[Husker] Husker Baseball: Week 4

[jon johnston]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=3918&u_sid=10589043&u_rss=1&

Mike Nesseth moves to the bullpen? What exactly does this mean, he  
won't be starting Fridays?

Jon Johnston
http://www.cornnation.com


On Mar 16, 2009, at 12:39 PM, Skylar Dodds wrote:

> Link:
> http://www.nebsports.com/2009/03/16/husker-baseball-blog-week-4/
>
> ------------------------------------------------------
>
> Week 4 Recap
> The Huskers dropped their first Big XII series of the season 1-2  
> this week
> in Lubbock against the Red Raiders of Texas Tech.  As I've said  
> before, this
> year's team is young and inexperienced, especially on the mound.   
> There are
> going to be stretches where this team looks great and some stretches  
> where
> Coach Anderson will lose hair on his head. The good news is the  
> talent seems
> to be there and as the players learn Division I baseball, they will  
> get
> better and more consistent.
>
> The last two weeks combined are probably a sample of what we'll see  
> all
> year.  Last week the pitching was good and the hitting was even  
> better.
> This week, the hitting was still solid, but the pitching, especially  
> the
> bullpen, was hit or miss.  Again, this was to be expected.  None of
> Nebraska's starters (Nesseth, Roualdes, and Mariot) saw any  
> significant time
> as a starter last year and most of our main core of relievers either  
> weren't
> in a Husker uniform last year or very part-time players.  The Big  
> XII is a
> great league this year and there are going to be some times where  
> our youth
> is exposed.
>
> The 17 walks on the weekend (often a sign of young pitching) played  
> a big
> part and while it's tough to work on mid-season, it will have to be  
> a point
> of focus for this coaching staff.  Even though we've seen some  
> consistent
> scoring from the offense so far, I doubt that the coaches are  
> comfortable
> being in a slugfest week in a week out.
>
> Nebraska 8 - Texas Tech 16 (Game 1)
> After a rainout on Friday, the Huskers opened the series with a
> double-header on Saturday.  In the first game, everything looked to  
> be going
> the Huskers way to open the series with a Friday night "W".  In the  
> 7th
> inning, the Huskers held a 6-4 lead, the "Ace" of the staff Mike  
> Nesseth is
> on the hill.  However, after Nesseth allowed the leadoff runner to  
> reach,
> Eric Rose, Casey Hauptman, and Matt Freeman couldn't stop the Red  
> Raiders.
> The trio combined for just 1 out, allowed 6 runs (5 earned) on 5  
> hits and 2
> walks that allowed Texas Tech to blow the game wide open 11-6.  The  
> Huskers
> got a couple back in the top of the 8th, but the Red Raiders struck  
> back in
> the bottom of the frame with 5 more runs (2 unearned), putting the  
> game out
> of reach.   Nick Sullivan powered the offense with a 3 for 5, 2-run  
> and
> 2-rbi day that included a pair of doubles.  Tyler Farst also  
> contributed
> with a 2 for 3 day with an RBI and 2 runs.
>
> Nebraska 10 - Texas Tech 1
> Fortunately for the Huskers, Jordan Roualdes quickly helped the team  
> forget
> about the  woes of the first game.  Roualdes scatted 5 hits, allowed  
> 1 run
> and struck out 3 and it was just what the team needed to recover  
> from the
> pasting the pitching staff received the game before.  Adam Bailey  
> powered
> the offense once again with a 2-run homerun and a 2-run double.   
> Jeff Tezak
> chipped in 2 RBIs and Cory Burleson went 2 for 3 and scored twice.
>
> Nebraska 3 - Texas Tech 10
> Again, Nebraska seemed to be cruising.  They had already posted 2 runs
> against Texas Tech ace AJ Ramos and in the bottom of the 4th, Mariot  
> seemed
> to be able to get out of the small jams he had been in up to that  
> point.
> Over the next 4 innings, Texas Tech scored all 10 of their runs, all  
> of
> which came with 2 out in the inning.  Had the Husker pitching staff  
> been
> able to record 4 outs when they needed, they would have shut out the  
> Red
> Raiders and won the series.  Adam Bailey chipped in a 2 for 4 day  
> with 2
> runs and an RBI and his 8th homerun of the year.  Tyler Farst also  
> continued
> his offensive tear with his own 2 for 4 day and 2 RBIs.
>
> A look back: The Good
> Adam Bailey- At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's  
> amazing what
> Adam's done for the offense so far this year.  He still leads the  
> Big XII in
> homeruns with 8 and also leads the Big XII in RBIs with 28.  I'm  
> pretty sure
> that most Husker fans (this one included) would not have expected to  
> have
> anyone in the lineup leading either category 4 weeks into the  
> season.  He is
> flat out swinging a hot bat and the rest of the team is responding.
> Nick Sullivan - Coming into the weekend, Sullivan only held a .182  
> average,
> Nick broke out a little this weekend, posting a .385 average raising  
> his
> overall average to .235.
> Jordan Roualdes - Especially with the way the rest of the weekend  
> went for
> the Husker pitching staff, it's tough to put into words the  
> importance of
> Roualdes' dominating performance in game 2 on Saturday.  Roualdes  
> held the
> Red Raiders to just a single run and chewed up 8 innings giving the  
> young
> bullpen a much needed rest after the pasting they received earlier  
> in the
> day.  Roualdes has been pretty solid all year, but this was  
> definitely his
> best outing yet.
> Jake Mort - With the emergence of Cody Asche, the senior has taken  
> more of a
> late-game defensive replacement role for the Huskers.  However, Jake  
> made
> the most of his few opportunities against the Red Raiders.  In just  
> 3 plate
> appearances, Jake posted 2 doubles and a single, driving in 2 and  
> scoring
> twice himself.  If Jake can prove himself a capable hitter, expect  
> to see
> him on the field a lot as his glove is probably the best on the team.
> However, Coach Anderson will want to find somewhere for Asche as he  
> leads
> the team with a .390 average.
> Nebraska Hitters - It's been a long time since Nebraska has been an
> offensive team, but it should be pointed out that this year's team  
> is 4th in
> the Big XII in average (.301) and 6 regular players have posted an  
> average
> greater than .300 (Asche .390, Bubak .389, Burleson .371, Bailey . 
> 364, Farst
> .364, Tezak .320).
>
> A look back: The Not So Good
> WALKS - 17 free passes over a 3-day weekend is unacceptable in the  
> Big XII.
> While it's something you would expect from a young pitching staff,  
> it's also
> something that this group needs to find a way to fix ASAP.  On the  
> season,
> the Huskers are giving up 4.99 walks per game.  Compared to last  
> year's
> 3.31, it's easy to see part of the reason why this year's staff has
> struggled so far.
> Cody Neer - After tearing the cover off the ball a week ago, Cody  
> went 0 for
> 6 against the Red Raiders.  With the hot bat Burleson is swinging,  
> Neer
> needs to recover quickly or he'll be relegated to the backup role.
> Ben Kline - With a 1 for 9 performance at the plate and a pair of  
> errors in
> Friday night's game, Ben probably would like to forget this weekend  
> and move
> on to the next.
>
> Overall Grade: C+
> The weekend wasn't all bad as the offense still managed to produce  
> 21 runs
> and the pitching staff really, outside of a few key moments was  
> pretty good.
> Had they been able to sew up 2 innings in the first game and get 4  
> outs at
> the right time in the 3rd game we'd be talking about a sweep instead  
> of a
> Big XII opening losing record.  One thing baseball fans have learned  
> over
> the years is not to put too much stock in any one weekend or even  
> any one
> 5-10 game stretch.  This will be especially important this year as I'm
> guessing sometimes it will seem like we could make a run possibly  
> into Omaha
> and other times it will look like we could stay home during the  
> playoffs for
> just the 2nd time in 11 years.
>
> The Huskers travel to Fayetteville Arkansas to face a familiar face to
> Husker fans in Dave Van Horn's Razorbacks in a Tuesday/Wednesday  
> matchup
> before heading back home to face Oklahoma State in the familiar  
> confines of
> Hawks Field.  It should be interesting to see how the pitching staff
> responds as Arkansas is a very solid team and Oklahoma State is 3rd  
> in the
> Big XII in runs scored.
>
> --
> Skylar
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> husker site list
> husker at tssi.com
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/husker

jon johnston
jon.johnston at gmail.com