• Nebraska dominates Kansas State 56-28
• Husker Bball Opens Season with Win
• Huskers set to take on Kansas State
• Bo Pelini hands out some Blackshirts to the defense
• Cody Glenn has been suspended indefinitely
• 2008 Basketball Preview
• NebSports.Com welcomes two basketball bloggers!
• Suh and Helu lead the Huskers past the Jayhawks 45-35
• Huskers look to get back on track against Kansas
• Nebraska and Kansas set for PPV - NU/K-State possibly
• Huskers are crushed by the Sooners 62-28
• Nebraska and Oklahoma ready to renew rivalry
• Nebraska pulls out 32-20 victory over Baylor
• Brandon Rigoni vs Mark Manning Youtube Video
• Nebraska is ready for the Baylor Bears

Lincoln, NE - The Husker bats came alive for a big 6-run 3rd inning which was way more than Husker starter Dan Jennings who went 6 innings and gave up just 3 hits for his 3rd win of the year 10-0.  Cody Neer powered the Huskers with a 2 for 4 day and 3 RBIs while Bryce Nimmo cotributed a 2 for 3 day with 2 RBIs and scored 3 times.

The third started off with a singles from DJ Belfonte and Jake Mort before Jake Opitz doubled home Belfonte.  Mitch Abeita grounded on the infield next, but the fielder tried to throw out Mort at home and Jake slid under the tag for a 4-0 advantage.  After Craig Corriston was hit by a pitch, Bryce Nimmo doubled a 1-0 pitch to right to bring home Abeita and Opitz.  Cody Neer followed that with a 2-RBI single bringing home Corriston and Nimmo.

For Northern Colorado, former Husker Jon Klausing took the loss.  In his tough start he gave up 8 runs in just 3 innings of work.

The two teams take the field again tomorrow at 1:35 pm before the Huskers travel to Austin, Texas to take on the Texas Longhorns at Disch Faulk field.

Lincoln, NE - The Huskers (17-3-1, 5-0-1)  played to a 8-8 tie after 11 innings because of Oklahoma’s travel rules.   The Huskers missed a sure double play ball in the top of the 9th, but were still just 1 strike away from a 6-3 victory over the Sooners before a two-run single brought them within 1.  The Sooners took the lead just two pitches later when Aaron Baker parked a 1-0 pitch over the fence in the right.

The Huskers wouldn’t go down easy though, Senior Mitch Abeita homered to lead off the 9th and a few batters later, Dan Johnston hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Nick Sullivan to tie the game.

The Sooners again threatened in the 10th, when Mike Nesseth threw what looked to be another sure double play ball into center field.  However, the Freshman managed to get the next three batters to get out of the jam.

Early on, the Sooners jumped to a 2-1 lead after just 1 inning.  They extended that lead to 3-1 after the top half of the 5th inning. In the bottom of that frame, the Huskers battled back scoring 3 runs.  The first came from a bases loaded single from nick Sullivan and then Bryce Nimmo followed two batters later with a 2-run single of his own.  Sullivan and Nimmo extended that lead in the 7th with a sac-fly and RBI single respectively.

The tie spoiled a decent outing from Junior Aaron Pribanic.  Aaron pitched 7.2 innings and gave up just 3 runs and was in line for the win before the debacle in the 9th.

The Huskers take the field next on Tuesday when they face Northern Colorado for the 3rd time this year.  The game is slotted for a 6:35pm first pitch.  Junior Dan Jennings will most likely get the start with Eric Bird going on Wednesday for the 1:35 pm game.  The Huskers then travel to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns for a 3 game set.

Manhattan, KS - The Huskers (12-2, 1-0) won their 11th straight game 2-1 versus the Kansas State Wildcats in a great Friday night Big XII pitchers duel.  The Huskers scored both of their runs on sacrifice fly’s including the go ahead run in the top of the 9th when Mitch Abeita scored on Craig Corristons fly ball to center field.

On the mound, Johnny Dorn continued his sharp start to the season with 1 run over 7 innings of work and 5 strikeouts.  The bullpen for the Huskers continued to be sharp as Zach Herr (1-0) gets the win and Erik Anderson (2) picks up the save working the last two innings for the Huskers.

At the plate, the Huskers were led by Senior Bryce Nimmo who had yet another multi hit day going 2 for 3 and scoring the first run for the Huskers.  Nimmo was brought in by Freshman David Stewart who lined to center deep enough for the speedy Nimmo. 

Before Corriston’s game-winning RBI, Abeita worked his way around the bases on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch to get to third.

 The win was the first game of a 3 game series with KSU to open the Big XII season.  The two teams play again tomorrow at 2:00pm where the Huskers will send Thad Weber to the mound at 2:00 pm.

Lincoln, NE - The Huskers (9-2) took both ends of a doubleheader Sunday over the Northern Colorado Bears (5-7) 3-2 and 8-5.  The wins were the 7th and 8th consecutive victories, all of which started at the beginning of this 12 game home stand.

In the opener, the Huskers used a strong start from Junior right-hander Dan Jennings to fight off an equally strong start from former Husker Jon Klausing.  The Huskers managed just 3 hits against their former teammate, scoring just two runs, both in the 3rd inning.  DJ Belfonte coaxed a one-out walk and Jake Mort singled on a hit and run to put runners on the corners.  Senior Jake Opitz grounded out to first, but brought Belfonte home and moved up Jake Mort who was then brought home by a Bryce Nimmo RBI.

Northern Colorado got a run back in the 5th off a double and single (the only two hits allowed by Jennings).  Northern Colorado threatened again in the 7th when Jennings walked the first two batters and was relieved by Mike Nesseth.  Nesseth made a play on a sacrifice, but tried to get the lead runner and third and everyone was safe.

Nesseth managed to get the next hitter into a double play, but the damage was done and the tying run came across.  The game remained locked at 2 until the eigth when Craig Corriston singled home Mitch Abeita for the go ahead run.  Erik Anderson set the Bears down in order in the ninth for his first career save.

In game 2, the Huskers came out aggresive scoring four runs in the first inning and adding another in the 2nd off of David Stewart’s first career homer. 

Thad Weber was sharp early keeping a shutout through the 5 innings.  In the 6th however, he ran into trouble allowing 4 runs (2 earned) including a 2 run bomb by Kevin Sandberg.  He allowed 1 more in the 7th on an RBI double to bring the Bears within 3.

With the tying run at the plate, Zach Herr closed the door getting an inning ending groudout to end the threat.  Northern Colorado would not threaten again as Zach Heer struckout the next 5 batters before inducing a popout to end the game.  Zach ended with a career best 6 strikeouts over 2.2 innings of work to earn his first save of the year.

Despite Thad Weber’s rocky inning, the Husker pitching continues to be the suprise story for the Huskers.  The Bears have managed just 14 hits through 27 innings this weekend.  Plus, the Husker bullpen hasn’t allowed a run over the last 22 innings dating back to February 24th.

The Huskers play the series finale on Monday at 1:35 pm.  The Huskers send Junior JC transfer Aaron Pribanic (1-0, 1.86 ERA) to the hill against Senior Dan Kazell (0-0, 9.35 ERA) for Northern Colorado.

Lincoln, NE - The young season is barely over 2 weeks old and already there doesn’t seem to be enough to say about Senior right-handed pitcher Johnny Dorn.   Dorn led the Huskers (7-2) to a clear 12-2 victory over Northern Colorado (5-5) with an impressive career-high 13 strikeouts in 7 innings including striking out the first 7 batters.  Even though the Bears managed to scratch two runs off of him (1 unearned), Dorn was really in control all day.  The Bears managed just 3 hits off the Senior, none before the 5th inning.

For the offense, the Huskers used 2 big innings to put the game away early.   In the five-run 2nd inning, Bryce Nimmo, Cody Neer, Nick Sullivan, Ben Kline, DJ Belfonte and Jake Mort rattled off 6 consecutive base hits to give Johnny more than enough runs to put the game at 4-0.  Opitz added a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring at 5. 

On the day, Senior Bryce Nimmo led the way with a 3 for 4, 2 RBI, 2 Run day.  Freshman Ben Kline also added a 2 for 3 day with an RBI and 2 runs scored to increase his average to .310 for the season. 

But the real story of the day was on the mound.  Dorn has always been a solid pitcher for Nebraska and is 2nd on the career win (33) list behind Shane Komine (41) so it should be no suprise that Johnny’s pitching well, but never in his career has he been this dominant.  

Consider these numbers:

• 13.05 Ks/9 this year vs 6.87 a year ago  (71 all last year in 16 starts vs 29 in 3 this year)
• 5.23 ERA vs a miniscule 1.35 this year
• .149 Opponents Batting Average this year vs .270 Last Year

It’s way to early to draw any real conclusions, but what we’ve seen so far has made it tough to contain the excitement.  It should be exciting to watch as the young Huskers have showed a lot of promise early on.

On Sunday the two teams match up again at 12:05 pm for a double header.  The first game features Junior Dan Jennings (1-0, 2.79 ERA) vs former Nebraska pitcher Jon Klausing.  Klausing has impressed thus far for the Bears with a 1-0 record and a 1.50 ERA.

The two teams wrap up the series with a Monday afternoon game at 1:35 pm.  The series was pushed back 1 day in hopes to catch warmer temperatures for the game.

Lincoln, NE - On a chilly 37 degree day with light rain, the Huskers (5-2) finished off the 4 game sweep of visiting UC Riverside (2-7).  The Husker bats didn’t mind the cold as they pounded out 14 hits and 13 runs to send UC Riverside home with a 13-1 defeat. 

The 13 runs was more than enough for JC transfer Aaron Pribanic who was making his first ever Division I start.  Pribanic tossed a complete game, 5 hitter (shortened) where he also struck out 5.

The hitting was highlighted by senior 2nd baseman Jake Opitz who was 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs to lead the Huskers. Jake Mort, Cody Neer, and Bryce Nimmo also contributed 2 RBIs a piece.

The win completes the four game sweep of the Highlanders and marks the first weekend-series sweep by the Huskers since sweeping a 3 game set over Texas Tech in April 2006 and the first four game weekend sweep since sweeping South Dakota State in March of 2005.

The Huskers next take the field on Tuesday at 1:35 pm in Lincoln vs in-state opponent UNK.