Huskers Host Lobos for 2013 Home Opener

Nebraska (0-7, 0-0 Big Ten) vs. New Mexico (2-4, 0-0 Mountain West)
Friday, March 1 - 2:05 p.m. (CT)
RHP Brandon Pierce (0-2) vs. RHP A.J. Carman (1-0)

Saturday, March 2 - 2:05 p.m. (CT)
RHP Christian DeLeon (0-0) vs. LHP Kevin Baumgartner (0-0)

Sunday, March 3 - 1:05 p.m. (CT)
RHP Ryan Hander (0-1) vs. RHP Sam Wolff (1-0)

This Week: After playing its first seven games on the road, the Nebraska baseball team (0-7, 0-0 Big Ten) is set to host its home opener on Friday, March 1, against the New Mexico Lobos at 2:05 p.m. The three-game series continues on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. and concludes on Sunday with a 1:05 p.m. game.

There will be no TV coverage this weekend, but all three games will be streamed live on HuskersNSide, subscription required.

The Huskers are in search of their first win of the season, while the Lobos enter the weekend with a 2-4 record. The Lobos opened with a three-game home series against Oklahoma State before traveling to Corpus Christi, Texas, for the Kleberg Bank College Classic. Nebraska played in the Kleberg Bank College Classic last season.

Nebraska holds a 19-8 advantage in the all-time series with the Lobos, with the first meeting coming in 1980. The Lobos last came to Lincoln in 2009 for a two-game midweek series. The Huskers took both games, 4-2 and 9-5. New Mexico's last win came during the 2007 season when the teams opened the year with a double header in Arlington, Texas. Nebraska won game one, 6-2, before the Lobos took game two, 6-2.

On the Radio: Fans across Nebraska and around the world can listen Lane Grindle and Jeff Culhane 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 12.

TV: There is no television coverage of any game this weekend.

Web Stream: All three games this weekend will be streamed live on HuskersNSide, subscription is required. Information about HuskersNSide can be found by looking under the "Multimedia" tab at the top of Huskers.com. Subscriptions vary from $12.95 for one month to $54.95 for a one-year subscription.

Home Sweet Hawks
The Nebraska baseball program is celebrating its 12th year at Hawks Field in 2012. The Huskers are 249-88-1 (.738) 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 21 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.

Home Winning Streak
The Huskers have won their last 34 home openers dating back to the 1979 season. Nebraska is 11-0 all-time in home openers at Hawks Field.

Sophomore Slump, Not so Far
After producing one of the top freshman season in recent memory at Nebraska, Pat Kelly, has started his sophomore season on the right foot through seven games.

Kelly is hitting a team-high .393 (11-for-28) on the year, with a pair of doubles. His 11 hits are also tops on the team and through seven games he is the only Husker with double-digit hits.

Kelly also leads the squad with an on-base percentage of .452. No other Husker regular has an on-base percentage of over .367.

Take it for the Team
Senior infielder Bryan Peters entered the 2013 season ranked fourth on Nebraska's career list 43 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.

In 2012, Kale Kiser moved to third on the all-time list with 46 HBP after getting hit 14 times during his senior 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.

Four of the BTN.com streams will also be shown live across the state of Nebraska on NET.

Overall, all 21 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)

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 five games after suffering an injury during an at-bat against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, Feb. 16.

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 seven games in 2013, the Huskers have already matched the feat twice, as Christian DeLeon and Hander each struck out seven Longhorns this past weekend 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 is yet to produce a double-digit strikeout game, but has notched eight or more strikeouts in three games.

New Faces
A total of 10 players have made their Husker debuts during NU's first seven games of the season.

Of the 10, four are position players, including three players who have seen time at catcher.

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.

Vogt has had a tough start to the season, as he has been tagged with two losses in two appearances. Both losses have come in walk-off fashion.

Vogt may not be a typical closer though, as the Omaha native may come into the game in the sixth or seventh innings if needed.

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.

Welcome to Nebraska
Tanner Lubach made the most of his Nebraska debut with a home run in his first career game at CSU Bakersfield on Friday, Feb. 15.

It was the first time a Husker had hit a home run in their first career game since Chad Christensen hit a homer at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 26, 2010.

Lubach, who transferred to Nebraska after one season at Hutchinson CC, has started at catcher in six of Nebraska's seven games.

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.

Packing the Park
Once again in 2012, Husker Nation proved why the Nebraska baseball team plays in front of the best fans in the country.

Nebraska ranked 13th in the country in average attendance at 3,805 fans per game.

It marked the 12th straight season that the Huskers have ranked in the top 30 and ninth time in the past 12 seasons that Nebraska has ranked in the top 15 nationally in average attendance.

No other Big Ten team ranked in the top 50.

Named the Diamond Deal, fans can either purchase reserved tickets for nine games in the lower grandstand (sections 110 and 112) or in the Homerun Terrace (behind right field).

Fans are able to choose nine games from any of the Huskers' 21 home games in 2013. The non-conference season includes games with New Mexico, Northern Colorado, Creighton, Arkansas and Kansas State.

The Huskers will open the conference season against Northwestern on Friday, March 29, before also hosting Ohio State, Indiana and also Michigan at Hawks Field.

Total price of the package is just $90 for either the grandstand or Homerun Terrace. For more information on season tickets or the Diamond Deal, visit Huskers.com/Tickets or call 800-8-BIG RED during business hours.