• Marlon Lucky and Joe Ganz appear on award watch lists
• Eshaunte Jones appears to be headed to Nebraska
• Want to play NCAA Football 2008 with Grant Wistrom?
• Will Khiry Cooper stay in Lincoln or sign with the Los Angeles Angels?
• Hunter Teafatiller gets third DUI in the last year
• Walter Roese has joined the Nebraska mens basketball staff
• Huskers host regionals this weekend
• What former Husker Trev Alberts thinks about the 2008 team
• Husker hoops recruit Roburt Sallie won’t be making it to Lincoln
• Dorn and Herr save the day
• Huskers Drop 4th Straight to Bears
• Big inning sinks #5 Huskers
• Huskers get commitment #5 as Dontrayevous Robinson pledges
• C.J. Zimmerer gets Nebraska offer and quickly accepts
• Huskers sweep doubleheader with dramatic comebacks

Lincoln, NE - Game 1 - The game was over.  The Huskers (38-9-1, 17-6-1) were down 8-4, they hadn’t had a hit in 4 innings, they were playing the league leading Texas A&M Aggies (42-10, 19-5) who had won 16 consecutive Big XII games, the bottom half of the lineup was due up.  The Aggies were going to clinch a share of the Big XII title, Nebraska would likely fall behind Oklahoma State for 2nd in the conference, and Nebraska’s national seed changes we’re all but gone.

Someone forgot to tell the Huskers it was over.  In the bottom of the ninth, the Huskers provided the most dramitic come from behind win of the season.  It started off with Nick Sullivan leading off with a ground ball single to right.  Then, on a sure double play ball from Tyler Farst, Texas A&M 2nd baseman Blake Stouffer let the ball run through his legs putting runners on 1st and 3rd with no out.  You could hear the crowd start to get excited, but it was way too early to celebrate yet.

Next up, DJ Belfonte, walk.  David Stewart, who had already belted a 2 run ‘mega bomb’ into right and singled home 2 more runs a few innings later, grounded to the first baseman, scoring Nick Sullivan.  The crowd was really getting excited now as the 3 run deficit meant the winning run is at the plate.

Coach Anderson then decides to pinch hit with Cody Neer, the transfer from Florida, who delivers a two run single to left center making it a 1 run game.  Bryce Nimmo then grounds into a fielder’s choice as Texas A&M elects to try for the double play and he beats the throw at first, scoring Farst, TIE GAME!

The next batter, Jake Mort, struck out and it looked like we had another extra inning affair on our hands.  Jake Opitz coaxed the two out walk that moved the speedy Nimmo to 2nd and Mitch Abeita, who hadn’t had much success against Texas A&M pitching to that point, delivered the run scoring single to finish the Aggies in dramatic fashion 9-8.

On the mound, you have to credit reliever Dan Jennings, who came in for a struggling Thad Weber and closed the door over the final 3.1 innings to hold the Aggies to just 8.

Game 2 - In the nightcap, the Huskers found themselves down, but not out again.  After 5 1/2 innings, the Huskers trailed the Aggies 9-4 and it was looking like the Husker might be in it too deep.

However, David Stewart again delivered for the Huskers with a double to open the bottom of the 6th.  After an error allowed Andy Cotton to reach, Senior Bryce Nimmo delivered a 2 run triple that brought the Huskers within 3.  Jake Mort followed that up with an RBI groundout to bring the Huskers within just 2 runs 9-7.

The Aggies followed up with another run in the 7th to make it 10-7 and it looked like they were going to pile on more, but Mike Nesseth came in to relieve Zach Herr and struckout Kyle Colligan and Blake Stouffer to end the threat.

The Huskers would fight right back loading the bases with a pair of hit batters and a walk before David Stewart would knock in a run with a groundout to cut the lead to 2.  The Huskers evened the score at 10-10 when the Aggies uncorked a wild pitch and a passed ball.

With Nesseth dealing on the mound, the Huskers would put away the Aggies for good in the 8th when a single from DJ Belfonte rolled past the glove of Kyle Colligan allowing Farst to score from first.  David Stewart followed it up with an RBI single, his 7th of the day when he had just 4 all season.  Bryce Nimmo would then knock in his 4th and final RBI of the game knocking in Stewart to give the Huskers their final 13-10 lead.

All in all it was a very hardfought series where both teams could have very easily swept the series.  Had Mitch Abeita not missed a pop-foul in the 16th inning of the first game, they may still be playing and who knows, NU may have won.  On the other hand, had Blake Stouffer completed the sure double play in the bottom of the ninth of the first game, the momentum would have been entirely on the side of the Aggies and they might have swept NU.

It was one of the best, most hardfought series of 2 top 10 of the season and maybe ever at Haymarket.  Both teams have a knack for never quite being ‘out’ of a game which made it an amazing series to watch.   Next up for the Huskers they play the Creighton Bluejays at Rosenblatt Stadium on Tuesday May 13th.  First pitch is set for 7:00pm.

Lincoln, NE - The Huskers (36-8-1, 15-5-1) took two games from Louisiana-Lafayette winning 4-3 in both games.  The wins mark the 4th consecutive victory for the Huskers and is the 250th victory for Head Coach Mike Anderson. 

Game 1 - The first game was a continuation of a unfortunate pattern, Johnny Dorn pitches a great game yet doesn’t walk away with a victory.  Johnny pitched for 7.2 innings, scattered 5 hits, struck out 11 and gave up 3 earned runs.   However, when he left the game, the scored was knotted at 3. 

Dorn ran into a little trouble with 2 outs in the 7th when Zach Herr came in and struckout the last batter to end the inning.  In the bottom of the frame, Cody Neer knocked in the go ahead run to put Herr in position to earn the win.  Herr came out for the ninth and after a leadoff popout, he struck out the final two batters to seal the win.  With the win, Herr moved to 3-0 on the year.

Cody Neer powered the Husker offense in game one with a 2 for 4 day and 2 RBIs.  Ben Kline, Mitch Abeita, and Nick Sullivan also added 2 hits apiece to help lead the charge.

Game 2 - The nightcap was a 14 inning thriller that ended with Mitch Abeita hitting an RBI grounder up the middle to score Jake Mort from 2nd in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the 14th.

The MVP of the game might be Mike Nesseth though.  Mike came in to relieve Dan Jennings in the 9th and threw 3 innings, not allowing a single hit and striking out 6.  He helped keep the Rajin Cajuns at bay until the Huskers could put up a run and walk away with a victory.  Erik Bird came in to relieve Nesseth and pitched two scoreless innings to earn his 3rd win.

Aaron Pribanic got the start ahead of Thad Weber who couldn’t be with the team so he could be present for the birth of his first child.  Pribanic went 6 innings and gave up just 2 earned runs in a nice bounce back from a few rough starts in recent weeks.

Dan Johnston, Jake Opitz, Mitch Abeita and Bryce Nimmo all chipped in 2 hits apiece.   Mort drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the 14th and stole 2nd before Abeita drilled the ball up the middle to score Mort for the game winner. 

The Huskers used a dramatic 2-run 9th inning to tie it and send it into extra innings.  They scored both runs with 2 outs, including the 2nd on an error by the 3rd baseman to tie it up.

The Huskers take the week off for finals week before Texas A&M Aggies come to town in what is turning out to be the showdown for the Big XII title.  The Aggies enter the series having won 15 straight Big XII games, a league record.  They lead the league in about every offensive category and are just behind the Huskers in pitching.  It will be the 2nd time this year that Haymarket has played host to two Top 10 nationally ranked teams.  The first time was when Nebraska played Wichita State, who was then #5 in the country.

The Aggies are ranked as high as #6 (and as low as #10) coming into this week.  The first pitch is set for 6:35 pm on Friday night with Johnny Dorn getting the start.  Hopefully, we can see Johnny pitch well AND pickup a win in one game.

Lincoln, NE - The Husker baseball team (27-6-1, 12-3-1)  took a close one from the Kansas Jayhawks in a back-and-forth seasaw battle 7 - 6.  The contest was not your typical Friday night pitchers duel as neither pitcher was overwhelmingly sharp. 

Johnny Dorn took the start and got the win, but not in typically Johnny Dorn fashion.  He struggled early, giving up 6 earned runs over the first 5 innings, but finally settled down to retire 10 out of the last 11 batters he faced.

The Jayhawks would take the early lead when KU led off the 2nd inning with a pair of singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out.  Dorn would induce a popup on the next hitter, but the ball was deep enough to score the runner from third for the sacrifice fly.

The Huskers would claw right back with two runs of their own in the bottom half.  Nebraska would take advantage of two miscues by the Jayhawks, a wild pitch to move Cody Neer and Craig Corriston to 2nd and 3rd and bad throw on a fielders choice when Corriston took off for home on Dan Johnstons grounder to the third baseman that sailed past the catcher.  Neer would score next on a groundout to 2nd base by DJ Belfonte to give the Huskers a 2-1 lead.

The Jayhawks would answer right back with a couple of RBI singles to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the 3rd, but the Huskers would strike right back in the bottom of the frame when Bryce Nimmo led off the inning with a single and came around to score off of a Mitch Abeita single.

In the 4th, Dan Johnston walked and DJ Belfonte singled to open the frame.  After a double steal, Johnston scored on a Nimmo groundout and Belfonte scored on a throwing error on a Jake Mort grounder to take the 5-3 lead.

The Jayhawks again would again strike back with three runs in the top of the 5th to take a 6-5 lead and would hold that lead until the 7th when the Huskers would load the bases with nobody out.  Craig Corriston would single to plate two more runs to give the Huskers the final 7-6 lead.

After a 2 out walk in the 8th, Dan Jennings came in to finish of the Jayhawks.  Dan Jennings would face 5 hitters, record 4 outs and 3 of them would be strikeouts as the Junior would earn another save. 

The Huskers take on the Jayhawks again tomorrow at 3:35 pm after the spring game.  Senior Thad Weber will take the hill as the Huskers look for their series win.

Stillwater, OK - For the first time since the season opener, the Husker pitching staff showed that they are in fact, human.  The Huskers (24-6-1, 10-3-1) were taken to task by the Oklahoma State Cowboys on their home turf 19-2.  The Husker bats have yet to come alive in this series as they were held scoreless on Friday night and managed just 2 today.

The game started out looking like yet another pitching duel led by Thad Weber.  The game was knotted at 1 in the 4th inning and neither team had done much against the opposing starter.  Then the wheels came off.  The Cowboys scored 14 runs over the next two innings to blow the game wide open.

Bryce Nimmo and Dan Johnston had an RBI apiece and no Husker hitter had more than 1 hit in the game.   Craig Corriston and Cody Neer scored the only runs for Nebraska.

The loss is the first time all season the Huskers have lost 2 in a row.  They will look to bounce back against OSU Sunday at 1:00 pm in the series finale as Aaron Pribanic will look to help the Huskers avoid the sweep.

Stillwater, OK - Senior Johnny Dorn pitched about as well as you can ask a guy on a Friday night in the Big XII on the road. However, because of the excellent pitching by Andrew Oliver of Oklahoma State, the Huskers (24-5-1, 10-2-1) drop the first game of the weekend series 1-0.

 On the night, Dorn threw a complete game 4 hitter and allowed just 1 run to score from a leadoff triple.  The ball actually landed in Bryce Nimmo’s glove who slipped and fell on the centerfield track and the ball came loose.  Johnny walked just 1 and struckout 7, but unfortunately the Huskers couldn’t manage any offense.

Oliver was brilliant against the Huskers.  He struck out 10, didn’t walk anyone, and gave up just 3 hits, all in seperate innings.  Abeita, Neer and Nimmo all had 1 hit apiece.

The two teams go head to head again tomorrow at 1:00pm as Senior Thad Weber will take the hill and try his luck against the Cowboys.

Lincoln, NE - Texas Tech’s Doug Thennis hit a solo shot off Johnny Dorn in the 5th.  That one short sentence describes the entire offensive output against Dorn Friday evening.   The home crowd of 6,593 watched as Dorn and the #9 Huskers (22-4-1, 8-1-1) put a muzzle on the visiting Red Raiders (16-13, 4-6)by the score of 6-2.

Dorn allowed just the 1 hit over 7.1 innings and although he walked three, he also struck out 10.  With the win, Dorn moved to 4-0 on the year with a measly 2.12 ERA and is currently 3rd in the Big XII with 48 Ks behind Kendal Volz of Baylor (50) and Missuori’s Aaron Crow (67).

At the plate, the Huskers scored the first two runs in the 2nd inning when Junior transfer Cody Neer ripped  a 1-1 pitch into right center scoring Bryce Nimmo and Craig Corriston.  In the third, the Huskers would double that lead when Jake Opitz tripled home DJ Belfonte and Mitch Abeita followed up with a double to score Opitz.

Craig Corriston answered Tech’s 1 run shot in the 5th with a solo shot of his own in the 6th on the 2nd pitch of the inning that chased starter Nathan Karns.

The Huskers will try for their 4th straight Big XII series win on Saturday at 2:05 pm at Hawks field.  Coming off his brilliant 2-hit shutout of Texas last week, Senior Thad Weber (4-1, 3.20 ERA) will look to do the same against the Red Raiders.

Austin, TX - The Texas Longhorns (18-7, 5-4) finally had enough of the Husker pitching. The Longhorns came into the series with one of the best offenses in the country and until today, the Husker pitching had shut them down, allowing just 4 runs on 9 hits in the first two contests and 0 runs on 2 hits in the previous 14 innings.

Unfortunately for Husker starter Aaron Pribanic (2-1), the Longhorn bats came alive today. The Horns put up 12 runs on 14 hits as they pounded the Huskers 12-3.

With the loss, the Huskers move to 20-4-1 overall and 7-1-1 in the Big XII.

Of the few bright spots on the afternoon, Junior Cody Neer slammed a 2-run bomb in the top of the 7th to bring the Huskers within 3 at 6-3. Unfortunately, Jordan Danks answered the very same inning with a 2-run blast of his own.  Jake Opitz extended his hitting streak to 7 games with a 1 for 4 day and Craig Corriston chipped in a run and an RBI in his 2 for 4 day.

The Huskers next take the field on Tuesday as they take on the Creighton Bluejays at Omaha’s Rosenbaltt stadium. First pitch is set for 6:35 pm.

Due to inclimate weather postponing the remainder of the 3rd game, the Husker’s 4th and final game of the series was cancelled.  Despite an inspired performance from starter Dan Jennings, the Huskers came up short losing 4-2 to the Stanford Cardinal. 

Jennings picked up right where he left off on Saturday and held the Cardinal hitters scoreless for the 3rd and 4th innings. From there Junior College transfer Aaron Pribanic took the Huskers deep into the seventh.  With 2 out, Pribanic walked Cord Phelps on a full count to keep the inning alive.  In came reliever Erik Bird who gave up a line drive double to tie the game at 1. 

Herr replaced Bird and the wheels came off.  Herr got what appeared to be an inning ending ground ball to Senior 2nd baseman Jake Opitz, but his throw sailed wide.  Herr made a great play on the ball backing up first base and had the runner rounding 3rd dead in his sights.  However, after a long weekend of pouring rain, the ball slipped from his hands and sailed allowing the go ahead run to score.

The Husker’s woes continued in the 7th when the next batter hit a two run smash to give the Cardinal a 4-1 lead.

The boys tried to take back the lead when Jeff Tezak doubled home Opitz in the 8th to notch the game at 4-2.  Florida Transfer Cody Neer drew the walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd, but Jeff Abeita struck out to end the threat.

Despite losing the series 2-1, the weekend wasn’t a total loss for the Huskers.  We saw a great effort by a young team that could suprise some people this year.  They played hard, they never gave up or got down.  Even with Stanford commading a 17-0 lead, the Huskers fought and scratched to get 7 of those runs back and then proceeded to pour it on for the 2nd game win.   The last game was a gritty battle where the deciding factor was some moisture on the ball from the pouring rains that drenched the field. 

Dan Jennings performance today was definitely worth noting.  Combined with the home stretch from last season, Dan’s been on a roll and really controlling the game.  I really expect him to emerge as the #2 guy in this rotation behind Dorn.  JC transfer Pribanic also looked very sharp, but lacked a little of the control that we saw from Jennings.  Nesseth has looked sharp as well and should be a valuable commodity out of the bullpen.

The biggest issues we had this weekend could very easily be chalked up to early season jitters.  Espeically since the weather never really permitted the team to practice outdoors.  The team had too many errors (8), but again a lot of that can be chalked up to not having enough time on a real field.  The hitting and baserunning was agressive for a change.  The players seemed to have more of a winning attitude and much more team oriented.  This is a very distant observation of the few times I saw the team this weekend, so we’ll wait and see more as the season goes on.  However, if we see more efforts out of this team that we saw this weekend, this Husker fan will be very satisfied, regardless of wins and losses.