Season Record (26-10, 7-5 Big 12)
National Rankings (20/22/16 - as of April 19)
Tues. (April 20) vs. Creighton Hawks Field L, 4-6
Fri. (April 23) at No. 1/1/1 Texas (39-5, 11-3 Big 12) Austin, Texas 6:15 p.m.
Sat. (April 24) at Texas Austin, Texas 3 p.m.
Sun. (April 25) at Texas Austin, Texas 1 p.m.
Note: All rankings are listed as follows: Collegiate Baseball/Baseball America/Sports Weekly-ESPN Coaches

Pitching Matchups
Fri. - NU (Zach Kroenke, So., LHP, 6-0, 1.84 ERA) vs. UT (J.P. Howell, Jr., LHP, 8-1, 1.83 ERA)
Sat. - NU (Phil Shirek, Jr., RHP, 5-0, 2.95 ERA) vs. UT (Sam LeCure, So., RHP, 6-0, 2.22 ERA)
Sun. - NU (TBA) vs. UT (Justin Simmons, Sr., LHP, 8-1, 3.67 ERA)

Media Information
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network
TV: Sat. (Fox Sports Net)
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Internet Video Streaming: None

Huskers Travel to Top-Ranked Texas This Weekend
The Nebraska baseball team looks to bounce back after a 6-4 loss to Creighton Tuesday evening, as the Huskers head to No. 1 Texas this weekend in Austin. The three-game series with the Longhorns (39-5, 11-3 Big 12) commences Friday at 6:15 p.m. before afternoon games on both Saturday (3 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.). The games will be carried throughout the state on the Pinnacle Sports Network with Jim Rose and Gary Sharp calling all of the action (pregame show starts 20 minutes before first pitch) and live stats will be available at Huskers.com. While this weekend’s games are not available on HuskersNside, Saturday’s tilt will be carried on Fox Sports Net in Big 12 markets with Greg Lucas (play-by-play) and former Houston Astros pitcher and manager Larry Dierker (analyst).

The Huskers (26-10, 7-5 Big 12), who are ranked between 16th (ESPN/Sports Weekly) and 22nd (Baseball America) in this week’s polls, have a forboding task ahead, as the Longhorns are 22-2 at Disch-Falk Field and come into the series with a 39-5 mark. UT is in second place in the Big 12 with an 11-3 mark, a half game behind Oklahoma, which sits at 12-3. The Huskers are in fourth place in the league at 7-5, a half game behind Oklahoma State.

The series features the last three Big 12 champions (Nebraska in 2001 and 2003 and Texas in 2002), as the two teams have combined for four CWS appearances over the last three years (NU, 2001-02; Texas, 2002-03).

Nebraska has won the regular-season series in each of the last five years (1999-2003), taking 2-of-3 in Austin in both 2000 and 2002, the team’s last matchup in Austin. In fact, NU is the only Big 12 team to hold an all-time lead over Texas, as NU is 17-11 all-time against the Longhorns, including wins in 11 of the past 16 meetings dating back to 1999.

After this weekend’s trip to Texas, the Huskers return home to begin a five-game homestand next week, taking on Northern Colorado (Tuesday-Wednesday) and Texas A&M (Friday-Sunday). Tickets for all five games are available by calling the NU Ticket Office (800-8-Big Red) or at Hawks Field 90 minutes before each game.

Saturday’s Game at Texas on Fox Sports Net
Saturday’s game at Texas has been picked up for television by Fox Sports Net. The game, which was originally scheduled for a 2 p.m. start, has been moved to 3 p.m., and will be carried in Big 12 markets.

The next scheduled NETV broadcast is Saturday, May 1, when Texas A&M comes to Hawks Field with a first pitch at 2:05 p.m. The game will also be tape delayed and aired on College Sports TV on Sunday, May 2, at 4:30 p.m. (CT). NETV will also telecast the Huskers’ game against Creighton at Rosenblatt Stadium on May 18.

Leading Off
• - One of the strengths of the Huskers in 2004 has been the play of their defense. NU, which was ranked third nationally in defense in the initial NCAA rankings, is currently 16th nationally and third in the Big 12 with a .973 fielding percentage The Huskers are still on pace to break the school mark of .971 set in 1994 and 1995.

The Huskers are a perfect 14-0 this season when they play errorless baseball and have a pair of stretches of at least 45 innings without an error, including a stretch of 63.1 innings - the longest stretch in over 20 years - last month.

• - The Huskers have been perched in the national polls for the past 78 weeks, dating back to April of 2000.

• - First baseman Curtis Ledbetter has been on a tear since returning to the lineup after a shoulder injury. The first baseman from Lawrence, Kan., is hitting .410 with five homers and 21 RBIs during his current team-high 14-game hit streak, raising his average of .324. Ledbetter was named the Big 12’s co-Player of the Week on Tuesday as he hit .563 (9-for-16) with two homers and five RBIs in four games, including a four-hit day in Saturday’s game at Missouri.

• - Throughout 2004, the Huskers have gotten out to fast starts, outscoring opponents 45-17 in the opening inning of games and 121-46 over the first three innings.

• - Sunday’s win over Missouri marked the 100th game under Head Coach Mike Anderson at NU, and the Huskers celebrated the occasion by pulling out a dramatic 11-10 win over the Tigers. Anderson’s record at the 100-game mark was 73-27, which is the second best mark at that point in school history.

• - The Nebraska baseball team joined the men’s basketball, track and cross country teams as the four finalists for the Herman Award. The honor is presented to the men’s and women’s teams with the highest GPA over the previous two semesters. It marked the second straight season that the Husker baseball team has been a finalist for the campus award (won by the cross country team on Sunday).

• - The Huskers have scored five or more runs in an inning nine times in 2004, spanning a total of eight games. The eight runs scored against Missouri on Sunday equaled the highest single inning total in 2004 (also vs. Northwestern on Feb. 20) and was the most in an inning since scoring nine runs in the fifth inning vs. Texas-Pan American on April 23, 2003. NU is 8-0 when scoring five or more runs in an inning this season.

• - Husker Power announced Tuesday the four finalists for the 2004 Husker Power Baseball Lifter of the Year. Pitchers Zach Kroenke and Phil Shirek join third baseman Alex Gordon and second baseman Jake Mullinax as the four finalists. The award will be announced before the the Huskers’ game against Texas A&M on Sunday, May 2.

Last Time Out
The Huskers saw their six-game winning streak over Creighton snapped in a 6-4 Bluejay win at Hawks Field. The CU win evens the season series at one game each heading into the finale at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium on May 18.

Tuesday (Creighton 6, Nebraska 4) – Creighton scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to break a 3-all tie, as the Bluejays downed No. 16 Nebraska, 6-4, in front of 5,745 at Hawks Field on Tuesday. Nebraska (26-10) overcame a 3-1 deficit on Curtis Ledbetter’s two-run double in the fifth, but Creighton (20-14) regained momentum by scoring twice in the sixth and adding an insurance run in the seventh after Nebraska closed to within 5-4 on Colin Shockey’s RBI double. Ledbetter extended his hitting streak to 14 games and drove in two runs, while Shockey, Alex Gordon and Jake Mullinax all had two hits apiece in a losing effort. Tim Schoeninger took the loss, as the Huskers used seven pitchers in defeat.

Huskers vs. No. 1
Nebraska’s series against Texas this weekend marks the Huskers’ first game against the nation’s top-ranked team since the Huskers faced Rice on March 18, 2001, a 4-1 Rice victory. Sophomore Zach Kroenke was NU’s starter that evening, allowing three runs in his first collegiate start.

The last time that Nebraska knocked off a No. 1 team came against Texas A&M on May 22, 1999, an 8-7 Husker victory at the Big 12 Tournament.

Scouting Texas
Head Coach Augie Garrido (316-167-1 in eight seasons at Texas; 1,469-691-8 overall in 36 seasons) has Texas at the top of the national polls with a 39-5 mark entering the weekend. The only team to defeat Texas more than once in 2004 is Stanford, which took 2-of-3 from the Longhorns at Sunken Diamond in February. While Texas is on top of all four national polls, UT is second in the Big 12 with a 11-3 mark, trailing Oklahoma by one-half game. Texas took 2-of-3 from the Sooners in Norman last month.

The strength of the Longhorns is their pitching staff, which leads the nation with a 2.34 team ERA, including a league-high nine shutouts. Junior left-hander J.P. Howell paces Texas with an 8-1 record and a 1.83 ERA, while fanning a conference-high 95 batters in 73.2 innings. In addition, Sam LeCure (6-0, 2.22 ERA) and Justin Simmons (8-1, 3.67 ERA) join Howell in anchoring the UT rotation. All-American Huston Street (4-1, 4 SV, 1.48 ERA) and J. Brant Cox (3-1, 5 SV, 1.03 ERA) provide a potent 1-2 punch in the bullpen.

Offensively, Texas has a balanced offensive unit, with three different players driving in at least 30 runs. J.D. Reininger and Taylor Teagarden share the team lead with 31 RBIs, while Drew Stubbs and Seth Johnson both are tied with five homers. The Longhorns excel at the little things, leading the Big 12 in both sacrifices (65) and stolen bases (94).

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 17-11, in a season that dates back to 1954, and has won the regular-season series in each of the past five years. In 2003, NU went 2-1, winning twice at Hawks Field while the Longhorns won the finale, 10-4, in Omaha last April. The teams have met only once in the postseason, with Texas winning the 2002 Big 12 Tournament title game by a 9-6 count in 10 innings.