NU BSB: Huskers Continue Spring Break in San Luis Obispo

Posted By: Sports

sports@klkntv.com

Courtesy: UNL Media Relations

The Nebraska baseball team (9-9, 0-0 Big Ten) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end with an 8-6 loss at CSU Bakersfield on Tuesday night, and will now head west to San Luis Obispo, Calif., where it will play four games in three days against the Cal Poly Mustangs.

The series opens on Thursday at 8 p.m. (CT) and continues on Friday at 8 p.m. (CT). The teams finish up their series on Saturday with a doubleheader that is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. (CT).

The Huskers enter the Thursday with a perfect 6-0 all-time record against the Mustangs, but Thursday will mark the first meeting between the two teams on the Mustangs’ home field. The series started in 1998 with a 7-3 Husker win in Hawaii, while the next five meetings took place in Lincoln. Most recently, the Huskers took a pair of games from the Mustangs in 2003 at Hawks Field.

How to Listen/Watch the Huskers

Fans can listen to Greg Sharpe, Ben McLaughlin and Nick Handley call all the action this season on the Husker Sports Network. Every game this season can be heard on Huskers.com and the Official Nebraska Huskers App for both iOS and android devices.

All four games against the Mustangs will be carried on 1400 AM in Lincoln and 590 AM in Omaha. Fans can also listen to all four games on TuneIn.com or the TuneIn App on the Husker IMG Sports Network channel.

Nebraska’s four-game series at Cal Poly will be video streamed live for free on the BigWest.TV.

Lean on the Lefty

The past three Sundays junior Jake Meyers has been dominant against opposing hitters, as the lefty has not allowed a run in each of his last three starts. Including a complete-game shutout of Western Carolina on March 12, in Meyers last three starts he has thrown 20.0 shutout innings.

If you go back on the end of his start against Oregon State on Feb. 25, Meyers has gone 21.2 straight innings without allowing a run.

Last weekend Meyers earned the win in NU’s sweep-clinching win over the College of Charleston, as he tossed 6.0 shutout innings. The previous week he tossed a complete-game shutout against Western Carolina, which backed up 5.0 shutout innings against previously unbeaten Arizona at the Frisco College Baseball Classic, where the Huskers handed the Wildcats their first loss of the season with a 1-0 victory.

Meyers is scheduled to start the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday at Cal Poly.

Offensive Mojo

Freshman Mojo Hagge made his Husker debut in the second game of the season against UC Riverside and went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Hagge has played in each of Nebraska’s last 17 games, including 16 starts.

The Omaha Skutt Catholic product enters Thursday with a team-high 17-game on-base streak, while ranking second on the team in hits (22) and third on the team in average (.344). NU’s leadoff hitter in each of the last 13 games, Hagge has also show the ability to drive in runs, as he ranks third on the team with eight RBIs.

The 5-7 left-handed hitting outfielder also carries a .449 on-base percentage with a team-best 12 walks.

Building up Hohensee

Junior Jake Hohensee missed the entire 2016 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery and made his Husker return on Feb. 26 against Utah, his first appearance on the mound in 653 days.

The Lincoln native entered the year with three career starts and had never gone more than 4.0 innings in an appearance. This year Hohensee has bettered that mark three times, including a career-high 6.2-inning start last week against the College of Charleston.

Hohensee will make his fifth start of the season on Thursday and has a 2.33 ERA, but is just 1-2 on the year. In his first three starts of the season Hohensee ran into a bit of bad luck, as teams scored at least two earned runs in each start, including three unearned runs twice.

Get a Lead for the Bullpen

During Darin Erstad’s tenure at Nebraska, the Husker bullpen has done its job when it has a lead. Prior to ninth-inning walk-off loss last season at Rutgers on Friday, April 29, the Huskers had won 73 straight games when leading after the eighth inning. Since the loss at Rutgers, the Huskers have won 20 straight games when leading after eight innings.

Led by pitching coach Ted Silva, the Huskers are 146-17 since the start of the 2012 season when they lead after the sixth inning. The Huskers are 152-10 when leading after seven innings and are nearly perfect when leading after eight innings with a 162-5 record.

Year Lead after 6 After 7 After 8

2012 31-5 29-3 31-2

2013 20-3 25-2 28-1

2014 28-3 27-1 31-1

2015 26-3 28-2 28-0

2016 32-3 34-1 35-1

2017 9-0 9-1 9-0

Total 146-17 152-10 162-5

How High Can He Climb

Ben Miller was taken in the 32nd round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but turned down professional baseball to instead return to Nebraska for his senior season. The Clive, Iowa, native now has a chance to cement his name near the top of Nebraska’s all-time hits list.

Miller enters Thursday with 183 hits, putting him 17 hits shy of becoming the 25th member of Nebraska’s 200-hit club. Over the past two seasons Miller has averaged 68.5 hits and with that average he would end his career just outside of NU’s all-time top 10.

If Miller can match his 77 hits from last season, he would tie Michael Pritchard for fifth all-time at Nebraska with 251 hits.

The Huskers have had at least one player join the 200 hit club in each of the past four seasons, including 2016 second-round pick Ryan Boldt last year.

NU 200-Career Hit Club

1. 338 Matt Hopper 2000-03

2. 305 Jeff Leise 2000-03

3. 281 Will Bolt 1999-02

4. 261 Darin Erstad 1993-95

5. 251 Michael Pritchard 2011-14

6. 250 Paul Meyers 1984-86

7. 249 Joe Simokaitis 2002-05

8. 248 Jed Dalton 1992-95

9. 247 Chad Christensen 2010-13

10. 246 Darin Petersen 1992-95

11. 242 Mark Kister 1985-87

12. 240 Alex Gordon 2003-05

13. 238 DJ Belfonte 2007-10

14. 234 Todd Sears 1995-97

15. 231 Daniel Bruce 2002-05

16. 229 Ken Ramos 1987-89

17. 227 Jake Opitz 2005-08

18. 226 Austin Darby 2012-15

19. 223 Curtis Ledbetter 2003-05

223 Ryan Boldt 2014-2016

21. 222 John Cole 1999-01

22. 212 Pat Kelly 2012-14

23. 203 Ken Harvey 1997-99

24. 201 Francis Collins 1995-97

— 183 Ben Miller 2014-Present

Angelo’s arrival

After making a pair of starts last season as a true freshman, Angelo Altavilla has become a key contributor in 2017. The sophomore infielder leads the teams with a .365 average, ranks second on the team in RBIs with 14 and is tied with Scott Schreiber for second on the team in doubles with five.

Altavilla has started 16 of NU’s 18 games, and has shown versatility in the field with nine starts at shortstop, five at third base and two at second base.

Home Sweet Hawks

The Nebraska baseball program is celebrating its 16th year at Hawks Field.

Following NU’s sweep of the College of Charleston the Huskers are 328-117-1 (.737) since opening the park on March 5, 2002 with a 23-1 win over Nebraska-Kearney.

Since Head Coach Darin Erstad took over in 2012, the Huskers are 99-39 (.717) at Hawks Field.

The Huskers have posted a winning home record in each of the last 15 seasons. Nebraska has won 60% or more of its home games 13 times over the past 15 seasons, including each of the past seven seasons. NU’s worst home season at Hawks Field came in 2009 when the Huskers posted a 16-14 record (.533).

Since 2002 the Huskers have hosted 25 weekend non-conference series (3 or 4 game series). In those 25 series the Huskers have posted a 18-6-1 record, with the tie coming in 2012 when NU and Cal split a four-game series.

The Huskers have never been swept in a weekend non-conference series at Hawks Field. In the 25 series just three times have the Huskers entered Sunday needing a win to avoid a sweep.

Double Digits

Nebraska has totaled 10 or more hits eight times in 18 games entering Thursday. Nebraska is 6-2 on the year when notching double-digit hits, the only losses came in a 7-5 defeat to Utah on Feb. 24 and a 8-6 loss at CSU Bakersfield on March 21.

Last season the Huskers totaled 10 or more hits 27 times in 59 games and were 21-6 in those games.

Draft History

Six members of the 2017 Husker baseball team have previously been drafted:

Luis Alvarado – 2014 (Boston Red Sox, 33rd Round)

Derek Burkamper – 2013 (Boston Red Sox, 20th Round)

Sean Chandler – 2015 (Milwaukee Brewers, 32nd Round)

Chad Luensmann – 2015 (New York Mets, 39th Round)

Ben Miller – 2016 (Pittsburgh Pirates, 32nd Round)

Jesse Wilkening – 2015 (Arizona Diamondbacks, 28th Round)

Leave it to Luensmann

Chad Luensmann had a tough task last season as a true freshman, he had to replace career saves holder Josh Roeder as NU’s closer. Luensmann went on to save 13 games in 14 chances, a NU freshman record, and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Husker baseball player to win the award.

Luensmann’s 13 saves tied Brett Jensen (2006) for third place in NU’s single-season record book and Luensmann ranked fourth nationally in saves. Among freshmen, Luensmann tied Long Beach State’s Chris Rivera for the most saves in the country.

Luensmann has three saves this season, including his 15th career save on Sunday, March 5, when the Huskers shut out previously unbeaten Arizona, 1-0. Against the Wildcats Luensmann matched a career high with 4.0 innings on the mound and struck out a career-high four batters.

Luensmann enters Thursday ranked fourth all-time at Nebraska in career saves and needs one save to move into a tie with Thom Ott for third place on the career list.

Career Saves at Nebraska

1. 33 Josh Roeder 2012-15

2. 31 Brett Jensen 2004-06

3. 17 Thom Ott 2000-01

4. 16 Chad Luensmann 2016-Present

5. 14 Steve Boyd 1992-93

6. 13 Casey Hauptman 2008-11

7. 11 Dylan Vogt 2010-13

11 Dave Matranga 1990-91

11 Gary Nolting 1977-79

10. 10 Mike Bellows 1994

Meyers Earns Preseason Honors

Prior to the start of the 2017 season, Nebraska junior left-handed pitcher and outfielder Jake Meyers was named a third-team preseason All-American by D1Baseball.com, Perfect Game and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

One the most dynamic two-way players in college baseball a year ago, Meyers led the Husker offense with a .326 batting average and his 1.42 ERA was tops on NU’s pitching staff. The Omaha native is the first Husker to lead the team in both batting average and ERA dating back to at least 1967.

An early-season hand injury limited Meyers’ ability to pitch, but once he got on the mound he became a vital part of the weekend rotation. His 1.42 ERA was the second-lowest single-season ERA in school history by a pitcher who threw at least 40.0 innings, trailing only Bill McGuire’s school-record 1.29 ERA from 1984.

Along with hitting .326, Meyers added 12 doubles, a team-best six triples, two home runs, 29 RBIs, 39 runs and 10 stolen bases.

Schedule The best

The Huskers have played a tough schedule so far in 2017.

With a 9-9 record though 18 games, only two of NU’s losses have come to a team with a losing record, with both coming to Western Carolina.

The Husker are scheduled to play 13 games against teams that participated in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, including a pair of games against teams that were in last season’s College World Series. Nebraska has already played 2016 NCAA runner-up Arizona and CWS qualifier Oklahoma State at the Frisco College Baseball Classic in Frisco, Texas. Nebraska lost 1-0 to the Cowboys and shut out Arizona, 1-0.

So far this season the Huskers are 3-4 against teams that qualified for the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

Games Against 2016 NCAA Tournament Teams

– 3 vs. Western Carolina

– 3 at Minnesota

– 3 at Ohio State

– 2 vs. Utah (Surprise Tournament)

– 1 vs. Oklahoma State (Frisco College Classic)

– 1 vs. Arizona (Frisco College Classic)