Fans across Nebraska can listen to Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle call the action on the 27-station Husker Sports Network, including KLIN 1400 in Lincoln, 1110 KFAB in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington and on the Internet at Huskers.com. Both Saturday and Sunday’s games will also be on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Ch. 127).

The Huskers bring a three-game winning streak and hopes of a conference title into the final weekend of Big 12 action. Nebraska sits 1.5 games behind league-leader Texas A&M and needs at least a series win at Missouri and some help from Texas, which takes on the Aggies this weekend, to earn its fourth Big 12 title in eight seasons. The Huskers are 1.5 games ahead of third-place Oklahoma State, and NU’s magic number is two to assure its sixth top-two league finish since 2000.

Nebraska completed a three-game sweep of Creighton, 8-1, on Tuesday behind four RBIs from Mitch Abeita and three hits apiece from Jake Opitz and Tyler Farst. Erik Bird earned his fifth win of the year with five strong innings, while freshman Casey Hauptman fanned six and faced the minimum over four innings to collect his first save.

Missouri, which has been off since taking 2-of-3 against Kansas over the weekend, has won its last two weekend series to climb to 13-11 in the league. The Tigers can still finish as high as third in the league with a strong effort this weekend.

Following the weekend series, the Huskers will go straight to Oklahoma City for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.

Leading Off
•-Nebraska is 6-4 against ranked teams this season, including series wins against ninth-ranked Texas A&M and at then-No. 13 Texas. The Huskers are 3-3 against ranked foes away from Hawks Field in 2008.
•-Nebraska enters the final weekend in sixth in the latest RPI rankings released Wednesday. NU is now 15-8-1 against top-50 RPI teams and has only one loss to a team outside the top 50 in RPI. The Big 12, which is rated third among all conferences, has three teams ranked in the top 12 of the most recent RPI and has six teams in the top-50 nationally.
•-The Huskers’ .806 winning percentage is on pace for the highest winning percentage in school history. NU has won 75 percent of its games only seven times, including three times this decade.
•-Nebraska’s 39 wins this season already tops the Huskers’ entire 2007 season total (32). Last year, NU was 27-22 overall after 49 games.
•-With a 39-9-1 record entering this weekend’s series at Missouri, the Huskers’ record after 49 games is their best since 1983. Only the 1979 and 1983 teams had better records at this point in the season, and NU is just a half game off of a school-record pace.
•-One of the traits the Huskers have shown is the ability to win close games, as the Huskers are 16-2 in games decided by two runs or less and 3-1-1 in extra-inning games. Nebraska is 9-1 in one-run games this season with the only loss being a 1-0 loss at Oklahoma State on April 11.
•-The Huskers have shown the knack for comebacks in 2008, overcoming deficits 20 times this spring, including a five-run deficit against ninth-ranked Texas A&M on May 11. Under Mike Anderson, the Huskers have authored 98 come-from-behind wins since 2003
•-NU has won 117 of its last 118 games when taking a lead into the ninth inning and is 117-0-1 in that stretch dating back to the 2005 season. NU is 212-3-1 (.984) when leading after eight innings under Mike Anderson.
•-The Huskers finished the regular season with a 28-3-1 (.891) record at Hawks Field, collecting the most regular season home wins since 1988 (29-5). The .891 winning percentage ranks fifth over the last three decades of baseball.
•-NU is 21-0-1 this season when recording at least 10 hits and 31-0 when out-hitting an opponent.
•-The Huskers have won 11 of their last 13 Big 12 series dating back to the 2007 season and are a Big 12 best 7-1 in conference series in 2008. The only series NU has lost to date was at Oklahoma State in early April.
•-Husker starting pitchers have gone at least five innings in 40 of the 49 starts this season and are a combined 24-6 on the year.
•-Craig Corriston and Thad Weber were among six current or former Huskers who graduated last weekend. Corriston earned his degree in sociology, while Weber received his degree in biological science.

Quick Hitters
•-First baseman Craig Corriston returned to action just 10 days after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery on April 30, starting the series opener against Texas A&M on May 9. Corriston, who is hitting .308-4-29 on the year, is available for action this weekend against Missouri.
•-Tyler Farst has made the most of his opportunities replacing Corriston in the lineup, hitting .348 (8-for-23) with four RBIs and six runs scored in his last six contests. Farst, who did not have a hit during a 12 at-bat stretch from March 23 to April 30, has hit safely in five of his last six contests, including his first three-hit game of the year against Creighton on May 13.
•-Freshman David Stewart has been another Husker who has come on of late. The designated hitter/outfielder from St. Louis, Mo., has six hits, including a homer and two doubles, in his last 12 at-bats. He went 4-for-9 with a homer and seven RBIs in a doubleheader sweep of Texas A&M on May 11 before coming off the bench with a pair of hits against Creighton on Tuesday night.
•-Redshirt freshman Mike Nesseth is 2-0 with two saves and a 0.79 ERA in his last seven appearances out of the bullpen. He has allowed just three hits in that span (.079 batting average) and fanned 18 over his last 11 innings of work. Nesseth’s four saves is two shy of the freshman school mark set by Tim Schoeninger in 2003.
•-With the series win at Texas in March, the Huskers have won the regular-season series in four of their last five visits to Austin dating back to the 2000 season. In that stretch, UT has lost only lost three other three-game home series in league play.
•-Nebraska’s series win at Baylor was the Huskers’ first-ever in Waco and snapped a streak of eight straight losses in Waco dating back to the 2002 season.
•-Nebraska has been without two opening day starters for most of the 2008 season as Jeff Tezak (knee) and Clay Cuno (shoulder) underwent season-ending surgeries in March. Tezak led NU in hitting last season, batting .335 en route to second-team All-Big 12 honors. Both players will apply for medical hardships.
•-Freshman Casey Hauptman picked up his first collegiate save against Creighton on May 13 with four innings of shutout relief. He has not allowed a run in his last 15 innings of work dating back to the second inning of the Nebraska-Kearney game on March 4.
•-Mitch Abeita’s pinch-hit homer against UC Riverside on March 1 snapped several homer droughts. It was the first homer by a Husker pinch hitter in 97 at-bats dating back to May 13, 2005, and the first-ever pinch-hit homer by a Husker in Hawks Field. In fact, NU has had only three pinch-hit homers this decade.

Scouting Missouri
No. 12 Missouri comes into the final weekend of the season with a 34-17 record following a series win over Kansas last weekend. The Tigers, who were ranked as high as second at one point in the year, still have hopes of a top-three league finish and the school’s sixth straight NCAA Regional. Head Coach Tim Jamieson (475-322-2 in 14 years at MU) returned 16 of 21 letterwinners from a club that reached the finals of the 2007 Columbia Regional before falling to CWS qualifier Louisville.

Offensively, the Tigers feature two of the most prolific hitters in the league in designated hitter Jacob Priday and outfielder Aaron Senne. Priday is hitting .339 with a league-high 15 homers and 56 RBIs while Senne is hitting a team-high .356 with 13 homers and 59 RBIs, good for second in the Big 12. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .300 with five starters hitting above that mark. MU is disciplined at the plate, drawing 250 walks and also being hit by pitches 88 times.

On the mound, Missouri features one of the nation’s top performers in junior right-hander Aaron Crow. One of the frontrunners for Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, Crow is a perfect 11-0 with a 2.82 ERA. He leads the Big 11 with 103 strikeouts and has tossed three shutouts on the year. Sophomore right-hander Kyle Gibson is 9-1 with a 3.59 ERA in 13 appearances, earning Big 12 Pitcher-of-the-Week honors last week with a win and a save against Kansas.

The Tigers lead the all-time series 138-105-1 and won 2-of-3 meetings last season in Lincoln. The Huskers swept the Tigers two years ago in Columbia.

Last Time Out
Mitch Abeita tied a career high with four RBIs, as fifth-ranked Nebraska completed a season sweep over Creighton with an 8-1 victory Tuesday night.

Abeita, who went 2-for-4 on the night, extended his hit streak to 17 games in dramatic fashion, sending Greg Hellhake’s offering over the fence in right for three-run homer just four batters into the game, providing the Huskers an early 3-0 lead.

Tyler Farst and Jake Opitz added three hits apiece as the Huskers completed the season sweep of the Bluejays for the fourth time in the last nine seasons and first time since 2006. Farst collected his first career three-hit night, going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs, while Opitz went 3-for-4 and scored three times as Nebraska pounded out 14 hits against five Bluejay pitchers.

Erik Bird picked up his fifth win, allowing one run on three hits over five innings of work, while freshman Casey Hauptman fanned a career-high six Bluejays over four innings of one-hit relief for his first career save.

The Race to Bricktown
With three games remaining, the Huskers are assured of making it to Oklahoma City for the Big 12 Championship, but the field is far from set. All 10 teams have an opportunity to earn their way into next week’s conference tournament entering the final weekend of conference play. Texas A&M, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Missouri and Texas have already punched their tickets, with the Aggies, Huskers and Cowboys being assured of being no worse than the No. 3 seed.

Huskers Pitchers Among Nation’s Best
Despite losing six pitchers selected in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft and returning only five pitchers who threw at least an inning from last year’s staff, the Huskers lead the Big 12 and rank sixth nationally in ERA and are second in opponent batting average.
Under first-year pitching coach Eric Newman, Nebraska leads the Big 12 in strikeouts per nine innings (8.76), complete games (six) and opponent batting average (.233) and is in the top two in saves (16, second) and shutouts (four, second).

Ringing Up the Ks
Nebraska’s pitching staff has been proficient in striking out hitters in 2008. The Huskers lead the Big 12 with 8.76 strikeouts per nine innings, a total that ranks among the top 20 programs nationally.

NU pitchers have totaled double figures in strikeouts 20 times, including a season-high 19 strikeouts in consecutive games against Louisiana-Lafayette (May 4) and Texas A&M (May 9). Those were the highest single-game totals by a Husker pitching staff since the 1999 season. NU’s strikeout per game total is on pace to be the most in school history, as no Husker pitching staff has ever averaged more than eight strikeouts per game.

Doubling Up the Wins
Nebraska has enjoyed doubleheaders this year, sweeping five of the six twinbills its played this year, including sweeps at Baylor and Texas A&M. The only blemish on NU’s doubleheader slate is the season-opening loss at Stanford on Feb. 22.

Nebraska’s sweep at Baylor on April 26, was historic on a number of fronts. First, it marked the Huskers’ first road doubleheader sweep in Big 12 play and first by the Huskers over a league foe since 1994. Second, it allowed the Huskers to earn its first-ever series win in Waco.
Nebraska’s sweep of ninth-ranked Texas A&M on May 11 marked NU’s first doubleheader sweep of a ranked team since a twinbill sweep of No. 18 Texas in 2001 and NU’s first-ever sweep of a top-10 team since joining the Big 12 in 1997.

The sweep also gave the Huskers the season series over the Aggies, marking the first time that Nebraska took the regular-season series from all four Texas Big 12 schools in the same season.

Dorn Dominates in 2008
Right-hander Johnny Dorn has been one of the nation’s top performers, going 5-1 with a 2.65 ERA this season. The senior from Grand Island has held eight of his 12 opponents to two runs or less, and ranks among the Big 12 leaders in innings (85.0, first), strikeouts (90, second), opponent batting average (.195, second) and in ERA (2.65, fourth). He has reached double figures in strikeouts on four occasions, including a career-high 13 strikeouts against Northern Colorado on March 8,. 

While his numbers have been consistently impressive, Dorn’s efforts are even better than his already gaudy numbers. In the seven games where he either lost or received a no-decision, he has a 2.25 ERA over 51 innings of work, striking out 48 and walking only 13 in that span.

Dorn, whose 36 wins lead all active pitchers, is one of only 10 pitchers among Big 12 schools to win at least 35 games. He is also firmly entrenched on NU’s career lists in several categories. He is in the top three in strikeouts, wins, starts and innings pitched and is four strikeouts away from moving into sole possession second place on NU’s career list. He is one of only two pitchers in school history to record a pair of double-figure win seasons and is just five wins shy of matching two-time All-American Shane Komine’s school and Big 12 record of 41 wins.

Jennings Fills Varied Holes
One of the most valuable pitchers on the Husker staff has been junior Dan Jennings. The left-hander from West Des Moines, Iowa, has filled nearly every role on the Husker staff, going 6-1 with four saves and a 2.23 ERA in 19 appearances. Jennings, who had just one decision in his first two years, ranks among Big 12 leaders in ERA (fourth) strikeouts (seventh) and saves (ninth), while allowing 10 extra-base hits in 64.2 innings of work. He tossed 30.1 consecutive shutout innings from March 18 until April 23, the second-longest steak in school history.

Abeita Named to Bench Watch List
Senior catcher Mitch Abeita may be one of the most improved players in the Big 12 this season. The all-conference candidate was recognized for his work on May 1, as he was added to the Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award watch list. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top catcher, and Abeita was one of nine players added to the initial watch list for their performances in 2008.

On the season, Abeita is hitting a team-best .344  with eight homers and 41 RBIs. He leads the Huskers in all three triple crown categories, while ranking among among the Big 12 leaders in on-base percentage and walks. Abeita’s leadership has also helped Nebraska’s pitching staff lead the Big 12 and rank among the NCAA leaders in ERA.

Abeita, who has reached safely via hit or walk in 46 of 47 appearances, brings a 17-game hit streak into the Missouri series. That is the longest hitting streak by a Husker in three seasons. Abeita has shown the knack for timely hits in the streak, as he provided walk-off singles against both Louisiana-Lafayette (May 3) and No. 9 Texas A&M (May 11).
Last season, Abeita had only one homer and 20 RBIs while appearing in 46 games before breaking his fibula in the Big 12 Championship.

The Two Jakes
Nebraska’s infield duo of second baseman Jake Opitz and third baseman Jake Mort have been anchors in the Husker lineup this season.

While Mort has been exceptional defensively, fielding at a .964 clip. He has also been one of the unsung heroes of Nebraska’s offensive attack in the No. 2 hole. Mort leads the Huskers in both sacrifices (11) and hit-by-pitches (13) while going 9-of-10 on the base paths and ranking second on the team with 41 runs scored.

During the second half of the year, Mort’s bat has gotten going, as he is hitting .333 with a .464 on-base percentage and 20 runs scored over his last 18 contests. He tied his career best with three hits in the series finale against No. 9 Texas A&M on May 11 before going 2-for-4 with a pair of run scored in NU’s win over Creighton on May 13.

Opitz has provided offensive punch in the lineup, hitting .323 with six homers and 41 RBIs in the No. 3 spot in the Husker lineup. He paces the Huskers in RBIs, runs scored, stolen bases (12), multi-hit (18) and multi-RBI (13) efforts. Opitz has already set career bests in average, stolen bases and runs scored entering the final week of the season.

He has been on a tear in recent weeks, hitting .353 with three homers, 11 RBIs, 14 runs scored and five stolen bases in his last 12 contests. On Tuesday against Creighton, Opitz had three hits, scored three times and had a pair of stolen bases in NU’s 8-1 win over Creighton.

Nimmo is Taking it From the Top
One recent change in Nebraska’s lineup has been moving Bryce Nimmo up to the leadoff spot on April 13. NU responded with 13 runs in the series finale at No. 21 Oklahoma State and has gone 15-3 since the lineup switch.  As a team, the Huskers are averaging 7.3 runs per game over the last 18 contests, including four double-digit performances. 

It is no surprise that Nebraska has been successful with Nimmo at the top of the lineup. In his career, the Huskers are 69-17 (.793) with Nimmo in the leadoff spot.

Four Huskers Earn Academic Honors
Four Nebraska baseball players were honored on May 8 with their selection to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII baseball team. Pitcher Dan Jennings (3.26 in economics) and outfielders Nick Sullivan (3.79 in finance), Bryce Nimmo (3.50 in finance) and DJ Belfonte (3.67, finance) all earned spots on the 11-member first team.  Nebraska’s four first-team selections tied Brown for the most first-team honors of any Division I program.

The 2008 season marked the first time Nebraska has ever had four baseball players garner first-team academic all-district honors in the same season. It was Nimmo’s second selection, as he was a first-team choice in 2006, and the first for Jennings, Sullivan and Belfonte. Nebraska’s three starting outfielders were all first-team picks, as no other school in the country had more than one outfielder as a first-team honoree.

Scoring Explosion
Nebraska’s 13-run outburst against Creighton on April 23 was the sixth time in the last nine seasons that the Huskers scored at least 10 runs in an inning. Nebraska sent 17 hitters to the plate and had five of a school-record 10 doubles.

Three Huskers Collect Big 12 Honors
A trio of Nebraska baseball players have been honored by the Big 12 Conference for their success during the 2008 season. Nick Sullivan was NU’s most recent honoree, as he was selected on March 24, after hitting .444 (8-for-18) with a homer and nine RBIs in helping the Huskers go 3-1-1 on the week. Sullivan had four multi-RBI games and three multi-hit games on the week.

Sullivan followed the footsteps of Craig Corriston, who was selected for the honor on March 17. That week, he helped NU to a 5-0 record, hitting .579 (11-for-19) with six runs scored, four doubles and four RBIs.

Dorn is the only Husker pitcher to receive weekly recognition in 2008, as he was lauded for his performance against Northern Colorado on March 10. Dorn picked up the honor after fanning 13 and allowing one earned run over seven innings in a win over Northern Colorado on March 8.

Dorn’s 13 strikeouts that day, which included the first seven hitters he faced, were the most by a Husker pitcher since Joba Chamberlain in 2005, and the second-highest total by a Husker pitcher in Hawks Field history.

A Marked Improvement
When looking at the Huskers’ difference in record between 2007 and 2008, one can look to improved production on the mound and in the field.

On the mound, NU has shaved off nearly a run from of its team ERA and is holding opponents to more than 25 points below its 2007 batting average at this point in the year. In the field, NU is second in the Big 12 in fielding percentage, a rate which would be among the top five seasons in school history.

Nimmo Named to Senior Watch List
Nebraska center fielder Bryce Nimmo was selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2008 Lowe’s Senior Class Award on March 10.  Presented annually to NCAA Division I student-athletes in eight sports, the award focuses on the “Four C’s” of classroom, character, community and competition. He was not chosen as one of the 10 finalists for the award.

Dorn Named to Clemens Award List
Senior right-hander Johnny Dorn received another honor on March 6, as he was named to the Roger Clemens Award Watch List. Dorn is among the 78 players on the initial watch list, which will be paired down to 10 semifinalists in May. In all, nine Big 12 players were on the initial watch list.

Making the Grade by Baseball America
As part of Baseball America’s preview, the publication graded the schools in the top eight conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Pac-10, Big Ten, Big East, Big West and C-USA) in four areas - national impact, competitiveness, fans and facilities and academics - during the 64-team NCAA era.

Nebraska was one of 16 programs to receive an A from the publication and joined Texas as the only two Big 12 programs to receive an A. As a conference, the Big 12 tied the ACC for second place in that era.

Weber Grills Opponents
After spending his first year at Nebraska splitting time between the mound and designated hitter, senior Thad Weber has been one of the Big 12’s biggest  surprises on the hill in 2008.

The right-hander from Friend, Neb. (pop. 1,140) is 8-2 with a 4.24 ERA in 11 starts this year. He is among the Big 12 leaders in wins (third), strikeouts (eighth) and ERA (19th) while going an impressive 6-1 in conference play.  All six of his wins in Big 12 action have won series for the Big Red, and Weber’s efforts have been a major reason for the Huskers’ Big 12 success.

On the year, he has allowed two runs or less six times and owns 66 strikeouts, compared to only 23 walks. He fanned a career-high 11 hitters against Texas Tech on April 5, one of three outings with at least seven strikeouts in 2008.