Nebraska (4-7, 0-0
Big Ten) vs. Louisiana Tech (3-10, 0-0 WAC)
Friday,
March 8 - 6 p.m. (CT)
RHP Ryan Hander (0-1) vs. RHP Phil Maton (2-0)
Saturday, March 9 - 1 p.m. (CT)
Game 1
RHP Christian DeLeon (1-0) vs. RHP Trevor Petersen (0-2)
Game 2
RHP Brandon Pierce (0-2) vs. Richie Navari (0-2)
This Week: Fresh off a doubleheader
sweep of the Northern Colorado Bears, the Nebraska baseball team (4-7, 0-0 Big
Ten) looks to pick up its first road win this weekend when it travels to
Ruston, La., for a three-game series with the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
The Huskers are 12-4-1 all-time against the Bulldogs, with
Nebraska taking 3-out-of-4 games last year in Lincoln. The Huskers dropped the
series finale, 6-5, a year ago, but outscored the Bulldogs 47-15 in the series.
Out of the first 17 games in the series, only seven games
have been played in Lincoln and the first seven games in the all-time series
were played in Ruston. This season's trip will mark the fifth time that the
Huskers have made a trip to the Bulldogs' home turf.
The first meeting between the two programs came in 1973,
when the Huskers traveled to Ruston for a four game series. Nebraska took the
opener, 3-2, before the Bulldogs took the next two games and the teams then
tied, 6-6, in the series finale.
On the Radio: Fans
across Nebraska and around the world can listen Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle
call all of the action on the Husker Sports Network - including KLIN 1400 AM
and 94.5 FM in Lincoln - and on the Internet at Huskers.com or the Official
Husker App. A complete list of HSN affiliates can be found on page 13.
Tickets: For
fans making the trip to J.C. Love Field in Ruston, La., single-game ticket
prices range from $8-$12 for adults and children ages 4-17 are $4. Anyone under
the age of 3 is free.
TV: There
is no television coverage of any game this weekend.
Web Stream: All three games this weekend
will be streamed live on LaTechSports.com/allaccess, subscription is required.
Subscriptions can be purchased for $9.95 per month. Louisiana Tech's website is
hosted by CBSSports.com, so if you already have a CBSSports.com account, you
may be able to access the games as part of your subscription.
Double
Dips
Nebraska
is set to play its third doubleheader of the season on Saturday when it plays a
pair of games at Louisiana Tech.
The
Huskers are 2-2 in doubleheader games this season. NU was swept at then No. 22
Cal State Fullerton during the season's opening weekend and recently swept
Northern Colorado at Hawks Field.
Nebraska
played three double headers a year ago, going 3-3. The Huskers swept at Ohio
State, were swept at Indiana and split a doubleheader at home with CSU
Bakersfield.
Happy to
See March
After
starting the year 0-7, the Huskers were glad to see the end of February and the
beginning of March.
Since
the calendar rolled over, Nebraska is 4-0 and can get to .500 on year with a
sweep this weekend at Louisiana Tech.
Going for
2,000
The
Nebraska baseball team is six wins away from notching the 2,000th win in
program history.
Dating
back to the team's first season in 1889 when the team went 1-2, the Huskers
entered the season ranked 45th all-time in the NCAA record books in wins.
Entering
2013, only 44 programs in NCAA history had won more than 2,000 games, while
only two programs had posted 3,000 or more wins. Fordham entered the season
ranked first all-time with 4,320 wins and Texas was second with 3,276 wins.
Kash
Raises Value
Following
a 5-for-7 day in a doubleheader win over Northern Colorado, Kash Kalkowski
raised his average over 100 points.
Entering
the day with a .179 batting average, Kalkowski raised his average to .286.
The
senior entered the season as a .302 career hitter after hitting a career-high
.310 a year ago.
Stringer
Back at Home
Following
two seasons at Fort Scott CC, Corey Stringer played his first game back in the
state of Nebraska on Wednesday against Northern Colorado.
A
native of Omaha, Stringer went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, a season high for any
Husker this season.
In
three games this season, Stringer is hitting .500 (4-for-8) with a double.
Options
at Short
Nebraska
has played three players at shortstop this season, including senior Bryan
Peters as well as freshmen Jake Placzek and Wes Edrington.
Edrington
made his season debut on Wednesday at Northern Colorado, while Peters has
started seven games and Placzek four games.
Knock Out
Blow
Producing
big innings was a staple of Nebraska's offense a year ago, but through the
first seven games of the year, the Huskers had scored more than two runs in an
innings just once, when they plated three runs in the sixth inning at USC.
That
all changed on Saturday, March 2 when the Huskers plated seven runs in the
bottom of the sixth to turn a 0-5 hole into a 7-5 lead. Nebraska went on to win
the game, 8-5, its first win of the 2013 season.
The
Huskers batted around for the first time all season that inning, sending 12
hitters to the plate.
After
scoring 17 runs in their first seven games of the year and going 0-7, the
Huskers have scored 26 runs in their past four games, going 4-0.
Home
Sweet Hawks
The
Nebraska baseball program is celebrating its 12th year at Hawks Field in 2012.
The Huskers are 253-88-1 (.741) since opening the park on March 5, 2002 with a
23-1 win over Nebraska-Kearney.
After
playing 31 homes games in 2012, the Huskers are set to host 20 games at Hawks
Field in 2013, while playing 31 true roads games and two neutral site games at
the TD Ameritrade Classic in late April.
DeLeon
Delivers
Junior
Christian DeLeon has been a welcome addition to the Husker pitching staff in
2013.
Projected
to be a long-relief arm and a spot starter, DeLeon was throw into the weekend
rotation to start the season and has been arguably the Huskers' top starter.
After
holding USC to one run in his first career start on Feb. 17, the Richmond,
Texas, native threw 6.0 innings against the Texas Longhorns in Austin on Feb.
23, striking out seven.
He
then got even better in his first start at Hawks Field on March 3 against New
Mexico, throwing 8.0 shutout innings against the Lobos to earn his first career
win.
DeLeon
holds a 1.45 ERA on the year and leads the team with 13 strikeouts, while
issuing five walks.
Sophomore
Slump, Not so Far
After producing one of the top freshman
seasons in recent memory at Nebraska, Pat Kelly, has started his sophomore
season on the right foot through 11 games.
Kelly is hitting a .357 (15-for-42) on
the year, with three doubles.
Kelly started the year with a nine-game
hitting streak, before it was snapped in game one of a doubleheader with
Northern Colorado on Wednesday. His nine-game streak is a season-high by a
Husker this year.
Hits in
Bunches
Senior
Chad Christensen has been tough on opposing pitchers this season, as the NU
left fielder is tied for the team lead with five multi-hit games.
Christensen
has produced three hits three times this season.
Pat
Kelly also has five multi-hit games, while Kash Kalkowski and Austin Darby each
have three multi-hit games.
Take it for the Team
Senior infielder Bryan Peters entered the
2013 season ranked fourth on Nebraska's career list 43 HBP and still sits
fourth with 44 HBP
Peters should easily move to the No. 3
spot in 2013, and possibly have a chance at moving to the No. 2 spot on the
all-time list.
Kash Kalkowski recently moved to ninth on
the all-time list with 30 career HBP, as he has been hit a team-high four times
this season.
DJ
Belfonte (2007-10) sits second on the career list with 59 HBP and Daniel Bruce
(2002-05) holds the NU career record with 67 HBP.
Pritchard Named Preseason All-American
After being named a third-team
All-American by The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association following
the 2012 season, Nebraska junior Michael Pritchard was selected as the
second-team designated hitter on the 2013 NCBWA Preseason All-America team.
The last Husker to earn All-America
accolades in consecutive seasons was Alex Gordon, who was a first-team
selection by multiple publications in 2004 and 2005.
Pritchard has missed the Huskers' past
nine games after suffering an injury during an at-bat against Cal State
Fullerton on Saturday, Feb. 16.
Pritchard may make his return this weekend
in Ruston, La., as he is a member of the travel party.
Punchouts
In
58 games last season, only twice did a Husker starter strikeout seven batters
in a game.
Kyle
Kubat did it first at Indiana and May 5 and Ryan Hander also did so against
Penn State at the Big Ten Tournament on May 24.
Through
11 games in 2013, the Huskers have already matched the feat twice, as Christian
DeLeon and Hander each struck out seven Longhorns in Austin.
Last
season, the Husker pitching staff produced double-digit strikeouts in a game
four times, including a season-high 11 against New Mexico State during the
Dairy Queen Classic at the Metrodome on March 3.
This
season, NU's pitching staff has already topped the feat with 12 strikeouts in a
10-5 win over Northern Colorado on Wednesday, March 6.
2013 Husker TV Schedule
The Huskers are slated to make four
nationally-televised appearances on BTN, with another nine games streamed live
on BTN.com (subscription required).
Four of the BTN.com streams will also be
shown live across the state of Nebraska on NET.
Overall, all 20 Husker home games will be
either on TV or streamed on the internet, as HuskersNSide will stream 14 games
that weren't picked up by BTN or BTN.com.
2013 BTN Schedule
Friday, March 29 - Northwestern
Tuesday, April 16 - Arkansas
Friday, April 19 - at Purdue
Saturday, May 4 - Indiana
2013 NET &
BTN.com Schedule
Tuesday, April 9 - Creighton (NET/BTN.com)
Friday, April 12 - Ohio State
(NET/BTN.com)
Saturday, April 20 - at Purdue (BTN.com)
Sunday, April 21 - at Purdue (BTN.com)
Sunday, May 5 - Indiana (NET/BTN.com)
Friday, May 10 - at Minnesota (BTN.com)
Saturday, May 11 - at Minnesota (BTN.com)
Sunday, May 12 - at Minnesota (BTN.com)
Friday, May 17 - Michigan (NET/BTN.com)
New Faces
A
total of 11 players have made their Husker debuts during NU's first 11 games of
the season.
Of
the 11, five are position players, including three players who have seen time at
catcher.
Huskers Picked Second by League
Coaches
The
Big Ten coaches have picked Nebraska to finish second out of the league's 11
teams in 2013. One senior and a pair of Husker juniors were also named to the
'Players to Watch List', including senior right-handled pitcher Dylan Vogt, as
well as junior outfielder Michael Pritchard and junior right-handed pitcher
Brandon Pierce.
Indiana
was picked as the league favorite by the coaches. The Hoosiers finished second
in both the regular-season standings and at the conference tournament to the
Purdue Boilermakers.
Vogt of
Confidence
Prior
to the start of the 2013 season, Head Coach Darin Erstad announced the senior
Dylan Vogt will be the team's closer.
After
blowing his first two saves of the season, both resulting in walk-off losses,
Erstad gave Vogt the ball twice this past weekend and the senior came through
with a pair of saves.
Vogt
became arguably the top arm in the Husker pen last season, as he pitched 53.2
innings over 25 appearances, while producing a blistering 1.84 ERA.
While
striking out 34 and walking just 14, Vogt gave up just five extra base hits all
season, including no home runs.
On Friday, Feb. 8, Vogt was one of 75 players named to the
NCBWA Preseason Stopper of the Year Watch List. He was one of four Big Ten
pitchers selected, joining Ohio State's Josh Dezse, Illinois' Reid Roper and
Northwestern's Kyle Ruchim.
