[Husker] NU baseball loses?

[jschlechte at mobil1.net]

I am assuming they lost, I had to step out for a while and
when I came back two out and one on in the top of the ninth
behind by 1 (7-6) on the live stats, but the audio was over
and the live stats wouldn't update.  Of course, I can still
hope I'm wrong and the game isn't over or NU won.  But...

Their doom was 3 errors today as only 3 of the 7 runs scored
were earned.  Last week against Mizzou I think 9 errors were
commited and in the past two games against Tech 6.  Sloppy
play at this time of year in very important games is a
little discouraging.  Also, a baserunning error after a
leadoff double in the 9th snuffed out a would be rally for
the tieing run.  Granted some of the errors have been hard
luck ones, but these mistakes hurt.

What makes it all the worse is that they came back to tie it
in the top of the 8th after loading the bases, Gordon
getting plunked, and Ledbetter driving in two to tie it with
2 out.

So if Baylor wins today (probable as they are up 5-2 through
6 innings), Mizzou would have to win the series against them
and NU would have to sweep KSU to get the Big 12 crown.

Now NU needs to go 2-1 vs KSU to ensure 2nd.  Current record
is 41-12

As for the post season, if NU would go 0-2 or 1-2 in the Big
12 tourney I would not be surprised to seem them not host a
regional.  Their RPI is on the low side (20's) and this week
was 2-2 vs. teams with RPI's in the 40-50 range.

Last year the committee left NU out of the NCAA tournament
even though they had a fair showing at the Big 12 tourney
and had a 36-23 record and an RPI ranking of 33.  This was
mainly due to their 2nd half swoon.  Now through the last 13
games, NU is 8-5.  That doesn't look so good.  If they can
sweep KSU and mow through the Big 12 tournament field, then
a top 8 seed is a possibility.  Otherwise, I think a
regional host is the best they will do.  The polls don't
carry that much weight when it comes to seeding.  Although
expect NU to drop a few to several spots on Monday.

This team is beginning to remind me of 2003 when NU was
good, but just not quite good enough to win the regional
that year.  I'm just not sure what the personality of this
team is.

-Jay