Huskers have chance to make headway in Big 12
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By CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
This is all too familiar for the Nebraska baseball team, but with a completely different set of rules.
For the third time in four seasons, the Huskers are second in the Big 12 Conference standings with six games remaining. But unlike the previous two years, this team doesn’t need anyone’s help to chase down the pacesetter.
Friday’s game at Haymarket Park is the start of a weekend series that needs no hype: NU versus fellow top-10 team and league leader Texas A&M.
“The more pressure we have on us, it seems the better we do,” junior pitcher Erik Bird said. “To have the competition like we have at the top, with Oklahoma State, too, that just makes it a lot more fun.”
Nebraska, 26-2-1 at home this season, trails the Aggies by 2½ games (and is 1½ up on the third-place Cowboys), so to remain in the title race it must win two of three this weekend. But without a sweep, the Huskers would have to erase a 1½-game deficit next weekend at Missouri — which would seem improbable, considering A&M has a Big 12-record 15-game winning streak.
No wonder NU coach Mike Anderson says he’d prefer being in the shoes of Rob Childress, his former pitching coach and now A&M’s head coach.
At the same time, Anderson is very much in tune with what lies ahead after this series.
By virtue of its 36-8-1 record and a favorable RPI ranking that the NCAA relies heavily upon when bracketing its tournament, Nebraska is primed to be one of 16 regional hosts.
Should the Huskers finish the regular season strong and/or have a good showing at the Big 12 Tournament, they’d also figure to have a decent shot at one of eight national seeds. If that occurs, it would mean NU wouldn’t have to leave Haymarket Park in its quest to reach the College World Series.
It’s why Anderson wants the Huskers to consider the big picture.
“I wouldn’t say I emphasize that other side more, but our kids have an understanding of that’s what we’re working toward,” he said. “It’s the reason why (first baseman) Craig Corriston got his (arthroscopic knee) surgery. It’s the reason we continue to try to improve this week ... to see if we can play well late. If this is late, so be it.
“There’s not a kid here who’s not putting an emphasis on this weekend, but when Monday comes, we start on Creighton and on Missouri. I want them to stay at an even pace and continue to build as we build into postseason. We’ve stayed even-keeled. I think that’s the strength of this team.”
Three years ago, Nebraska hit this point of the season 14-7 in the Big 12 and trailing Baylor by one game. The Huskers then won five of their final six and ended up in a tie for first, making up two games to the Bears in the final two days. That team wound up being arguably the best in NU history, as it went on to make the CWS and notched the school’s only win in the event.
In 2006, Nebraska was 16-5 and a half-game behind Texas before dropping five of six to wind up tied for third. The Huskers rebounded to make the Big 12 Tournament championship game and received a No. 6 national seed, but then went a stunning 0-2 in the NCAA regional.
“The one thing that I think is the biggest difference from ’06 to right now is the drive,” said Bird, a major contributor as a freshman. “We were 36-6 and we were satisfied, it almost seemed like. We were happy with ourselves.
“This year it’s a little different. It doesn’t feel like we’ve really done anything yet. A&M’s having the year they’re having, which is really in turn helping us out because that gives us that drive to want to be better than them.”
Statistics suggest this weekend’s series will come down to how Nebraska’s pitching staff, which sports the Big 12’s best ERA (3.46), fares against the league’s best offense, which features three of the league’s top four hitters.
Even Dave Van Horn finds it hard to predict how the matchup will turn out.
Van Horn marveled about the Aggies’ speed and power after they beat his Arkansas club 15-7 in a game that A&M threw its two pitchers who now start on Fridays and Saturdays.
A couple weeks later, the Huskers’ former coach brought the Razorbacks to Lincoln and watched Dan Jennings dominate in a 6-1 Nebraska win. The next day, Van Horn felt a little better after Arkansas scored six runs to break an eighth-inning tie while taking a 9-4 decision that snapped the Huskers’ 14-game winning streak.
“Nebraska, they were very solid defensively. I didn’t get to see their best arms,” Van Horn said earlier this week. “I have seen them a little on TV and they’ve been real impressive. The Friday guy (Johnny Dorn) has been there a while and the Saturday pitcher out of junior college (Thad Weber), he’s had a tremendous year.”
Nebraska’s pitching and league-best .972 fielding percentage have helped the Huskers win six of seven Big 12 series. The same thing holds true for A&M, which ranks No. 2 in the conference in ERA and fielding percentage.
Strangely enough, both teams came up short against Oklahoma State.
“One of my best friends is Kyle Thebeau,” Bird said of the Aggies’ reliever and summer ball teammate the past two years. “He says, ‘The crazy thing about our team is we squeak out the wins. We get the win, but we only win by two or three or one.’ And I was thinking, ‘Man, that’s the same exact thing as our team.’
“It’s pretty funny talking to him, because everything he says I can take it and say the same exact thing about us.”
The Huskers just hope they can compare favorably with the Aggies for at least one more week.
“We did a great job putting ourselves in this opportunity to go win the Big 12,” NU second baseman Jake Opitz said. “But when we opened up in March we weren’t thinking, ‘We’ve got to win this (A&M) series to win the Big 12.’ We put ourselves in that situation by showing up 0-0 every day.
“We’re coming out Friday night and we’re 0-0.”
Ah, nothing like season-opening excitement to help pack a stadium.
“Don’t get me wrong, there is a little bit different feel for this weekend with all the things riding on it,” Bird said. “But we’ve got to concentrate on Friday, winning that game, and then after that Saturday and Sunday.”
Briefly
Four Huskers were selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII team. Pitcher Jennings and outfielders Nick Sullivan, Bryce Nimmo and DJ Belfonte all earned spots on the 11-member first team. Nebraska’s four first-team selections were the most of any school in the district. Nimmo is a repeat selection.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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