Season Record (16-5, 2-1 Big 12)
National Rankings (20/19/17) - as of March 29)
Tues. (March 30) vs. UW-Milwaukee (7-8) Hawks Field 4:05 p.m. * (NOTE TIME CHANGE)
Wed. (March 31) vs. UW-Milwaukee Hawks Field 1:35 p.m.
Fri. (April 2) vs. Kansas State (19-7, 2-1 Big 12) Tointon Family Stadium 7 p.m.
Sat. (April 3) vs. Kansas State Tointon Family Stadium 2 p.m.
Sun. (April 4) vs. Kansas State Tointon Family Stadium 1 p.m.
Note: All rankings are listed as follows: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly-ESPN Coaches)

Pitching Matchups
Tues. - NU (Justin Pekarek, Sr., LHP, 3-0, 5.61 ERA) vs. UWM (Korey Keller, So., RHP, 2-0, 6.62 ERA)
Wed. - NU (Quinton Robertson, Sr., RHP, 1-4, 6.00 ERA) vs. UWM (Ben Stanczyk, Jr., RHP, 1-2, 6.35 ERA)
Fri. - NU (Zach Kroenke, So., LHP, 4-0, 2.56 ERA) vs. KSU (TBA)
Sat. - NU (Phil Shirek, Jr., RHP, 4-0, 2.10 ERA) vs. KSU (TBA)
Sun. - NU (TBA) vs. KSU (TBA)

Media Information
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (Tues., Fri.-Sun.)
TV: None
Live Stats: Huskers.com

Internet Video Streaming: All five games this week will be video streamed live on HuskersNside, which is a subscription-based service of the Nebraska Athletic Department. Nearly every 2004 Husker baseball game will be shown live on HuskersNside. For more information on how to subscribe, log on to Huskers.com.

Huskers Host UW-Milwaukee; Travel to KSU this Week
Lincoln -- Nebraska begins one of the most demanding parts of its schedule Tuesday afternoon, as it begins a series with UW-Milwaukee at Hawks Field. The two-game set with the Panthers is slated for 4:05 p.m. (changed from an original 6:35 p.m. start) on Tuesday and a 1:35 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

Tuesday’s game will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network (check local stations for broadcast availability) while both games will be video-streamed live on HuskersNside.

The series with UW-Milwaukee kicks off a stretch where the Huskers play seven games in an eight-day span, as Nebraska sandwiches mid-week series with UW-Milwaukee and New Mexico (April 5-6) with a series at Big 12 co-leader Kansas State this weekend.

The Huskers, who are 16-5 overall and winners of nine of their last 10 games, are coming off a series win over Kansas last weekend. The Huskers won Friday’s opener, 3-2, before splitting a Sunday doubleheader (9-12, 13-3) with the Jayhawks.

Monday’s early polls brought a mixture of both good (moved up one spot in Baseball America) and bad (dropped two spots in Collegiate Baseball) news for the Big Red, which had an eight-game winning streak snapped in Sunday’s game one loss to the Jayhawks.

The Huskers will look to a pair of veterans against UW-Milwaukee, as seniors Justin Pekarek and Quinton Robertson will receive the nod against the Panthers, who are 7-8 and riding a four-game winning streak after a sweep of Indiana State on the road last weekend.

Pekarek is 3-0 with a 5.61 ERA, but has pitched extremely well in his last three appearances. In that span, he is 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 13.1 innings, while holding opponents to a .178 average. On the season, Pekarek has a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio - the best among any of the four regular Husker starters. In his last outing, the Staplehurst, Neb., native struck out a career-high six Creighton Bluejays in 6.1 innings - the longest outing of the fifth-year senior’s career.

Robertson looks to break a personal four-game losing streak, as he takes the hill on Wednesday. The right-hander from Richland, Miss., is 1-4 with a 6.00 ERA in 30 innings of work. Robertson took the loss in Sunday’s doubleheader opener to KU, allowing five runs in just 2.2 innings - his second-shortest start as a Husker. A first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2003, Robertson has walked just six batters in his six starts, but has not gotten through the fourth in each of his last two starts.

Robertson and the Husker pitchers will be challenged by a Panther squad that has a robust .332 average through 15 games. Matt Alexander paces UWM with a .476 average and 13 RBIs, while three other hitters are also above .350. UWM played Kansas tough in their season-opening series, taking a game from KU while losing another by just one run. Nebraska has won 15 of the 16 previous meetings, including a doubleheader sweep in Lincoln last March. The Panthers are familiar with the confines of Hawks Field, as they have played in the facility in each of the past two seasons during the regular season as well as making an NCAA regional appearance in 2002.

The Huskers will look to continue the offensive success they enjoyed against Kansas, where they erupted for 21 runs in two games on Sunday. The Husker bats have been warming up recently, as NU has a team average of .322 over the past 10 games. While infielders Alex Gordon, Jake Mullinax and Joe Simokaitis carried the Huskers early on, some of the other bats have awakened in recent games. John Grose, who was hitting .128 entering the KU series, went 6-for-12 against Kansas to raise his average nearly 80 points. Daniel Bruce also enjoyed a strong week, going 7-for-14 with seven runs scored to help the Huskers to a 4-1 week.

Following the series with UWM, the Huskers return to Big 12 play to take on Kansas State for a three-game set. The Wildcats - who are off until Friday - are 19-7 on the year under first-year coach Brad Hill after taking 2-of-3 at Missouri last weekend.