Jake Opitz Season 2005

Honors & Awards

• 2008 First-Team All-Big 12
• 2008 NCAA Lincoln Regional All-Tournament Team
• 2008 Big 12 All-Tournament Team
• 2008 Second-Team Academic All-Big 12
• 2006 Honorable-Mention All-Big 12
• 2004 MLB 39th-round Draft Pick (Seattle)
• Big 12 Player of the Week (2/26/07)
• Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Fall 2007)

2008: Opitz was a four-year starter at second base who ranks in the top 10 on NU’s career lists for both games played (225, seventh) and assists (569, fourth) ? Became the first Husker to earn first-team all-conference honors at second base since 1972 ? Started all 58 games, hitting .339 with 11 homers and 50 RBIs, leading the Huskers in all three triple crown categories, as well as runs scored (51), multi-hit (22) and multi-RBI (16) games while ranking second in stolen bases and walks ? Finished his career on a 14-game hitting streak, where he went .421 with five homers and 11 RBIs ? Selected to the NCAA Lincoln Regional All-Tournament Team after hitting .417 with three homers and five RBIs, as he had two homers and three RBIs against Eastern Illinois and two hits, including a two-run homer against UC Irvine ? Named to the Big 12 All-Tournament team, hitting .500 with a homer, three RBIs and three runs scored, including a 3-for-3 day with a homer and double in a win over K-State ? Went 5-for-13 with a homer and two RBIs in the series loss at No. 12 Missouri ? Tied a career high with three runs scored, going 3-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases against Creighton on May 13 ? Was 4-for-12 with six walks in the series win over No. 9 Texas A&M ? Went 2-for-6 with two homers, four RBIs and three runs scored versus Western Illinois ? Helped NU to a series win at Baylor, hitting .333 (4-for-12) with a homer and five RBIs, including a 3-for-4 effort with a homer and a season-high four RBIs in the nightcap on April 26 ? Turned in a strong series against Texas, hitting .400 in 10 at-bats with three runs scored and four walks, reaching base at a .571 clip ? Hit .333 with four walks, three RBIs and three runs scored against Northern Colorado ? Was 5-for-13 with three RBIs and scored five times in the series win over Oklahoma, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored on March 22 ? Torched Kansas State by hitting .583 (7-for-12) with a homer, three RBIs and four runs scored in the series sweep ? Went 3-for-4 with a homer and a season-high three RBIs in an 11-4 win on March 15 ? Totaled three hits in five at-bats and scored twice in NU’s 5-3 10-inning win on March 16 ? Went 2-for-4 against South Dakota State on March 11, as his two-run, fifth-inning double broke a 2-2 tie and gave NU the lead for good ? Sparked the Huskers to a series sweep over UC Riverside, hitting .500 (7-for-14) with five RBIs, three doubles and a triple ? Was 3-for-3 and drove in a season-high three runs in the series finale against UC Riverside on March 2 ? Put together a pair of multi-hit games in a twinbill sweep of UC Riverside on March 1, going 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles in the opener before adding two hits, including a double and triple, in the nightcap ? Played for Harwich in the Cape Cod League in 2007, hitting .219 with a pair of homers, five RBIs and nine runs scored without committing an error in 20 games

2007: Opitz was a fixture at second base, hitting .278 with five homers and 48 RBIs in 56 contests ? Paced NU in both RBIs and triples (three), while ranking among team leaders in homers (five, second), runs (32, fourth) and walks (26, third) ? Had a team-best 14 multiple RBI games, including a season-high four RBIs against Notre Dame on March 4, and was fifth on the team with 17 multi-hit contests ? Hit .313 with a team-best five RBIs at the NCAA Tempe Regional, including a 2-for-3 effort with three RBIs in a victory over Monmouth ? Hit .250 (3-for-12) with three RBIs at the Big 12 Championship, including a two-hit game against Kansas State on May 24 and two RBIs vs. No. 5 Texas on May 25 ? Batted .333 with three RBIs and two runs scored in the series win at Kansas, going 2-for-5 while adding two RBIs and a game-saving play in NU’s 11-9 win on May 19 ? Hit .300 (3-for-10) with two RBIs and three walks in the series win over Kansas State, including a two-run double in the opener on April 27 that gave NU a 4-3 lead ? Hit .250 (3-for-12) in the series win over Oklahoma, including a 2-for-3 effort with three RBIs in a 6-4 win on April 14, driving in the go-ahead run with a two-run single ? Had two hits with a pair of RBIs in NU’s 7-6 win over Iowa on April 10 ? Went 2-for-3 with a walk and was hit by a pitch in NU’s 12-10 win over Creighton at Rosenblatt Stadium on April 3 ? Went 2-for-4 with a three-run triple against Northern Colorado on March 27 ? Was 4-for-12 with a homer, two doubles and three RBIs against Missouri, posting multi-hit games in the final two contests of the series ? Nearly hit for the cycle against Western Illinois on March 21, going 3-for-5 with a homer, triple and two RBIs ? Went 2-for-5 with a double and scored twice in a win at No. 22 Alabama on March 11 ? Was one of the Huskers’ bright spots in a loss to Notre Dame on March 4, as he homered, drove in four runs and scored twice ? Named Big 12 Player of the Week on Feb. 26, after hitting .600 (6-for-10) with five runs scored at the Rice Invitational ? Was 2-for-2 with a pair of walks in a loss to No. 6 Rice on Feb. 24 ? Had three hits and scored three times against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 23 ? Played for Harwich in the Cape Cod League over the summer ? Hit .219 with a pair of homers, five RBIs and nine runs scored against some of the nation’s top college players, while also not committing an error in 20 contests.

2006: Opitz was one of the Big 12’s top second basemen in 2006, hitting .293 with a pair of homers and 27 RBIs to garner honorable-mention All-Big 12 accolades ? Led NU in triples (three) and sacrifices (eight) while he was fourth on the squad with 25 walks ? Batted .355 with runners in scoring position and .339 in two-out situations, ranking among team leaders in both categories ? Was exceptional defensively, fielding at a .971 clip, while his 169 assists tied Kevin Jordan’s school record for most assists by a Husker second baseman ? Closed the season playing some of his best baseball, hitting .333 (22-for-66) with a homer and nine RBIs in his final 17 contests ? Had his 17th multi-hit game of the year against Manhattan in the NCAA Regional with a 2-for-4 effort ? Hit .267 (4-for-15) with a pair of RBIs at the Big 12 Tournament, delivering a two-run double in the win over Texas Tech on May 25 ? Finished conference play with a .298 average with one homer and 12 RBIs, while also recording a .983 fielding percentage in 27 conference starts ? Hit .461 in three games against No. 13 Oklahoma, including three hits in the regular-season finale on May 21 ? Enjoyed his best Big 12 series of the year at No. 24 Oklahoma State, hitting a team-high .583 (7-for-12) with a homer, three RBIs and three runs scored, including a 3-for-4 effort with a homer on May 7 ? Hit .363 (4-for-11) against Texas A&M, including an eighth-inning, game-winning RBI on April 14, and two doubles and a run scored in the finale ? Had the best game of his Husker career at Iowa on April 11, going 5-for-7 including a two-run double in the top of the 13th, as he set career highs in hits, RBIs, runs scored (two) and stolen bases (two) and fell one double shy of hitting for the cycle ? Went 3-for-4 and scored twice against St. John’s on Feb. 26 ? Played for the Liberal (Kan.) Bee Jays over the summer, hitting .330 with 10 doubles and 20 RBIs in the wood-bat Jayhawk Summer League.

2005: Opitz enjoyed a solid freshman campaign, hitting .256 with three homers and 14 RBIs in 52 games ? Was a solid offensive contributor during NU’s run to the College World Series, hitting .333 with a homer and two RBIs in eight contests ? Drew six walks in the postseason, as he totaled a .600 on-base percentage ? Went 1-for-3 in two CWS appearances ? Drew a pair of walks in his only plate appearances in the Super Regional, as he replaced Alex Gordon at third base in the series-clinching win ? Made his only start of the NCAA Tournament against Creighton in the NCAA Lincoln Regional, going 1-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs ? Went 1-for-3 with four walks and a stolen base in four Big 12 Tournament games, delivering a pinch-hit double in NU’s loss to Texas Tech on May 25 ? Appeared in 18 of NU’s 27 conference games, hitting .271 with a homer and four RBIs ? Went 2-for-9 with a homer and two RBIs in three games against Texas Tech ? Delivered a pinch-hit go-ahead homer in the opener on May 14, the first Husker pinch-hit homer since the 2000 season ? Had two hits and scored a career-high two runs against Oklahoma on April 29 ? Went 3-for-4 against CWS qualifier Baylor in two games, including a two-hit game off BU’s Mark McCormick, a first-round draft pick in the 2005 Draft, on April 22 ? Enjoyed one of his best series of the year against CWS qualifier Texas, going 4-for-11 with an RBI and a walk in three games against the No. 1 Longhorns ? Had a career-high 10 assists in a 3-2 win over Northern Illinois on May 18, the most by a Husker infielder in more than seven years ? Hit .455 (5-for-11) with a homer and two RBIs against South Dakota State, including a two-hit game in the finale, highlighted by his first collegiate homer ? Went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch in Nebraska’s 6-3 win over No. 7 Rice on Feb. 27 ? Had two hits and an RBI in his college debut against Hawaii-Hilo on Feb. 18.

Heritage High School: Opitz enjoyed a decorated prep career playing for Coach John Quarton at Heritage High School ? Selected as a third-team All-American and first-team all-region pick from the National High School Baseball Coaches Association after helping Heritage to a state runner-up finish in 2004 ? Picked in the 39th round by the Seattle Mariners in the 2004 MLB First-Year Player Draft ? Named the 2004 Colorado Player of the Year by the Denver Post, batting .529 with 12 homers, 45 RBIs, 12 doubles and 18 stolen bases ? Swept first-team All-Colorado honors, as he was an all-state and all-class selection by the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News and chosen to play in the Colorado Rockies Top 40 All-Star Game at Coors Field ? Started all four years, earning all-state honors in his final three seasons ? Led his team to a Class 5A runner-up finish as a junior, batting .463 with five homers, 31 RBIs, 32 runs scored and 10 stolen bases ? Starred in two sports, as he played three years of football, earning first-team All-Colorado accolades as a defensive back ? Also looked at Florida Atlantic, New Mexico State and Dallas Baptist before choosing Nebraska.

Personal: Born on July 28, 1986, in Denver, Colo. ? Parents are Jeff and Melanie Opitz ? Has two brothers (Shane and Casey) and one sister (Jessica) ? Is a sociology major ? Father (Jeff) played college baseball at Metro State College in Denver.

                                   Opitz, Jake

Year       Avg   GP-GS     AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB-ATT
2005....  .256   52-33    129   19   33    6    0    3   14   17   24    3-5
2006....  .293   59-58    205   27   60    9    3    2   27   25   33    8-15
2007....  .278   56-56    205   32   57   10    3    5   48   26   42    2-3
2008....  .339   58-58    227   51   77   15    2   11   50   37   26   13-15
TOTAL...  .296  225-205   766  129  227   40    8   21  139  105  125   26-38