Anderson pleased with Huskers' intensity
The relaxed body language and smile Jake Opitz carried around Haymarket Park late Wednesday embodied the look of a winner.
The senior second baseman was so at ease that, had you not known better, you could’ve easily assumed Nebraska had just completed a two-game sweep of Arkansas and won its 15th straight baseball game.
The 22nd-ranked Huskers didn’t win, as the Razorbacks broke a 3-3 tie with a six-run eighth inning en route to a 9-4 victory.
So what was the deal with Opitz?
Call it razor-sharp baseball mentality.
“I think the best thing this team has done is moved on day to day, win or loss,” Opitz said. “We had that bad inning, it happens. We’ll be fine.”
That attitude may best explain why NU brings a 15-3 record into its first Big 12 Conference home series, against Oklahoma this weekend.
Though he says there’s plenty of polish needed if the Huskers are to be on a roll come May and June, Mike Anderson has watched his team deliver consistently strong pitching and defense, and take an aggressive offensive approach.
While finishing a sweep at Kansas State in its opening Big 12 series last weekend, Nebraska overcame a ninth-inning deficit for the first time in 35 games dating to the 2006 season.
“Every game we’ve come out, there’s been excitement and energy and good preparation,” Anderson said. On Wednesday, “the same thing, it just didn’t translate into a win.”
And while he never likes losing, those results allow Anderson to emphasize mistakes that often get overshadowed by success.
NU has spent more time in March playing games than practicing, so improving some finer fundamentals — such as bunt coverage and controlling the opponent’s running game — is high on Anderson’s priority list.
One thing he has no concern about is whether the Huskers will continue showing up with the kind of intensity that’s led to their hot start.
Opitz also insists the 14-game winning streak will have no long-term effect on how the team goes about its business.
“To be honest, we weren’t carrying any winning streak,” he said. “You go out and try to get that win that day and move on to the next.”
Senior center fielder Bryce Nimmo pointed to how so many Huskers have been in good grooves that no one felt a need to talk about the streak, or about having any added pressure to keep it going.
“We just came to the ballpark every day looking to play, and it didn’t really matter who we were going to play. We knew how we were going to play,” Nimmo said.
So while he called Wednesday’s loss “a little step back, it’s like, ‘All right, look at what we did, learn from it and then get back in that groove again on Friday.’
“No matter what’s going on, we’re going to continue to play hard.”
Oklahoma (17-5) enters the series having had similar success. The Sooners had an 11-game winning streak snapped while dropping three of four to Washington State in Norman, Okla., last weekend, but rebounded with wins at South Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Nebraska will be looking for a similar response this weekend — that is, if the Huskers even consider what happened on Wednesday to be that big a deal.
“We come out every day and play hard, just scrap and do whatever we have to do,” Opitz said. “Get pitching one day, hitting the next day — finding ways to win.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
The senior second baseman was so at ease that, had you not known better, you could’ve easily assumed Nebraska had just completed a two-game sweep of Arkansas and won its 15th straight baseball game.
The 22nd-ranked Huskers didn’t win, as the Razorbacks broke a 3-3 tie with a six-run eighth inning en route to a 9-4 victory.
So what was the deal with Opitz?
Call it razor-sharp baseball mentality.
“I think the best thing this team has done is moved on day to day, win or loss,” Opitz said. “We had that bad inning, it happens. We’ll be fine.”
That attitude may best explain why NU brings a 15-3 record into its first Big 12 Conference home series, against Oklahoma this weekend.
Though he says there’s plenty of polish needed if the Huskers are to be on a roll come May and June, Mike Anderson has watched his team deliver consistently strong pitching and defense, and take an aggressive offensive approach.
While finishing a sweep at Kansas State in its opening Big 12 series last weekend, Nebraska overcame a ninth-inning deficit for the first time in 35 games dating to the 2006 season.
“Every game we’ve come out, there’s been excitement and energy and good preparation,” Anderson said. On Wednesday, “the same thing, it just didn’t translate into a win.”
And while he never likes losing, those results allow Anderson to emphasize mistakes that often get overshadowed by success.
NU has spent more time in March playing games than practicing, so improving some finer fundamentals — such as bunt coverage and controlling the opponent’s running game — is high on Anderson’s priority list.
One thing he has no concern about is whether the Huskers will continue showing up with the kind of intensity that’s led to their hot start.
Opitz also insists the 14-game winning streak will have no long-term effect on how the team goes about its business.
“To be honest, we weren’t carrying any winning streak,” he said. “You go out and try to get that win that day and move on to the next.”
Senior center fielder Bryce Nimmo pointed to how so many Huskers have been in good grooves that no one felt a need to talk about the streak, or about having any added pressure to keep it going.
“We just came to the ballpark every day looking to play, and it didn’t really matter who we were going to play. We knew how we were going to play,” Nimmo said.
So while he called Wednesday’s loss “a little step back, it’s like, ‘All right, look at what we did, learn from it and then get back in that groove again on Friday.’
“No matter what’s going on, we’re going to continue to play hard.”
Oklahoma (17-5) enters the series having had similar success. The Sooners had an 11-game winning streak snapped while dropping three of four to Washington State in Norman, Okla., last weekend, but rebounded with wins at South Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Nebraska will be looking for a similar response this weekend — that is, if the Huskers even consider what happened on Wednesday to be that big a deal.
“We come out every day and play hard, just scrap and do whatever we have to do,” Opitz said. “Get pitching one day, hitting the next day — finding ways to win.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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