[Husker] On a positive note

[Skylar Dodds]

Hello Husker Fans,

  With all of the negative about this year's team right now, I thought
  it would be a good idea to post some positive things about this
  team.

  •-Nebraska has enjoyed the confines of the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark
  in Oklahoma City, going 20-3 all-time in the park since the 1999
  season, including four Big 12 titles (1999-01, 2005).

  •-Nebraska has played well in front of the cameras this season,
  going 8-0 in televised games following Saturday’s win over No. 13
  Oklahoma. NU has been on FSN one other time in 2005, a 7-5 win over
  Texas.

  •-Nebraska brings one of the league’s youngest teams to Oklahoma
  City, as 18 of the 27 players on the Huskers’ postseason roster are
  freshmen or sophomores. In addition, only four of NU’s nine junior
  and seniors (Buckman, Chamberlain, Christy and Jensen) saw time
  during the 2005 Big 12 Tournament.

  •-Under first-year hitting coach Andy Sawyers, who assisted with team
  hitting duties from 2003-05, Nebraska’s team average in Big 12 play
  jumped nearly 50 points to .317, its highest average in Big 12 play
  since the 2000 season. NU’s Big 12 Batting Average Year Team Big 12
  Batting Average

  2006 .317
  2005 .262
  2004 .258
  2003 .295
  2002 .288
  2001 .307
  2000 .347

  •-Nebraska’s 39-14 record entering the Big 12 Championship is only
  two games back of last season’s pace after 53 games. It is also
  ahead of NU’s 2002 CWS team, which was 36-17 at the same point in
  time.

  •-Nebraska is one win away from achieving its 16th 40-win season in
  school history, including seventh in the past eight seasons. In
  fact, the Huskers are tied with Texas Tech for the most 40-win
  seasons in Big 12 history with six apiece.

  •-Nebraska has gotten off to fast starts, outscoring its opponents
  55-19 in the first inning of games this season. In fact, NU has
  scored at least one run in the first inning in 22 of its last 36
  contests.

  •-Nebraska has held 36 of its first 53 opponents to four runs or
  less this season and its 3.8 runs allowed per game ranks fourth
  nationally.

  •-Nebraska is well represented in the latest NCAA stats released May
  17. The Huskers rank in the top 20 in five team categories,
  including ERA (3.19, ninth), slugging percentage (.510, 10th),
  fielding percentage (.976, 11th), homers per game (1.33, 11th) and
  batting average (.326, 16th). Individually, Luke Gorsett ranks among
  the national leaders in homers per game (18th) and slugging
  percentage (23rd). Other Huskers ranked in the top-30 nationally
  include Brandon Buckman, who is 24th in homers per game, Johnny
  Dorn, who is 11th nationally in wins and Joba Chamberlain, who is
  33rd in strikeouts per nine innings.

  •-Nebraska has committed one error or less in 38 of its first 53
  contests, including 17 games without an error. NU’s .974 fielding
  percentage is second in the Big 12 and just off the school record of
  .975 set in each of the past two seasons.

  •-One of NU’s keys to success is the ability to run while shutting
  down other team’s running games. NU is third in the Big 12 with 80
  stolen bases, including 34-of-47 in Big 12 play, and has allowed a
  league-low 34 stolen bases.

  •-Under first-year pitching coach Dave Bingham, Nebraska’s pitching
  staff finished the regular season leading the Big 12 in ERA (3.33)
  and opponent batting average (.244), while ranking second in homers
  allowed (25) and shutouts (five).

  •-While NU’s pitching has been as good as advertised for most of the
  2006 campaign, NU’s offensive numbers have been among the Big 12
  leaders in most categories. The Huskers’ .317 team average is on
  pace for NU’s best team average since the 2001 CWS team hit .334.

  •-Nebraska is one of only seven teams in all of Division I baseball
  to post team ERAs below 4.00 over the last four years, joining Cal
  State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Oral Roberts, Rice, Texas and
  Wichita State. The Huskers were second nationally with a 2.69 team
  ERA in 2005.

  •- The Huskers are 12-6 in games decided by two runs or less this
  season.

  •-Nebraska’s consecutive shutouts of Texas and Wichita State last
  month marked the first time ever that any school had posted
  consecutive shutouts against college baseball’s two winningest
  coaches (Texas’ Augie Garrido and Wichita State’s Gene Stephenson).

  •-Nebraska set a school record for regular-season attendance average
  with 4,864 fans per game in 2006, breaking the previous
  regular-season mark of 4,426 in 2005. What makes that number more
  impressive is that NU’s attendance average is actual fans in the
  ballpark, not tickets sold.

  •-Nebraska is one of only three teams in the country that returned
  two pitchers who won at least 10 games in 2005 (Oregon State and
  Miami of Ohio are the others).

  •-Nebraska is one of only six programs nationally to reach the
  College World Series in three of the past five seasons, joining Cal
  State Fullerton, Miami, South Carolina, Stanford and Texas. The Big
  12 is the only league with more than one team in that group.

  •- Nebraska has scored at least one run in each of its last 184
  games dating back to the start of the 2004 campaign. The streak is
  the longest in the Big 12, while NU has scored in 515 of the last
  516 games dating back to the 1998 season.

  •-NU already has 13 come-from-behind wins this season, including a
  trio of four-run deficits, most recently against Texas Tech on April
  29. Over the last two seasons, the Huskers have posted 33
  come-from-behind wins.


  Just thought you might want to know
  
-- 
Go Skers,
 Skylar                            mailto:Sklarbodds at cox.net