his final 266 chances • Led NU with 12 game-winning RBIs and hit .360 (32-of-89) with runners in scoring position • Was second on the squad in both multi-hit (20) and multi-RBI contests (16) • Hit .309 with five homers and 21 RBIs while starting 25 of 27 league games, missing the final two games against Kansas with a shoulder injury • Named Big 12 Player of the Week after hitting .564 in four games (April 12-18) • Was a blistering 8-for-12 with three doubles, a homer and three RBIs in a three-game series at Missouri, matching his career high with four hits on April 17 • Performed well against Texas Tech, going 5-for-12 with a homer, including a three-hit performance on April 10 • Hit .429 (6-for-14) with two homers and seven RBIs while propelling the Huskers to a sweep of Kansas State • Homered in each of the first two games before going 3-for-5 with three RBIs in the finale • Matched his career high with four RBIs, including a three-run homer, against Northern Iowa on May 11 • Drove in four runs by going 2-for-4 with a homer against No. 10 Texas A&M on May 2 • Had three RBIs in wins over No. 15 North Carolina on Feb. 29, Creighton on March 23 and Northern Colorado on April 28.

2003: Ledbetter became one of the Big 12’s premier power hitters in his first season of Division I action • Earned first-team all-conference honors after hitting .348 with 13 homers and 54 RBIs in 53 contests • Ranked in the top-20 in the league in hitting and was third in the league in both homers (13) and slugging percentage (.647) • Paced NU with 13 doubles and was second to Big 12 Player-of-the-Year Matt Hopper in batting average, homers, RBIs and slugging percentage • Finished Big 12 play with a .310 average with five homers and 23 RBIs in 23 contests • Established a pair of records, matching NU’s single-game mark with three doubles vs. South Dakota on April 23, while also matching a Big 12 record with three grand slams in a season • Drove in a team-high 23 RBIs in two-out situations and was 6-of-7 with three homers and 21 RBIs in bases-loaded situations • Totaled two multi-homer games, including one in his collegiate debut against Southwest Texas on Feb. 23 • Finished the 2003 campaign with 13 multi-hit games, including four-hit games against South Dakota (April 23) and Eastern Michigan (May 30) • Went 4-for-4 with a homer, three doubles and four RBIs in a 9-1 win over South Dakota that was shortened to six innings because of rain • Enjoyed his best Big 12 series against Kansas State, when he went 4-for-7 with two homers and seven RBIs • Had two homers and four RBIs off the bench in the series opener on March 21 • Enjoyed a successful homecoming against Kansas, going 5-for-13 with two RBIs and three runs scored in the three-game series • Closed the season with a flourish, hitting safely in 36 of his final 39 contests, including a Big 12-long 23-game hitting streak - the longest by a Husker since 1996 • Made a game-saving catch in left field in the regular-season finale against Baylor, but injured his shoulder on the play and missed the Big 12 Tournament • Returned to the lineup in time for the NCAA Lincoln Regional, hitting .400 with a homer, eight RBIs and five runs scored to earn a spot on the all-regional team.

2002: Ledbetter redshirted in 2002, his first year at Nebraska.

Garden City Community College/Lawrence High School: Ledbetter played one season for Coach Todd Briggs at Garden City Community College, earning honorable-mention All-Jayhawk League honors • Batted .404 with 13 home runs, 55 RBIs and 58 runs scored, while throwing out 50 percent of would-be base stealers as the starting catcher • Was one of the top catchers in the Midwest for Coach David Petry’s club at Lawrence High School, guiding his team to a Class 6A state title as a senior • Named state MVP and a first-team all-state selection after batting .627 with 13 homers and 47 RBIs, setting school records in all three categories, along with 14 stolen bases • Selected in the 39th round by Cleveland in the 2000 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft • Chose Nebraska over Missouri, Kansas State, New Mexico, Michigan, Arkansas, Miami, Florida and Texas Tech.

Personal: Born on Dec. 26, 1981, in Lawrence, Kan. • Parents are Calvin and Karen Ledbetter • Has one sister (Tara) • Is a news-editiorial major at Nebraska • Worked for one of the campus newspapers during the fall, serving as the beat reporter for the soccer program.

Career Stats