NU baseball team has right mix in '08
Bu CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
Nebraska’s 2007 baseball team meshed just fine — at least as a group of misfits.
The first of numerous suspensions Mike Anderson issued for violating team rules came before the mid-February season opener and continued even after the Huskers were eliminated from the NCAA regional four months later.
For someone who feels as much responsibility to mold his ‘kids’ into model citizens as he does keeping his program among the nation’s elite, it was a maddening ordeal.
And so for NU to be 26-6-1 and ranked as high as No. 9 nationally entering this weekend’s home series against Kansas, Anderson is feeling like he’s taken a step back in time.
“This team has re-energized me and restored my faith in the wholesomeness of kids,” he said Wednesday, one day after the Huskers sparkled in a 3-0 win against No. 5 Wichita State. “It fires me up.”
It may be mere coincidence that Nebraska is making another strong run for a Big 12 Conference title because of the maturity of the Huskers.
But perhaps there really is something to the fact that Anderson and his staff have a group that seems to genuinely like being together and working for the same goal. And not misbehaving off the field.
That also may explain why no Husker has been designated as a team captain.
“We don’t slap a ‘C’ on someone’s jersey,” senior second baseman Jake Opitz said. “Because we want everybody to lead in their own way. It doesn’t have to be a senior, it can be a freshman, even. I’m not saying they’re leading the team, but they’re working on it.”
Senior first baseman Craig Corriston, though, feels especially compelled to try and put a positive touch on the team.
Undoubtedly, that attitude comes from his involvement last June in trying to exchange university-issued bats for credit at a local sporting goods store — which was in violation of NCAA rules and cost Corriston six games at the beginning of the season.
“I think that last little episode at the end of the year with the Scheels deal was kind of like, ‘All right, that’s it,’ he said. “Coach didn’t have anything to do with it. We met as a team and got things straight.
“Last year was tough on him just because of what we put him through,” Corriston said of Anderson. “But he stuck with us and he’s (still) the same guy. He has the best interests for us.”
The Huskers are doing their best to repay that.
While their team batting average of .280 ranks just seventh in the 10-team Big 12, they regularly produce in the clutch in support of a pitching staff that has the league’s best ERA (3.24).
“Coming to the field every day, walking into that clubhouse, you’ve got guys joking around constantly. There’s no tension,” Opitz said “You’re not worried about anything coming here. You know what you’re going to do to every day, and we’re comfortable.”
As for the coaches? Opitz believes they’re more relaxed, as well.
“They worry about coaching the games, they’re not worried about guys going to class, off-the-field problems,” he said. “They’re focused on the games, just like the rest of us.”
Well, it’s not always about the games.
Before every team workout, Anderson gathers his team to sort through some notes, offer a thought of the day and details the practice plan. If his assistants have anything to add, they’ll chime in, and then Anderson opens things up to the players.
In many cases, they raise issues related to baseball, but Wednesday, junior left fielder Nick Sullivan reminded his teammates to bring food items for a donation program they were participating in this weekend.
It provided Anderson yet another example of why he likes this team as much as he does.
“My whole philosophy is the more you can empower those kids ... the more our coaches take a backseat, because hopefully we’re doing enough teaching that we show them what we should be doing.”
On and off the field.
“We have that mind-set that we can accomplish good things here,” Opitz said. “And just coming out preparing every day, that’s carrying us so far.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
Nebraska’s 2007 baseball team meshed just fine — at least as a group of misfits.
The first of numerous suspensions Mike Anderson issued for violating team rules came before the mid-February season opener and continued even after the Huskers were eliminated from the NCAA regional four months later.
For someone who feels as much responsibility to mold his ‘kids’ into model citizens as he does keeping his program among the nation’s elite, it was a maddening ordeal.
And so for NU to be 26-6-1 and ranked as high as No. 9 nationally entering this weekend’s home series against Kansas, Anderson is feeling like he’s taken a step back in time.
“This team has re-energized me and restored my faith in the wholesomeness of kids,” he said Wednesday, one day after the Huskers sparkled in a 3-0 win against No. 5 Wichita State. “It fires me up.”
It may be mere coincidence that Nebraska is making another strong run for a Big 12 Conference title because of the maturity of the Huskers.
But perhaps there really is something to the fact that Anderson and his staff have a group that seems to genuinely like being together and working for the same goal. And not misbehaving off the field.
That also may explain why no Husker has been designated as a team captain.
“We don’t slap a ‘C’ on someone’s jersey,” senior second baseman Jake Opitz said. “Because we want everybody to lead in their own way. It doesn’t have to be a senior, it can be a freshman, even. I’m not saying they’re leading the team, but they’re working on it.”
Senior first baseman Craig Corriston, though, feels especially compelled to try and put a positive touch on the team.
Undoubtedly, that attitude comes from his involvement last June in trying to exchange university-issued bats for credit at a local sporting goods store — which was in violation of NCAA rules and cost Corriston six games at the beginning of the season.
“I think that last little episode at the end of the year with the Scheels deal was kind of like, ‘All right, that’s it,’ he said. “Coach didn’t have anything to do with it. We met as a team and got things straight.
“Last year was tough on him just because of what we put him through,” Corriston said of Anderson. “But he stuck with us and he’s (still) the same guy. He has the best interests for us.”
The Huskers are doing their best to repay that.
While their team batting average of .280 ranks just seventh in the 10-team Big 12, they regularly produce in the clutch in support of a pitching staff that has the league’s best ERA (3.24).
“Coming to the field every day, walking into that clubhouse, you’ve got guys joking around constantly. There’s no tension,” Opitz said “You’re not worried about anything coming here. You know what you’re going to do to every day, and we’re comfortable.”
As for the coaches? Opitz believes they’re more relaxed, as well.
“They worry about coaching the games, they’re not worried about guys going to class, off-the-field problems,” he said. “They’re focused on the games, just like the rest of us.”
Well, it’s not always about the games.
Before every team workout, Anderson gathers his team to sort through some notes, offer a thought of the day and details the practice plan. If his assistants have anything to add, they’ll chime in, and then Anderson opens things up to the players.
In many cases, they raise issues related to baseball, but Wednesday, junior left fielder Nick Sullivan reminded his teammates to bring food items for a donation program they were participating in this weekend.
It provided Anderson yet another example of why he likes this team as much as he does.
“My whole philosophy is the more you can empower those kids ... the more our coaches take a backseat, because hopefully we’re doing enough teaching that we show them what we should be doing.”
On and off the field.
“We have that mind-set that we can accomplish good things here,” Opitz said. “And just coming out preparing every day, that’s carrying us so far.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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