Lincoln – A trio of Husker baseball players were honored Tuesday, as they were selected to the Collegiate Baseball’s preseason All-America team. The honorees included a pair of first-team selections in starting pitcher Joba Chamberlain and closer Brett Jensen, while Johnny Dorn was a second-team pick. The three pitchers are a major reason why the Huskers were picked fourth in the publication’s top-40 preseason poll released last week.
 
Chamberlain, who was a second-team pick by the NCBWA earlier this month, turned in an impressive first season at NU, going 10-2 with a 2.81 ERA to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors. A projected first-round pick in next June’s draft, Chamberlain struck out 130 in 118.2 innings in 2005, including a 13-strikeout effort against Miami. He also picked up the Huskers’ first-ever CWS win with a victory over Arizona State in Omaha.

Jensen, a third-team pick by the NCBWA, is one of the nation’s top closers after saving a school-record 16 games in 2005. He posted a 2-5 record and a 1.96 ERA in 33 games. He was 16-of-17 in save chances, ranked third nationally in saves in 2005 and is the nation’s top returnee in saves from a year ago.

Dorn enjoyed the finest freshman pitching season in school history, going 12-2 with a 2.16 ERA in 104 innings of work. The Grand Island, Neb., native led all freshmen nationally in wins and ranked among the Big 12 leaders in ERA and opponent batting average (.199), as he earned third-team All-America honors in 2005. He was also a second-team preseason pick by the NCBWA.

The Huskers will begin the 2006 campaign on Feb. 16 against Charleston Southern, while the home opener against Alabama is set for Friday, March 10.

The three All-American teams include (with partial statistics from last season for first team members):

FIRST TEAM PRE-SEASON ALL-AMERICANS
RHP Dallas Buck, Oregon St. (12-1, 2.09 ERA, 118 K, 51 BB) LHP Andrew Miller, North Carolina (8-4, 2.98 ERA, 104 K, 52 BB) RHP Max Scherzer, Missouri (9-4, 1.86 ERA, 131 K, 41 BB) RHP Joba Chamberlain, Nebraska (10-2, 2.81 ERA, 130 K, 33 BB) RHP Kyle McCulloch, Texas (12-4, 2.92 ERA, 99 K, 45 BB) RHP Ian Kennedy, Southern California (12-3, 2.54 ERA, 158 K, 38 BB) Relief Brett Jensen, Nebraska (16 SV, 1.96 ERA, 46 K, 9 BB) C Chad Tracy, Pepperdine (.367, 22 2B, 12 HR, 61 RBI) 1B Matt LaPorta, Florida (.328, 26 HR, 16 2B, 79 RBI) 2B Taylor Harbin, Clemson (.343, 28 2B, 10 HR, 63 RBI) 3B Wes Hodges, Georgia Tech. (.397, 18 2B, 9 HR, 51 RBI) SS Jay Heafner, Davidson (.448, 18 2B, 11 HR, 58 RBI, 13 SB) OF Shane Robinson, Florida St. (.427, 25 2B, 49 SB, 40-game hitting streak) OF Drew Stubbs, Texas (.311, 20 2B, 11 HR, 46 RBI, 32 SB) OF Nathan Southard, Tulane (.341, 24 2B, 12 HR, 53 RBI, 16 SB) DH Chris Carlson, New Mexico (.395, 24 2B, 15 HR, 79 RBI) UT Joe Savery, Rice (.382, 17 2B, 8-5 pitching record, 2.43 ERA, 129 K, 37
BB)

SECOND TEAM PRE-SEASON ALL-AMERICANS
RHP Mickey Storey, Florida Atlantic
LHP Nick Hill, Army
LHP Scott Reese, Creighton
RHP Luke Trubee, Dayton
RHP Johnny Dorn, Nebraska
RHP Jonah Nickerson, Oregon St.
RHP Adrian Alaniz, Texas
Relief Blair Erickson, U.C. Irvine
Relief Kevin Gunderson, Oregon St.
C Jeff Kunkel, Michigan
C J.P. Arencibia, Tennessee
1B Matt Rizzotti, Manhattan
1B Luke Hopkins, New Mexico St.
2B Jordan Pacheco, New Mexico
3B Chris Coghlan, Mississippi
SS Josh Rodriguez, Rice
OF Mark Wright, Mississippi
OF Jon Jay, Miami (Fla.)
OF John Raynor, N.C. Wilmington
UT Heath Rollins, Winthrop

THIRD TEAM PRE-SEASON ALL-AMERICANS
RHP Kenn Kasparek, Texas
RHP Eddie Degerman, Rice
RHP Blake Wood, Georgia Tech.
LHP Clay Dirks, Louisiana St.
RHP Tim Lincecum, Washington
RHP Tim Bascom, Central Florida
LHP Keith Weiser, Miami (Ohio)
LHP James Adkins, Tennessee
RHP Daniel Bard, North Carolina
Relief Daniel Best, Southern Mississippi Relief Tyler Chambliss, Florida St.
Relief Vinnie Pestano, Cal. St. Fullerton Relief Darren O'Day, Florida Relief Paul Koss, Southern California C Jordan Newton, Western Kentucky C Michael Ambort, Lamar 1B Justin Baum, Pacific 1B Aaron Bates, North Carolina St.
1B Mike Priest, Campbell
1B Aaron Grijalva, Liberty
1B Chris Johnson, Stetson
2B Jim Negrych, Pittsburgh
2B Chris Campbell, Charleston
2B Scott Sizemore, Va. Commonwealth
3B Evan Longoria, Long Beach St.
3B Brad Emaus, Tulane
3B Derek Schermerhorn, Wichita St.
3B Beau Mills, Fresno St.
3B Matt Poulk, N.C. Wilmington
SS Mitch Hilligoss, Purdue
SS Chuck Hargis, East Tennessee St.
OF Brennan Boesch, California
OF Mike McBryde, Florida Atlantic
OF Shane Byrne, East Tennessee St.
OF Jeremy Jones, North Carolina A&T
UT Matt Wieters, Georgia Tech.