Anderson snags new recruits

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BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star

Since Bo Pelini became Nebraska football coach last month, recruiting has really picked up.

Baseball recruiting, at least.

On Monday, the Huskers added two more mid-year transfers, giving them four that will be eligible to play this season.

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NU coach Mike Anderson

NU coach Mike Anderson

Sophomore right-hander Erik Anderson, who signed in the fall to play at Nebraska beginning in 2009, is coming from Barton County (Kan.) Community College one year early. Tyler Farst is a sophomore outfielder from Grayson County (Texas) College. Both are able to transfer early, because they were academically eligible coming out of high school.

The Journal Star previously reported that Cody Neer, who started 36 games at catcher for Florida last season, and Joe Hatasaki, a left-hander from Arizona State, were joining the Huskers.

Anderson was the closer at Barton County last season, going 3-2 with seven saves and a 2.17 earned-run average while appearing in a school-record 27 games. He had 76 strikeouts and just 19 walks in 492/3 innings.

Farst hit .222, with a pair of homers and four RBIs in just 36 at-bats last spring.

Nebraska did lose two more players from the fall — bringing that total to three. The most notable was senior outfielder Andy Gerch.

Since starring at the 2005 College World Series, the Lincoln Pius X graduate has had two major shoulder surgeries, the last of which was performed this fall and has forced him to take a medical hardship.

Gerch was to have served a 12-game suspension as penalty for committing an NCAA secondary violation by trying to trade university-issued bats for credit at a local sporting goods store last summer. That case, however, had nothing to do with his decision to stop playing.

The other player not to return to the squad this semester was Joe Hewer, a freshman catcher from Boise, Idaho. Redshirt freshman left-handed pitcher Brian Feekin left the team in the fall.

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.