[Husker] Baseball Recap: Week 3

Tue Mar 10 11:07:56 CDT 2009

Going into conference play this weekend, whom do you see as the  
weekend starters?

Friday - Nesseth
Saturday - Mariot
Sunday - Roualdes

Adam Bailey - wow. What a find he's been.

Jon Johnston
http://www.cornnation.com
On Mar 10, 2009, at 10:45 AM, Skylar Dodds wrote:

> Since it's slow, I'll post some baseball updates.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From:
> http://www.nebsports.com/2009/03/09/husker-baseball-blog-week-3/
>
>
> Week 3 Recap
> The Huskers posted a perfect 5-0 record this week. The pitching was  
> solid,
> but the real story was the offense.  The Husker bats pushed across  
> 51 runs
> this week (10.2 per game) off 65 hits (13 per game) to drown out their
> opponents.  The Huskers took advantage of big innings scoring 5 or  
> more runs
> in an inning 4 times.  The pitching certainly held its own, posting  
> a 3.40
> ERA on the week and a complete game victory on Friday.
>
> Nebraska 11 - South Dakota State 2
> Kyle Bubak sparked a 16-hit barrage with a 4-5 day in the leadoff spot
> scoring 4 times.  Casey Hauptman kept the South Dakota State  
> Jakrabbits bats
> silent going 6 innings and giving up just a run on 4 hits and 3 Ks.   
> The
> game was back and forth until the Huskers scored 4 runs over the 5th  
> and 6th
> inning and put the game away with 5 in the 8th.
>
> On offense, Adam Bailey helped Bubak charge the Huskers going 2 for  
> 5 with 4
> RBIs including his 5th homer of the year.  Cody Asche and Cody Neer  
> added
> two hits apiece to help the cause.
>
> Nebraska 9 - Cal State Northridge 3
> Mike Nesseth gave up back to back home runs in the 4th inning a 2- 
> run shot
> then a solo shot, but otherwise kept the Matadors at bay for his first
> complete game victory of the season.  Adam Bailey powered the Husker  
> offense
> with 3 RBIs and Tyler Farst scored twice.  The Huskers gave Nesseth  
> all the
> runs he would need in a 5-run 2nd capped by Bailey's 2-RBI single.
>
> On the year, Nesseth is 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA and has struck out 26.   
> With the
> four game series over the weekend, the long outing allowed the  
> Huskers to
> save their bullpen for the rest of the weekend.
>
> Nebraska 11 - Cal State Northridge 5
> The Huskers again erupted for a big 2nd inning scoring 7 runs and  
> giving
> JUCO transfer Jordan Roualdes all the runs he needed.   A bases loaded
> two-out double from Cody Neer broke the game open and vaulted the  
> Huskers
> out to a 6-0 lead.  Neer later scored on a Cody Asche single to  
> center to
> cap the scoring at 7-0.
>
> Roualdes went 6 innings, allowing 3 earned runs for the win and Matt  
> Freeman
> finished up the final 3 for the save allowing just 1 run.
>
> Nebraska 12 - Cal State Northridge 6
> In the nightcap, the Huskers fell behind quickly for the only time  
> all week.
> Senior Erik Bird struggled on the mound, lasting just 3 innings,  
> allowing 5
> runs on 6 hits and 4 walks.  The Huskers bats would pick him up,  
> however,
> exploding for 8 runs in the bottom of the 4th to take their first  
> lead of
> the ballgame.
>
> After a Cade Thompson solo home run, the Huskers loaded the bases  
> with two
> singles and a hit batter for Kyle Bubak.  Bubak singled to right,  
> scoring
> two and bringing the Huskers within 1 run, 5-4.  After DJ Belfonte  
> was hit
> by a pitch, Bailey put the huskers up 6-5 with a two run single up the
> middle.  After a pitching change, Farst drilled a 3-run bomb over  
> the right
> field wall to give the Huskers a 9-5 lead.
>
> Nebraska 8 - Cal State Northridge 2
> Michael Mariot dominated the Matadors on getaway day going 7 innings
> allowing just 1 earned run and walking just 1 while striking out 4  
> to earn
> his first win of the season.   Casey Hauptman finished the job,  
> allowing 1
> more run over 2 innings while fanning 4.
>
> For the offense, Kyle Bubak continued his hot streak pounding out 4  
> hits in
> as many at bats driving in one and scoring twice.  Senior 3rd  
> baseman Jake
> Mort hit just his 2nd homer of his career with a 3-run blast just  
> over the
> wall in right-center.  Cody Neer also continued his hot hitting with  
> a 2 for
> 4 day with 2 RBIs.
>
> A look back: The Good
> Kyle Bubak - The JUCO transfer was a terror at the plate this week.   
> Kyle
> was 12 of 23 for a .522 average with 5 RBIs powering the Huskers.
> Adam Bailey - In what's becoming the norm for Bailey, the JUCO  
> transfer was
> a run producing machine with a team-leading 11 RBIs to go with 2  
> homeruns
> and a salty .421 average, Bailey now leads the Big XII in homers,  
> RBIs and
> is 2nd in the league in total bases.
> Cody Neer - It was looking like incoming freshman Cory Burleson was  
> going to
> take over as the frontrunner for the catcher position, but Cody  
> wasn't going
> away quietly.  Posting a team-leading .538 average for the week with  
> 6 RBIs
> including 4 for the first game on Saturday, it's clear we have a  
> heated race
> for the crucial battery spot.
> DJ Belfonte - This was a week DJ needed.  After a rough start to the  
> season
> with a sub .200 average, DJ bounced back this week posting a .429  
> average
> and raising his season average to .241.  The Huskers will need DJ to  
> produce
> this season for it all to come together.
> Mike Nesseth - Going the distance in Friday's 9-3 win was not only a
> dominating performance (aside from the two pitches he'd like to have  
> back)
> but it allowed the Huskers to preserve their bullpen for the rest of  
> the
> weekend, something very important in a long 4-game series.
> Michael Mariot - After a rough start a week ago, Michael bounced back
> showing that when he has his control, he's one of Nebraska's top  
> pitchers.
> Casey Hauptman - Mike Anderson has compared Casey to Dan Jennings, a  
> guy you
> can call on when you really need some outs. On the week, he pitched  
> 8.0
> innings, gave up just 2 earned runs and struck out 7 to preserve his
> team-leading 1.45 ERA.
> Free Passes - Putting aside the 7 walks that the Huskers surrendered  
> on
> Saturday night, the team gave just 4 free passes in the other 4  
> games.  So
> far this season, when the team has struggled on the mound it's been  
> when the
> control isn't there.  For this team to succeed, Coach Newman needs  
> to get
> his message across and eliminate the free pass.
>
> A look back: The Not So Good
> Erik Bird - The senior righty has had a rough start to the season.   
> In 3
> starts he's averaged less than 4 innings of work and surrendered 12  
> earned
> runs for a team-high 9.26 ERA.  The Huskers will need Erik this  
> season to
> bring some leadership to a young pitching staff.
> Nick Sullivan - Nick has had a rough start to the year, batting  
> just .184
> while starting 11 of the 14 games with just 1 extra base hit.   
> Nick's a
> solid glove in the outfield, but the Huskers will need his bat to  
> start
> heating up, especially in conference play when you suspect the young  
> hitters
> will drop a little due to tougher competition.
>
> Overall Grade: A-
> The offensive explosion was nice to see out of this Husker team with  
> some of
> the veterans stepping up and a continued push from the youngsters.   
> The
> pitching was solid, but the 7 free passes on Saturday night is like  
> the cold
> bug that won't go away.  We certainly can't do that against the UTs,  
> aTms
> and OUs of the world.
>
> The Huskers take the midweek off and start Big XII play at Lubbock,  
> Texas
> against the 6-8 Red Raiders of Texas Tech.
>
>
> --
> Skylar
>
>
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jon johnston
jon.johnston at gmail.com