• 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 Huskers (34-8-1, 15-5-1) took both games of a midweek series with the Western Illinois Leathernecks 6-4 and 6-1.  The first win gave the Huskers 1 more win than last year’s season mark of 32, with 10 regular season games, a Big XII tourney and NCAA tourney left, the Huskers look set to win 40 games for the 3rd time in the last 4 seasons.

In the 1st game, the young guys really stepped up in a big way.  Freshman shortstop Ben Kline from Omaha Central hit a bases-loaded single in the 6th to give the Huskers the lead they would not relent.  Freshman pitcher Casey Hauptman from Millard South pitched a career high 4 innings and gave up just 2 hits to get his first career win.  Freshman reliever Mike Nesseth pitched a perfect 9th inning for his 4th save of the year.

In the 2nd game, Husker pitcher Erik Bird got the start and pitched 5 scoreless innings to notch his 4th win of the year.  Freshman 1st baseman Tyler Farst got things going for the offense in the 3rd when he drilled a 2-RBI double off the base of the wall with the bases loaded and just 1 out. After DJ Belfonte was hit by a pitch, Nick Sullivan was hit by a pitch to score another run.

Weekend starter Aaron Pribanic came in for 2 innings of perfect relief, perhaps a sign that Mike Anderson might be considering using lefty Dan Jennings for the Sunday start this weekend since Pribanic has struggled as of late.

The Huskers take on Louisiana-Lafayette for a three game series this weekend starting Friday at 6:35 followed up by a double-header on Saturday at 12:05pm and 6:35pm.

Waco, TX - The Huskers (31-7-1, 14-4-1) haven’t had very much luck in Waco for a long time.  Before today the Huskers were an abysmal 1-12 in Waco, easily their worst record at any Big XII destination.  The first game threatened to continue that aweful trend, when Baylor hit a dramatic 2-run home run of reliever Dan Jennings to tie the game with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th.  However, DJ Belfonte knocked in 2 go ahead runs for the 2nd time late in the game for the 6-4 win in the first half of the double header.

In an all to common trend, Johnny Dorn was excellent, but still failed to get the decision.  He pitched 7 innings, gave up just 4 hits and walked 3 while striking out 7.  He allowed 2 runs to score, both in the Baylor 5th, the only inning where he seem to face any trouble.  Dorn was in position to earn the win, when DJ Belfonte knocked in two runs in the 8th just before Dorn was lifted.

The Huskers took the early lead in the 2nd inning when Craig Corriston launched a 3-1 pitch over the left field wall.  After the Bears took the 2-1 lead in the 5th, Corriston singled home a run to tie it up again.

After the dramatic comeback in the 9th by the Bears, DJ Belfonte did it again, grounding a single up the middle in the 10th scoring Jake Opitz and Nick Sullivan for the final advantage.

Mike Nesseth earned the win, who came in to relieve Dan Jennings in the 9th and Zach Herr earned his 4th save allowing just 1 hit in the 10th.

The Huskers and Bears finish up the double header in the nightcap as the Huskers try to get their first ever series win in Waco.

Lincoln, NE - The Huskers (29-7-1, 13-4-1) couldn’t get much going against Creighton starter Greg Hellhake.  They managed just 4 hits and 0 runs in his 5 innings.  When Creighton went to the bullpen in the 6th, the Huskers took advantage and scored all their runs in a 4-3 victory in that frame.

Jake Mort opened the frame with a base hit up the middle and moved up to 2nd on a wild pitch.  Two batters later, Senior Catcher Mitch Abeita singled to left, scoring Mort to tie up the game at 1 apiece.  Even though Nick Sullivan popped out on the next play, the Huskers weren’t done.  After and Abeita steal, Creighton intentionally walked Craig Corriston to setup the force out.   Unfortunately, Creighton’s Jeremy Hauer couldn’t find his control, walking DJ Belfonte. 

Creighton brought in T.J. Roemmich who plunked Freshman left fielder Dan Johnston to give the Huskers their first and final lead.  After another pitching change, freshman Ben Kline singled home Belfonte and Corriston to extend the lead to 4-1.

It was a good thing for the Huskers too, because the next inning, Junior Nick Nordgren parked a 1-0 Erik Anderson pitch in the left-center berms to trim the lead to one.

On the mound, the Huskers got yet another excellent outing from Junior Dan Jennings.  Although his 30-inning scoreless streak ended in the 4th, he pitched 6 solid innings, walked 1, and gave up just 3 hits while striking out 5.  Zach Herr and Mike Nesseth combined to closeout the game with Nesseth earning his 4th save of the year.

The Huskers and Bluejays both make the 50-mile trek up I-80 for tomorrow night’s game as the two teams make up for the weather postponed contest on April 1st.  First pitch is set for 6:35pm and the Huskers send Erik Bird to the mound, fresh off his brilliant performance against top 10 Wichita State Shockers last week.

Lincoln, NE - In their freshman years, Erik Bird and Zach Herr were one of the best bullpen combinations in the country.    In 2006 The two combined for a 2.14 ERA, giving up just 5 earned runs over 21 innings pitched on the year.  Tonight was something of a flashback as the two combined for a complete game 3-0 shutout of the #5 Wichita State Shockers (27-6).

The win moves the Huskers to 26-6-1 and helped the Huskers bounce back from a difficult weekend in Stillwater where the Huskers went 1-2, including a 19-2 pasting from the Cowboy’s on Saturday.

The Huskers got some early offense with four consecutive singles from Jake Mort, Jake Opitz, Mitch Abeita, and Nick Sullivan.  Mort and Opitz singled to set the table for back to back RBis by Abeita and Sullivan.

The 2-0 lead was all Bird needed as he went 6 2/3 innings, gave up just 3 hits and struck out 4.  Herr came in and struck out 4 in 2 1/3 innings to close out the game for the save.

Next up for the Huskers, the Jayhawks visit Lincoln for a 3:35 matchup, pushed back so fans can attend both the spring game and the baseball game. 

Stillwater, OK - The Husker (25-6-1, 11-3-1) baseball team bounced back in impressive fashion today, taking the last game from the Oklahoma State Cowboys 14-5.  Craig Corriston and Nick Sullivan combined for 7 RBIs and Bryce Nimmo reached 5 of 6 times today from the leadoff spot for the first time thies year in place of the slumping DJ Belfonte.  While Dan Jennings came in for 4 scoreless innings of relief to seal the victory.

 Winning in Stillwater isn’t exactly easy.  16 times the Pokes have played a game there this year and today’s victory was only the 2nd for a visiting team.

The Huskers got the early lead 5-2 by scoring 4 in the 3rd without the benefit of a hit.  3 walks, 1 hit batter and 2 errors allowed the Huskers to take the early lead.

The Huskers would add to that in the 4th when  a wild pitch and a Craig Corriston double drove home would bring in 3 runs to make the score 8-2.

Aaron Pribanic got the start, but ran into trouble in the 5th when he allowed 3 earned runs (1 after he left) to score before Dan Jennings came in to stop the bleeding.  Dan would not relent as he only allowed 1 hit over the next for to shut down the Cowboy attack.  Mike Nesseth came in to seal the 9th for the 25th win of the year for the Huskers.

The Huskers came right back with 3 runs of their own the next inning to put the game out of reach when Nick Sullivan hit a two single to drive in Abeita and Mort and was then brought in himself when the next batter, Corriston, drilled a 2-out double to left center.

The win keeps the Huskers a half game behind Texas A&M for the conference lead seemingly setting up a big series in Lincoln the 2nd to last weekend of the year.

The Huskers next host the #5 Wichita State Shockers in Lincoln on Tuesday at 6:35pm.

Lincoln, NE - The Huskers (22-4-1, 9-1-1) continued to stiffle the bats of the Red Raiders (16-13, 4-6) en route to a 5-2 victory at Haymarket Park.  Senior Thad Weber, who entering today had only given up 1 earned run in 23 innings of Big XII pitching, struck out a career high 11 over 7.1 innings of work. 

The Huskers got all the runs they would need in the first inning.  Mitch Abeita and Jake Opitz both coaxed two out walks and Junior Nick Sullivan drilled a 1-1 pitch over the left-center fence for a 3-0 lead.

The Red Raiders plate two of their own in the 2nd inning, but that was all.  The Raiders really only threatened twice after that, one in the 7th inning when Tech had runners on 2nd and 3rd with just 1 out when Weber got a groundout to the pitcher and a strikeout to end the threat.

In the 8th the Raiders would threaten again getting runners on the corners with two outs when Dan Jennings came in relief and induced an easy groundout to Craig Corriston at first.

Jennings proceeded to pitch a perfect ninth, getting a strikeout and a popout and a strikeout to seal the victory.  Jennings earned his first save and kept his scoreless streak alive at 19.2 innings.

The Huskers go for the sweep on Sunday at 1:05pm.  Junior Aaron Pribanic (2-1, 2.41) takes the hill, looking to bounce back from his rough start last week where he gave up 5 earned runs over 6 innings in a 12-3 loss to the Longhorns.