Hey AN, thought you might be interested to read what Oakland's second pick yesterday, Tyson Ross, had to say about being drafted by his hometown team. Also, he reveals why he has such an unorthodox follow-through on his delivery.

Basically, Ross is a shortstop on the mound. He never changed his throwing motion from the time he was an infielder, and throws the same way when he toes the rubber now.

You can read the full interview here.

In my communication with Ross, I was impressed -- as the scouts said in his draft report, this is a character guy with great mental makeup.

Hello from northwest Arkansas! Contrary to popular opinion, it's actually very nice here, and everyone I've met so far has the majority of their teeth.

I drove down from Nebraska today to catch the first two games of the RockHounds-Naturals series. I'm covering the game as part of my work at MVN.com , in case you're wondering why I drove six hours to catch a AA game. Well, other than the obvious "love of baseball" factor.

The reason I'm writing is that I have credentials for these games, and wanted to open it up to AN to ask some questions of these guys. If there's anything you'd like me to ask a RockHound, post it in a comment and I'll try to track down the player in the clubhouse after tonight's game, or at some point tomorrow.

Harvey Perlman has finally wised up and fired Steve Pedersen.

http://journalstar.com/blog/huskers....

Lincoln, Neb., Oct. 15, 2007 -- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman today announced he has asked UNL Athletic Director Steve Pederson to step down from the post he has held since January 2003.

Perlman said he believes Pederson is no longer positioned to move the Athletic Department forward.

"We are of course disappointed about the progress in our football program. Steve has done many positive things for Husker athletics during his tenure but I think only new leadership can objectively assess the state of our program and make the decisions necessary to move us forward," Perlman said.

Pederson's contract was renewed for five years at the end of July.

"You make the best decision you can with the information you have," Perlman said. Since then, Perlman says he has noted a decline in morale in the Athletic Department, and growing concern about retention of key personnel.

Perlman said he will immediately initiate conversations to identify an interim athletic director with full authority to assess the state of the Athletic Department and its athletic programs and to make any decision necessary to advance those programs. He also indicated his intention to consult with a national search consultant to begin the process for selection of a new permanent athletic director.

"It is not clear how long such a process will take or its precise form. It is important it be done expeditiously but thoughtfully," Perlman said.

"The selection of Steve Pederson in 2003 as athletic director was widely thought to be the only clear choice because of his experience, his roots and his knowledge of our traditions. I know Steve made the decisions he thought best for the interests of the program and the university. I am disappointed that I had to come to this decision."

I was in Geneva, Ill. about a week and a half ago to catch a couple Kane County Cougars games, and while there, spoke at length with A's draft picks Sam Demel and Josh Horton. I'll post some of my conversation with Demel in this diary, but for the rest you'll have to click here. Sorry for not posting the whole thing, but I'd be in trouble if I did...

--- -- ---

The former TCU closer, now a right-handed setup man for the Cougars, got off to a rough start with Stockton in his initial venture into pro ball, but has been lights out for Kane County, helping the Cougars to a 2.47 team ERA in the month of August and a shot at the Midwest League playoffs. What’s more, Demel is yet another example of the type of character guys that Oakland seems to stock their organization with.

Continue reading this post »

Well, I'm in the Chicago area to visit a friend, and more importantly, watch the A's. I'm heading out to the game tonight at "the Cell", but I caught yesterday's Kane County -- Oakland's low class-A affiliate -- game in Geneva, Ill., a suburn of Chicago.

I wrote up some notes on the game over at the A's minor league site I run (with ConditionOakland) on MVN, but I'll post the portion dealing with RHP Scott Deal's well-pitched start. I spoke with Deal after the game, while he was icing down. It was obvious by his performance in the game, and his attitude afterwards, that he's regained the confidence that he had as a 19-year old in Vancouver last season.

Continue reading this post »

Tony Watson held the Longhorns to two hits, Ryan Wehrle had four of his own, and Nebraska took another Friday game in a Big 12 series. Another big plus came when Augie Garrido was tossed from the game after arguing a call. In the college ranks, you're not likely to find an easier coach to dislike than "Argue" Garrido.

The big story, though, is... could this collegiate Big Red machine finally be up and running? The Huskers look good, and seem to have more than just one or two players clicking on all cylinders.

But, here comes another wrench in the gears.

Charlie Shirek and Mike Harmelink were suspended for this weekend's series. While I might joke that it's a relief that Mike Anderson can't put Shirek in to blow a game (see Wichita State...), this is serious business. This season, Nebraska has become the Cincinnati Bengals of Big 12 baseball. The suspensions have piled up. Tony Watson and Mike Harmelink, DUI. Andrew Brown, team rules. Erik Bird, team rules. Charlie Shirek and Mike Harmelink, vandalism and public intoxication. Harmelink has been suspended twice now, and according to reports, might even be facing some charges related to prescription drugs.

Mike Anderson has done the right thing so far by taking a firm line and suspending as many people as he has, but the message isn't getting across. You have to wonder just why these kids think they're going to get away with anything, anyway?

-- - --

Nebraska will look to take the series with a win today at home, and they'll do it before a packed house at Haymarket. I stopped by the park on my way to work today, over an hour before game time, and the place was packed. They were handing out free t-shirts to the first 500 students to enter, and they were long gone by 5:45. Haymarker offers a huge home-field advantage for the Big Red, and it's good to see the fans come out in droves for virtually every game.

I've got to say, there were more contentious calls in that game than I've seen in a while. There were no less than three stolen base attempts, two plays at the plate, and a strikeout call that didn't come out as Nebraska would have liked. Certainly one or two were the right call, but it just egged on the crowd.

The worst missed call, by far, was in the eighth inning. With a runner on second, Creighton bunted to advance the runner. The bunter was out on the play -- but for whatever reason, the runner was slow advancing to third. Andrew Brown threw back across the diamond, and the Bluejay runner was out by six feet, though he slid. For reasons unbeknownst to me (and the rest of the ballpark), he was called safe.

On the subsequent play, Creighton laid down a suicide squeeze, but while it looked like the runner was surely out this time, Mitch Abeita apparently dropped the ball as he reached into his mitt for it. Once again, a safe call on the basepaths caused the crowd to erupt.

Speaking of the crowd, I was once again disappointed in the behavior of a large and vocal portion of the Creighton fans. After Creighton took the lead, a group of fans sitting in the 1st-base box seats began to get into it with students in the berm section. As soon as the game was over, a dozen or so blue-clad "fans" began to taunt the Nebraska students filtering out of the berm. There was pointing to the scoreboard, loud mocking laughter, and a general sense of arrogance exhibited by the Bluejay hecklers. I don't want to stereotype all Bluejay fans as such, but when I'm consistently exposed to behavior like this from their fans, a pattern begins to emerge.

-- - --

Since I'd rather not linger any further upon an ugly game and ugly fans, I'll leave you with these photos from the game, and look forward to the Texas series this weekend.

Jake Opitz and Ryan Wehrle turning two in the early innings of the game.

Look closely. That's the same pitcher, using both hands. It's Creighton's switch-pitching Pat Venditte. Notice how he throws a traditional arm slot with the right arm, but sidearms from the southpaw side. He's effective from both ends, too.

Nebraska scored one on this wild pitch, but the second run was out at the plate in a close call that the umps got right, though the crowd disagreed.

Nebraska and Oklahoma are one of the storied rivalries in all of sports. Well, if you're talking about football, and are asking anyone over the age of 35, or those that recall the glory days of the Big Eight.

In baseball, they're just two of the perennially stronger teams in the Big 12. This weekend, they'll meet to decide, once and for all, which is the better middle-of-the-pack team in the Big 12 this season. Is it Oklahoma, who comes into the series ranked as high as No. 23 nationally, sporting a 24-11 overall record with a 4-5 mark in conference? Or is it Nebraska, winners of one straight Big 12 series, owners of a 20-13 (5-7) record?

Here are the details for your weekend of following the disappointing 'Skers:

Probable Starters

Friday, 7:00 p.m. CDT
NU - Tony Watson, Jr., LHP (3-1, 3.33 ERA, 46 K, 48 IP)
OU - Stephen Portier, So., RHP (4-3, 3.15 ERA, 62 K, 52.1 IP)

Saturday, 3:00 p.m. CDT
NU - Johnny Dorn, Jr., RHP (5-1, 4.89 ERA, 37 K, 46 IP)
OU - Heath Taylor, Jr., LHP 6-1, 2.86 ERA, 46 K, 50.1 IP)

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. CDT
NU - TBA (Herr? Bowman? Foust? Bill Callahan? Larry the Cable Guy? who knows...)
OU - TBA

Broadcasts

Radio: Husker Sports Network (KLIN, KFAB, etc.) and for free on Huskers.com
Satellite Radio: Saturday and Sunday’s games will be on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel is TBA)
TV: Saturday’s game at Oklahoma will be carried live on Fox Sports Net (Ch. 37 in Lincoln, Ch. 47 in Omaha)
Live Stats: Huskers.com

Is that too ham-handed a pun for the title? Oh well.

On Wednesday, I drove about four hours south of Lincoln to visit the home of the storied Wichita State baseball team. Literally built from the ground up by current head coach Gene Stephenson, the Shocker baseball program has graduated many recognizable names in baseball: Casey Blake, Joe Carter, Darren Dreifort, Braden Looper, Doug Mirabelli, Mike Pelfrey, Nate Robertson, and Eric Wedge. They won the national title in 1989, just over a decade after the founding of the baseball program in the late 70s.

Eck Stadium is the home of Shocker baseball, and I've got to say, I was impressed. It's a nice facility -- awful astroturf infield notwithstanding -- and it just feels like a college park. There were plenty of WSU students around the park, even though it was a chilly 50 at game time.

The most interesting thing about Eck Stadium, though, is the beer policy. Coming from Nebraska where both Haymarket and Rosenblatt are dry stadiums, it was a shock to see beer stands set up at a college park. Not only could you buy a brew from the concession stand up until the end of the game, if you had a $5 outfield berm ticket, you could bring your own cooler. That's right, for $5 you can bring a cooler full of your favorite brew, sit on the grass and watch a baseball game. If they had that policy at Nebraska, Haymarket's berm section would be packed with half-drunk college kids every game.

There was a drawback to the loose alcohol policy, though. Unlike the vast majority of college games I've been to, there were a decent number of people in the crowd that were heckling the students on the field. A couple idiots to my left were getting so bad that a cop had to come and threaten them with ejection if they didn't shut up. All things being equal, I think I'd rather catch a game at a beer-free college park than one that serves. There are plenty of minor and major league games I can attend and have a frosty one; I'd rather not see these kids on the field get heckled brutally by an intoxicated dumbass. If you're getting paid to play, you're a legitimate target. Student-athletes? Nope.

Anyway, as for the game itself... Drew Bowman got the start for the Huskers, and pitched very well. He gave Nebraska 5 2/3 innings pitched with only 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts.

Matt Foust then came in to relieve him, and continued the Husker pitching excellence. In an inning and a third, he gave up only one hit and struck out one.

Nebraska entered the bottom of the eighth inning with a 3-1, but then... everything fell apart as Mike Anderson felt a need to give the massively struggling Charlie Shirek an opportunity. Shirek gave up one run, but left two baserunners for Zach Herr (pictured on the left), who struck out the only batter he faced for the first out in the inning.

Anderson lifted Herr and replaced him with Erik Bird, who has yet to show this season that he remembers how to pitch. After all was said and done, Wichita State scored four runs to take a 5-3 lead.

Two of the Shocker runs were scored by 3B Conor Gillaspie, who went 2-for-4 against Nebraska to improve his average to .338 on the year. Gillaspie is a native of Elkhorn, Neb., and while I'm not concerned that the Huskers didn't show interest in signing him, it hurts when a Nebraskan is a key factor in a Husker loss.

After taking such a promising start to the game, the mismanagement of the bullpen by Mike Anderson let a quality win slip away. Using arguably the two least effective pitchers on the staff in the late innings of a game you're leading on the road... well, that's just not smart.

So, the Huskers left Wichita with a 20-13 record, continuing to slide down to what could be their worst season in a decade.

On a cold and rainy Nebraska evening, the Huskers pulled out a win against their cross-Missouri River rivals, successfully avenging a March 4th loss. There were about 350 fans there, from my estimate, though official attendance was 800.

The Huskers fell behind early, though spot starter Dan Jennings (pictured on the left) was effective over his four innings of work. He gave up five hits and one earned run with four strikeouts and no walks, left with the lead, and eventually was credited with his first career win.

Jeff Tezak and Jake Opitz each had two hits and two RBI to give the Huskers an early 7-3 lead, a cushion they'd need later. Tezak hit his third homer of the year to left field, where the sole fan braving the weather retrieved it from the berm.

The Huskers entered the ninth inning with a four run lead, and handed the ball to their de facto closer, Steve Edlefsen. Apparently Edlefsen didn't handle the inclement weather well, as he walked three, threw two wild pitches and allowed two runs. Bases loaded, and... enter Matt Foust. Foust leads the team in walks allowed, and after getting one out, walked in one more run. He managed to get the last out on a foul ball for his second save of the season, but not before creating substantially more tension than needed.

This brings me to a problem with the traditionally reliable Nebraska bullpen. In 113 innings of work, they've allowed 79 walks. That's almost seven per nine innings of work, a rate that's far too high for a starter, let alone a relief specialist.

If the Huskers are going to even pretend to compete in the Big 12, they need to have a reliable bullpen. One that puts that many runners on for free isn't going to cut it.

Hopefully the Huskers didn't burn up the pen by using six relievers in the cold on Tuesday night. They take on Wichita State on Wednesday, and then travel to Oklahoma this weekend.

Speaking of the Shockers and travelling, I'll be heading down to Wichita on Wednesday to take in the game. Assuming I can find a coffee shop with free WiFi, and I think I did, I'll have a recap and some photos up after the game. I'm sure corn blight will have a game thread up, and if you're lurking, come on out and leave your $.02 in the pot.

Nebraska takes on Iowa at Haymarket Park at 6:05 p.m. CDT tonight. The Huskers will look to avenge their loss to Iowa in DeLand, Fla. earlier this season -- a game the Huskers led 8-0 before giving up 12 runs to lose.

Neither team has announced a starter as of 2:15 p.m. Though I was mistaken in supposing that Drew Bowman would get the start on Sunday, my best guess is that Husker head coach Mike Anderson will want to save Bowman, who's been pitching well lately, for Wichita State tomorrow. With Anderson, though, you never know. Who would have guessed that he'd start a closer -- Zach Herr -- against Okie State on Sunday? Not I.

Please, anyone who's here, feel free to use this as an open thread for the game. I'll be at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park taking in the action, so I'll be back later with some photos and a recap. I'm going to be heading down to Wichita tomorrow to see the Husker and Shockers square off, and hopefully I'll see some warmer weather. Rainy and 43 degrees isn't the best baseball weather, after all.

Live Stats link

Apparently moving Johnny Dorn from Sunday to Saturday is the key to this team succeeding. Tony Watson threw a brilliant game on Friday, striking out 12 Cowboys and allowing two runs, while Dorn struck out eight with two runs. Matt Foust also struck out four in relief today.

Oklahoma State has won their last eight consecutive Big 12 conference series dating back to last season. They're now on the verge of being swept -- which hasn't happened since exactly one year ago at Baylor.

Keep in mind, Oklahoma State is a team that came into this series at the top of the Big 12, largely due to their excellent offense. The Cowboys were hitting .354 as a team, with six starters over .371 on the season. The Huskers held an offense that had been scoring nearly 10 runs a game to only two. That's very impressive.

Nebraska closes out the series on Easter Sunday at 1:05 p.m. CDT. Andrew Oliver (5-0, 4.85 ERA, 29 K, 29.2 IP), a freshman southpaw, will take the mound for the Cowboys. While Nebraska's starter hasn't been announced, it's likely that Drew Bowman (4-1, 3.82 ERA, 26 K, 33.0 IP) will get the ball.

Nebraska will go for their first Big 12 sweep since beating Texas Tech in three games at the end of last April.

The Huskers come home to Haymarket Park as an unranked team that's just barely treading enough water to keep from drowning. After finally winning a Friday game, the Big Red fell apart in College Station, losing another Big 12 series, this time at the hands of the Aggies. Texas A&M is a fine team, but that's a series Nebraska could have taken.

Oklahoma State comes into Lincoln as the top team in the Big 12 with a 5-1 league record. Nebraska, on the other hand, limps home in 8th place with a 3-6 mark in the league.

The Huskers have a very thin pitching staff -- carrying the worst team ERA since 1999 -- with a rotation that disappears after Tony Watson and Drew Bowman, and a bullpen that has perhaps three effective pitchers: Thad Weber, Matt Foust and Steve Edlefsen.

On the offensive side of things, it's perhaps more bleak. Jeff Tezak is blazing the way with an average over .400, and Mitch Abeita is hitting .333 in conference games. Craig Corriston is second on the team with 19 total bases and a .341 average in Big 12 play. That's about it for the Husker hitters.

Jake Opitz, Andrew Brown and Thad Weber -- three of the Huskers' offensive cornerstones in the first three weeks of play -- are hitting a combined .221 in conference games. As a team, Nebraska has a .282 average, .384 on-base-percentage and .411 slugging. Keep in mind that the average for the NCAA last year was .292/.361/.420...

All is not doom and gloom, though. Tony Watson has pitched very well as of late, and the Husker bats came awake in a 12-10 midweek romp over Creighton. The Huskers have a very high winning percentage at home in Lincoln, and may have a cold-weather advantage over Oklahoma State. It's forecasted to be  between 35 and 45 degrees with winds around 20 mph every day from Friday to Sunday.

Probable Starters
Fri. 2:05 p.m. CDT
NU-Tony Watson, Jr., LHP (2-1, 3.63 ERA, 34 K, 39.2 IP)
OSU-Oliver Odle, Sr., RHP (4-2, 4.50 ERA, 32 K, 42 IP)
Sat. 2:05 p.m. CDT
NU-Johnny Dorn, Jr., RHP (4-1, 4.58 ERA, 26 K, 35.1 IP)
OSU-TBA
Sun. 1:05 p.m. CDT
NU-TBA  
OSU-Andrew Oliver, Fr., LHP (5-0, 4.85 ERA, 29 K, 29.2 IP)

Note that Johnny Dorn has been moved from Sunday to Saturday. My guess is that Drew Bowman takes over the Sunday starter's spot after pitching well in midweek series. Charlie Shirek will probably take over Bowman's vacated midweek role as he works out his problems.

Broadcasts
Radio: Husker Sports Network / Huskers.com
TV: Saturday's Game - NET (12), NET-HD (112)
Web: Live Stats

For those outside the state, CSTV will rebroadcast Saturday's game on April 10th at 3:30 p.m.

Finally, after six weeks of poring over nearly meaningless statistics and scrutinizing non-roster invitees' upside, we can get down to some real baseball. It's that magical day when everyone is in first place (ESPN's "Opening Night" game notwithstanding...), and even Royals, Orioles and Nationals fans are optimistic about their team's chances.

It's Opening Day -- which in my book should be a mandatory paid vacation and/or federal holiday.

As is my wont, I wondered who -- over the course of years and years of baseball being played on the first Monday in April -- has had the best beginning to their season.

On Opening Day in 1940, Bob Feller famously tossed the first and only no-hitter to begin a season. In the retrosheet era (1957-present), the highest game score by a pitcher on Opening Day was the 95 posted by the Giants' Bob Veale against the Pirates in 1965. Veale threw a 10-inning shutout, striking out ten while allowing only three hits and a walk.

The all-time Opening Day starts leader, Robin Roberts, also holds the record for most pitches thrown in Game One of the season. In 12 innings, he threw 190 pitches in a forgettable seven run outing. Since 1957, only nine other times has an Opening Day starter thrown 130 or more. Randy Johnson has done it three times, with the most recent coming in 2002 for Arizona. Jack Morris, in his first start after the most famous World Series complete game shutout of all time, threw 144 pitches over nine innings as he moved from one World Series champ (Minnesota) to another (Toronto).

Opening Day pitchers tend to be the staff ace, so it's no surprise that no less than 40 pitchers have struck out at least 10 batters in the first start of the season. The leader is Washington's Camilo Pascual, who K'd 15 Red Sox on April 18, 1960. Randy Johnson and Don Drysdale are tied for second with 14, with Drysdale's 1960 performance matched twice by the Big Unit, in 1993 and 1996.

Greg Maddux and Jimmy Key share the record for most consecutive wins by their team on Opening Day. The Cubs and Braves won seven Opening Day games from 1992-2000 with Maddux on the mound, while the Blue Jays, Yankees and Orioles won all seven games that Key started for them. On the flip side, Phil Niekro had horrible luck as the Opening Day man, as the Braves and Yankees lost all seven Opening Day starts they gave him between 1972 and 1985.

It's not all pitching brilliance on the first day of the season, though. There have been quite a few hitting displays put on against supposed "aces".

Most of you will recall Opening Day 2005, when Detroit's Dmitri Young mashed three homers to begin the year. He tied the MLB record held by the mercurial George Bell (1988) and Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes (1994). Just last year, Albert Pujols and Chris Shelton came one homer away by hitting two dingers apiece on April 4.

Todd Hundley and Gary Carter share more than the distinction of being notable Mets catchers. They each hit a home run on Opening Day for four straight years. Carter did it from 1977-1980, when he was with Montreal, while Hundley accomplished in New York from 1994-1997. Mike Piazza, sadly, could only manage two years in a row, in 2000 and 2001.

Since 1957, only four players have collected 5 hits on Opening Day, and only one has gone 5-for-5. Oddly enough, all were second-sackers. In 1959, Nellie Fox went 5-for-7. In 1998, Jeff Kent also went 5-for-7. In 2001, Craig Biggio went a perfect 5-for-5. Most recently, in 2005, Aaron Miles smacked three doubles on his way to a 5-for-6 afternoon.

In the retrosheet era, no one has had an Opening Day cycle, but Don Baylor came closest. In 1974, Baylor hit two doubles, a triple and a home run for the Orioles. As usual, the triple kept most of the candidates from recording the cycle. Interestingly, no one has hit more than one triple on Opening day for at least 50 years.

Of course, any self respecting list of single-game tallies wouldn't be complete without including the  worst days at the plate. There have been 19 Golden Sombreros (4 Ks) bestowed on unlucky hitters since 1957, with one upgraded Platinum Sombrero (5 Ks). In 1996, Ron Karkovice struck out five times for the White Sox on his way to 93 strikouts in 355 at-bats for a .220 average. Most recently, Prince Fielder donned the Golden Sombrero last April 4, striking out four times against the Pirates. He went down to Oliver Perez three times before being granted his shameful headgear by Matt Capps. Mercifully, there are no two-time recipients of the uncoveted Opening Day sombrero.

Ted Williams famously had at least one hit in every Opening Day he played in. Since 1957, the record for most Opening Days in a row with at least one base-knock is 14, shared by Davey Concepcion (1974-1988) and Will Clark (1986-2000). Frank Thomas (12), Bobby Abreu (10) and Omar Vizquel (10) all have active streaks within striking distance.

Now that you all have some more trivia to amaze your friends with, get out there and watch some games. Enjoy this, the Baseball Holiday.

After taking two midweek games from Northern Colorado -- by margins closer than I would have liked -- Nebraska resumes Big 12 play on Friday.

The Northern Colorado series was marked by strong pitching and indifferent offense. Ryan Wehrle and Bryce Nimmo both pulled their averages safely above the Mendoza line, but are still far from ideal.

Jeff Tezak (1.066 OPS) and Craig Corriston (.971 OPS) continued to be the driving force behind the hot-and-cold Husker offense. DJ Belfonte is doing an excellent job setting the table with 27 walks and hit-by-pitches to inflate his on-base to .485, while 2B Jake Opitz is showing surprising power with a .573 SLG, including a team-high 12 extra-base hits.

This weekend, Nebraska heads down south to take on Rob Childress and the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies. After leaving Nebraska in 2005, Childress has taken a mediocre A&M team to the top end of the Big 12. Led by two of the top four Big 12 batting average leaders and three of the top eight ERA leaders, the Aggies look to bounce back from a series loss to Oklahoma.

Nebraska is coming off of a three-game win streak, though they dropped their last Big 12 series at home to Missouri. Nebraska is 4-11 all-time in College Station, though they've gone 4-5 in their last three series against the Aggies.

The games will all be broadcast on the Husker Sports Network and on Huskers.com, while Friday's game will be televised in Omaha and Lincoln. In Omaha, the game is on Cox ch. 2, while in Lincoln you have to have digital cable to see ch. 102 on TimeWarner.

-- - --

Friday - 6:30 p.m. CDT
Nebraska at Texas A&M
SP- Watson, 1-1, 3.31, 26:14 SO:BB

Saturday - 2:00 p.m. CDT
Nebraska at Texas A&M
SP- Shirek, 2-2, 4.65, 21:10 SO:BB

Sunday - 1:00 p.m. CDT
Nebraska at Texas A&M
SP- Dorn, 4-1, 4.58, 26:9 SO:BB

[Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations/Huskers.com]

Pardon the title pun after such a windy win on Sunday, but I can't help myself. The wind whipping across the Nebraska plains seemed to have woken up the dormant offense as the Huskers scored 12 (!) runs in the bottom of the sixth inning en route to a 16-1 seven inning destruction of Mizzou. Of course, the Tigers still took the series by winning the first two games, and Nebraska is still near the cellar of the Big 12 with their worst start since 1997... but for now, I'm happy again.

Well, for the most part... I'm still annoyed with the way Mike Anderson has been handling his in-game strategies this year. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a great manager when it comes to teaching these kids on the field and off, but I'm not enthralled with his bullpen management or his predilection for bunting virtually anytime there's a leadoff runner. Lately, though, he's been leaving pitchers in for too long.

This series against Missouri is a great example of what I mean. In the first game, he left Tony Watson in for 130 pitches though he seemed to tire, and then when he did pull him, he had a slow hook when Herr and Bird struggled to get outs. Saturday, he let Charlie Shirek throw 110 pitches through 5.0 innings. There's nothing wrong with 110 pitches, but when you're averaging 22 per inning, you're not being effective or efficient. Shirek was getting smacked around to the tune of 13 baserunners in those five innings.

Even today, when Dorn was pitching well, he probably should have lifted him for the seventh. Why? The game was well in hand, and Dorn had just sat on the bench for a long time while the 'Skers nearly batted around twice. That's the perfect time to put Herr or Bird back in there, and help them regain their confidence. Instead, he throws out Dorn, who -- even though he struck out yet another Tiger -- was still cold off the bench. Considering his history of arm problems, I'm not a fan of that move.

It's still a win, though, and the 3-for-3 and 2-for-4 days by Bryce Nimmo and Ryan Wehrle, respectively, are encouraging. I'd be sorely remiss if I didn't mention Andrew Brown, though. The Texas slugger hit a school-record three doubles, and also lofted a homer into the left-field berm. For those of you keeping track of that at home, his 4-for-5 extra-base performance left him with 10 total bases on the day, and lifted his team-leading Slugging percentage to a meaty .583, tying him with Jeff Tezak's .583 mark. The best part of the boxscore, though? No Husker struck out. For a team that's averaging over six per game, that's bodes well.

Coming up next on the docket is Mike Anderson's alma mater, Northern Colorado. The Huskers take on the Bears on Tuesday and Wednesday, and look to get back to their winning ways.

Tony Watson threw 130 pitches over ten innings (!), gave up three hits, one run, three walks and struck out seven. He also threw to first about twenty times in the ninth inning, after he had already showed signs of tiring by letting his back leg lag in the follow-through.

With just five pitches in the 11th inning, Zach Herr set the table for the Tigers to break out of a 1-1 tie. Erik Bird came into the game with the bases loaded and none out, and quickly retired two hitters. The third, though, was the killer.

A hot shot past a diving Andrew Brown at first base scored two runs, and the game was all but over. Two more crossed the plate before the final out was recorded in the top of the inning, but considering the Huskers now faced a four-run deficit and had only recorded five hits to that point in the game... it was over.

If nothing else, Mike Anderson once again showed the world that he loves the bunt play more than anything else in baseball. At one point, with runners at the corners and one out, he chose to try a suicide squeeze to get the run home, instead of opting for the higher percentage play of a sac fly. Of course, the Huskers came away with no runs.

Twice more, in the bottom of the ninth and tenth innings, Anderson was given a leadoff baserunner and immediately gave up an out to advance the runner to second. While this is generally a sound strategy in the ninth inning, as one run would have won the game, Anderson ignored the fact that the player he was ordering to give himself up was one of his best hitters -- Andrew Brown.

The sac play in the tenth inning made even less sense. Mitch Abeita, who's tied for third on the team in doubles even though he has only 27 at-bats, gave himself up to get a runner in scoring position for... Bryce Nimmo. It's been about a year since Nimmo was a decent hitter, and relying on a .211 pure singles hitter to score a man from second is bordering on crazy. Mike Anderson has stuck with Nimmo in the lineup for far too long. Why he wouldn't at least sub in a pinch hitter such as Thad Weber or Jeff Lanning is beyond me.

Overall, the game was filled with errors on the field, and errors by the manager. Instead of bringing in the effective reliever he already had warm in the bullpen, Anderson brought in the arguably the two least effective relievers he had. Extra innings of a close conference game is not the time to regain confidence and figure out why these pitchers aren't doing well. That's why Nebraska plays Wayne State and Western Illinois and the like.

Poll

How will this team respond to the challeges of Big 12 play?

9%

Disappoint, and finish in the bottom three of the league

2 votes

61%

Bounce back and take two of three from most schools

13 votes

28%

Play about .500 ball

6 votes

21 votes | Poll has closed

Many apologies to the people who look forward to reading what I have to write about the Husker baseballers. I'm sure both of them were disappointed to see the lack of posts from me in the past week. I'm still in the great southwest, roaming around spring training and soaking up the sun while I watch baseball game after baseball game.

The only problem is, I often only have a short opportunity to access the internet and write. I'm ashamed to say that I've pushed Husker baseball to the back burner, in favor of my work covering former Husker Alex Gordon for the Lincoln Journal-Star and the endless writing about my team, the Oakland A's (the current employer of former Huskers Dan Johnson and Shane Komine).

In any case, I'm back. I'll return home to the wonderful state of Nebraska later this week, and bring you more coverage of the Huskers than you're ready for. Really, your head will spin. Schedule your appointment with the chiropractor now, your neck will thank you.

-- - --

After the Huskers laid an egg for the first time in eight score games by getting blanked at Alabama, they charged back to take the last two games, and the series. I couldn't be more proud of the boys in scarlet and cream. There are a lot of teams out there that would have been so deflated by getting smoked on the road that they would have laid down and died for the series. Alabama is a good team, and I'll be happy with taking two of three in Tuscaloosa any time.

The Huskers opened Big 12 play on Thursday, dropping the first game 6-7 to a quality Texas Tech team in extra innings. Nebraska starting pitching continued to falter, with top man Tony Watson giving up four earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched, raising his ERA to 4.76 on the young season.

Steve Edlefsen, Craig Corriston and Andy Gerch each knocked two hits for Nebraska. Corriston raised his average to .350 -- the only Husker regular over .300, unless you include Jeff Tezak's .441 over 34 at-bats. Edlefsen, in addition to hitting his first double of the season, pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief, the most effective pitching performance of the day. The excellent outing lowered his ERA to 1.86 on the season.

-- - --

I'll be back with a recap after Saturday's series final, and then you can expect me to be around regularly until the end of the season, so be sure to check back for the latest on the Husker baseball team.

Hey all, I just wanted to let you know that I have some pictures and a story posted at Catfish Stew, from Duchscherer's video game challenge that happened last night at Gordon Biersch in Tempe.

http://catfishstew.baseballtoaster.c...

I saw str8arrow there, and I'm sure there were a couple other ANers attending, but I didn't run across them.

Here are a couple bonus pictures just for you, AN:

Nebraska heads off to play Alabama today, for their last series before Big 12 play begins. The Huskers swept three games from the Crimson Tide last season in Lincoln, and look to get back to their winning ways after dropping two of three games in Florida last weekend.

Alabama comes into the series having dropped their last two games, to Southern Miss and Tennessee Tech. Fellow SBnation blog Roll Bama Roll has a preview of tonight's game up now.

There are some questions about the pitching staff for Alabama, which the Husker's offense should be able to take advantage of. Team batting leader Thad Weber returns to action after missing the Stetson invite due to personal reasons. Jake Opitz is on fire after hitting two home runs last weekend, and Bryce Nimmo's terrible bat will be replaced by DJ Belfonte's team leading on-base percentage.

The games will be broadcast on the Husker Sports Network, so tune in your radios to your local affiliate tonight at 6:30 p.m. central time. If you're out of state, you can tune in to the free webcast on Huskers.com, and keep up with the live stats also.

Friday March 9th - 6:30 p.m. CST
Nebraska - Tony Watson (1-0, 2.25 ERA)
Alabama - Miers Quigley (2-0, 1.48 ERA)

Saturday March 10th - 4:00 p.m. CST
Nebraska - Charlie Shirek (1-2, 5.93 ERA)
Alabama - Casey Kebodeaux (2-1, 1.42 ERA)

Sunday March 11th - 11:00 a.m. CDT
Nebraska - Johnny Dorn (2-1, 4.26 ERA)
Alabama - Bernard Robert (2-0, 1.80 ERA)

First off, my apologies for the short length and late posting of this recap. I'm on the road, heading towards Arizona for Spring Training. Internet access is spotty at best, but I'll do what I can.

---

After being delayed for two days by snow and then rain, the Huskers finally played their first game of the Stetson Invite in DeLand, Florida on Sunday morning.

The first game was against Missouri river rival Iowa. Tony Watson was the only Husker pitcher to have anywhere near a good day, tossing six innings while only giving up three hits, a walk and two runs. Watson struck out five Hawkeyes in his appearance, and left with an 8-2 lead.

After that, well... I'll let Mike Anderson tell you:

"Tony was our competitive person. After Tony, I don’t think we performed well and we didn’t pitch well. We will have to get better in those areas."

Nebraska gave up 10 runs in the seventh and eighth innings, including Erik Bird getting lit up for three runs and only getting two outs.

In the second game, against Notre Dame, it was obvious that Nebraska was still feeling the effects of the late-game beating.

The Huskers spotted the Irish a 5-0 lead in the first inning, but charged back to tie it in the third. Notre Dame unleashed a crooked number in the sixth, scoring seven runs to put the game out of reach.

The second game's starter, Drew Bowman, faced six batters, gave up four hits, a walk and five runs. Charlie Shirek came in and pitched well until things fell apart in the sixth, though.

The big news of the day was a collision in center field between Husker center fielder Bryce Nimmo and right fielder DJ Belfonte. Nimmo laid on the ground for several minutes before being carted off the field. He was diagnosed with a concussion and an injury to his shoulder. He'll be out for several weeks.

Earlier this season, I would have been fine with Nimmo being out of the lineup (but not by injury, of course) since his bat was about as lively as a fungo. Of course, Nimmo was injured after he breaks his walk-less at-bat streak with not one, but two bases-on-balls in the first game. Nimmo's line still sits at .200 average, .273 on-base percentage, and .200 slugging in 30 at-bats. That's horrendous.

Nimmo's replacement will be DJ Belfonte, who isn't quite the defender that Nimmo was, but he's still very much above average. Belfonte can hit, though. His AVG/OBP/SLG line is .333/.576/.429. That's much, much better than Nimmo. Belfonte leads the team with 9 walks and 3 hit-by-pitches, leading to that inflated on-base percentage.

---

The Huskers finish up their trip to Florida by taking on host school Stetson on Monday at 11:00 a.m. central time. Johnny Dorn will pitch for Nebraska as the Huskers try to avoid falling to 5-5 on the season. The game can be heard for free through Huskers.com, where you can also keep up with the live stats.

Poll

Where do the Huskers belong in the polls after this weekend's action?

0%

6-10

0 votes

5%

11-15

1 votes

23%

16-20

4 votes

29%

21-25

5 votes

11%

26-30

2 votes

11%

30+

2 votes

17%

1-5

3 votes

17 votes | Poll has closed

[UPDATE: Thu. 3/1 9:00 p.m. CST] Nebraska is snowed in, and can't leave until Friday morning. They've changed their schedule, and now will play Notre Dame on Saturday, Iowa on Sunday and Stetson on Monday. Tony Watson will now face the Irish, Drew Bowman will face the Hawkeyes, and Johnny Dorn will take on Stetson.

-- - --

Nebraska travels to the state of Florida for the first time in Husker baseball history tomorrow. They'll take on Iowa in the Friday game, and then play Notre Dame and host Stetson on Saturday.

The venue that the tournament is hosted at is eight-year old Melching Field, one of the top 30 or so college ballparks in the country. Melching consistently draws fans, averaging over 50,000 a year. That may sound like small potatoes compared to the 122,000 that Nebraska drew last year, but the Huskers ranked 5th in the NCAA in attendance in 2006.

Melching Field in DeLand, Fla.

A tornado hit DeLand back on Feb. 2nd, destroying hundreds of homes. The only damage to the university was an athletics department storage shed.

-- - --

Friday, March 2 vs. Iowa (1-1) 12 p.m.

Nebraska - Tony Watson, Jr., LHP (1-0, 1.50 ERA, 4K, 6.0 IP)
Iowa - Steve Turnbull, So., RHP (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 4 K, 4 IP)

Saturday, March 3 vs. Notre Dame (2-4) 2 p.m.

Nebraska - Drew Bowman, So., LHP (1-0, 3.00 ERA, 7 K, 9.0 IP)
Notre Dame - Wade Korpi, Jr., LHP (1-1, 3.72 ERA, 8 K, 9.2 IP)

Saturday, March 3 at Stetson (9-3) 6 p.m.

Nebraska - Johnny Dorn, Jr., RHP (1-1, 5.73 ERA, 9 K, 11.0 IP)
Stetson - Chris Ingoglia, Sr., LHP (1-1, 3.29 ERA, 15 K, 16.2 IP)

-- - --

Charlie Shirek has at least temporarily lost his rotation spot after the implosion at Rice. To be fair, the disaster in the bottom of the fourth inning wasn't his fault. Shirek hasn't pitched well so far this season, though, giving up 4 walks to 3 strikeouts, and allowing 15 hits in 8.0 innings.

With Tony Watson, Mike Harmelink and Andrew Brown all off of suspension for the first time this season, this might look more like the team we've been expecting. Knock on wood, but none of the teams Nebraska will face this weekend are up to par with the competition that the Huskers faced at the Rice Invite.

I'll be back with a full preview for Iowa before the game tomorrow, and previews for Notre Dame and Stetson on Saturday. Until then, enjoy your midwestern blizzard. I know I am.

With Spring Training games beginning this week, the first stats of 2007 will start to roll in soon. How much should weight should we give to these numbers, though? Major league pitchers will be facing raw AA level talent, and top-level hitters will face pitchers with no MLB experience and very little "stuff". The inconsistency of talent in the lineups is quite significant.

Every year you'll hear a few managers insist that the performance of players in March won't win them a job. You'll also hear a few proclaim that the competition for a roster spot will depend on who performs in the spring. Who is right here, and who'd wrong? I think I can at least shed a little light on the subject.

I'm far from the first person to consider this question. Joe Sheehan summed it up fairly well in a Baseball Prospectus article from 2003. He concluded that stats in March are largely meaningless. You could break it down and see the quality of players that a specific pitcher or hitter faced, which would give some legitimacy to the stats, but you're still looking at rough numbers. But to what level should we disregard the stats from March?

If we can't trust the numbers at face value, can we at least trust them to serve as barometers of early season trends? Will a player who's hitting hot in March carry that through to April? Will a slumping hitter continue to slump once the season begins?

I took a look at all players who got at least 50 at-bats in Spring Training of March 2006 and accumulated another 50 in the regular season's first month of April. My list was 135 players long.

After comparing the stats from March with how each player began the year in April, I reached a couple of conclusions:

- One, that was more time-consuming than I anticipated.

- Two, Google Docs is very, very handy.

- Three, there seems to be a very small correlation between performance in March carrying through to April. It's so small, it's almost not real.

If you'd like a look at the numbers, here's a link to the Google Spreadsheet.

For the more visually inclined, here's a chart of the differences between AVG, OBP and SLG between March and April of 2006. The total at-bats in March and April increase from left to right, to help spread out the data so you can see the grouping.

I should probably provide some numbers, too, like correlation coefficients. Here they are:

Average R = -0.04667

On-Base R = 0.1308

Slugging R = 0.1513

OPS R = 0.1235

As you can see, that's not a very convincing case that players who hit well in March will stay hot, or those that start cold will stay cold.

For every Robinson Cano, who hit .326/.359/.465 in March and .330/.350/.450 in April, there are ten players like Bobby Crosby, who hit .277/.360/.492 and then .220/.260/.320 the next month.

I'd encourage you to go check out the spreadsheet I linked above. There are some interesting cases, like Casey Kotchman, Rondell White, and Ben Broussard, where their Spring Training was absolutely nothing like their April.

If you're not yet convinced that Spring Training statistics have little, if anything, to do with how a player is going to hit in the regular season, take this into consideration: Last March, Doug Mientkiewicz slugged .627. To quote Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

But, this is just my opinion. What do you think?

---

Credit where credit's due: Without David Pinto's wonderful Day-by-day Database, this wouldn't have seen the light of day.

Florida Atlantic comes into today's game with just one loss on the young season -- a walk-off defeat at the hands of Joe Savery and Rice. The FAU Owls are ranked No. 27, and though they were picked behind Troy, Louisiana-Lafayette and Southern Alabama in the pre-season poll, the Owls are the top-ranked team in the Sun Belt Conference. They've already posted a big win over Oklahoma State and nearly knocked off Rice.

After Nebraska's demoralizing disintegration against Rice, there's a good chance that the infamous "hangover effect" could be in play today. How well the Huskers bounce back against FAU will be telling. This is a team that has enough talent to win, but there's some questions about whether it can be pulled together.

Nebraska record: (4-2, 0-0 Big 12)
Florida Atlantic record: (10-1, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Game Time: 12 p.m. CST
TV/Radio: none
Webcasts: Huskers.com Live Stats

Probable Pitchers

Nebraska: Johnny Dorn, Jr., RHP (0-1, 1.80 ERA, 4 K, 5.0 IP)
Florida Atlantic: Brandon Cooney, Sr., RHP (2-0, 4.67 ERA, 20 K, 17.1 IP)

FAU Overview

While Florida Atlantic's strength is arguably their offense (12.1 runs/game), they're not a poor pitching team. The entire team is averaging over 11 strikeouts a game, while putting up an ERA of 4.65. Brandon Cooney fits right in with that trend, striking out 1 of every 4 batters he faces.

The main offensive weapons for the Owls are Daniel Bomback (.435/.542/.739, 4 HR) and William Block (.404/.500/.766, 4 HR), but the Owls have many good hitters. Seven of the nine starters are hitting at least .350 avg, .469 obp, and .600 slg.

Last Game

FAU scored eight runs in the last three innings to come back from a 12-5 deficit. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, the game was won on a dramatic walk-off... balk? That kind of thing doesn't happen that often.

Nebraska scored took a 5-0 lead after just two innings for the second time in as many days, but couldn't hold on against Rice as they had against TAMU-CC. Going into the bottom of the 4th inning, Charlie Shirek had a five-run cushion and had been pitching well. He gave up three straight hits to open the inning as Rice got on the board for the first time. Then, things really fell apart.

From the (horrible) play-by-play:

• Savery advanced to third on a passed ball; Seastrunk scored
• Luna walked
• Buenger reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; Luna advanced to third on a throwing error by 1b; Savery scored, unearned
• Gayhart struck out swinging
• Lembeck reached on a fielder's choice; Buenger advanced to second
• Lembeck advanced to second on a wild pitch; Buenger advanced to third; Luna scored, unearned
• Lehmann lined out to 2b
• Henley walked
• Friday hit by pitch, RBI; Henley advanced to second; Lembeck advanced to third; Buenger scored, unearned
• Jennings, D. to p for Shirek, C.
• Friday advanced to second on a wild pitch; Henley advanced to third; Lembeck scored, unearned

That's five runs scored on wild pitches, botched fielders choice plays, errors, passed balls, a hit-by-pitch, and general chaos. Ugh.

Fun Fact

Tomorrow, Florida Atlantic takes on the St. Louis Cardinals. Yes, you read that right, the defending World Series champions. It's an college/pro exhibition game, which is something that can only happen in baseball. Interestingly enough, Sunday's starter for the Owls, Brandon Cooney, was drafted in the 20th round last summer by -- you guessed it -- the Cardinals.

Next Game

The Huskers will travel to Florida next weekend to participate in the Stetson Invite. They'll play Iowa, Notre Dame and Stetson. As usual, you can expect a preview from me around Wednesday or Thursday.

My apologies for the abbreviated preview of today's big Rice vs. Nebraska game, but I'm back home in Elkhorn, Neb. helping my dad handle the calving in this snowstorm.

For the first time this year, you'll be able to listen to a live Nebraska game, as Rice has a webcast of their radio call available.

Nebraska record: (4-1, 0-0 Big 12)
Rice record: (7-4, 0-0 Conference USA)
Game Time: 1 p.m. CST
TV/Radio: Rice radio feed
Webcasts: Huskers.com Live Stats

Projected Starters

Nebraska: Charlie Shirek, Soph. RHP (1-0, 5.06 ERA, 2 K, 5.1 IP)
Rice: Ryan Berry, Fresh. RHP (2-0, 1.08 ERA, 17 K, 16.2 IP)

Preview

This is a big match-up for both teams. Rice and Nebraska are both ranked in the top 10 of at least one poll, and this game has become an early-season tradition over the past decade. Rice has won most of the previous clashes, with the only Husker win coming in 2005.

Last Game

Nebraska dominated the Islanders of TAMU-CC, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after two innings. Drew Bowman had a good start for the Huskers, allowing seven hits and one run over 6.0 innings, with three strikeouts and no walks. A pair of two-way players finished the game for Nebraska, as Steve Edlefsen tossed a perfect seventh innings before Thad Weber moved from the DH spot to the mound. Weber struck out three in the eighth and ninth, and allowed one hit.

Rice's game yesterday was much more interesting. In the ninth inning, tied at 2 with Florida Atlantic, Joe Savery hit his first home run of the season -- a walk-off shot to win the game.

To kick off their annual trip to the Rice Invitational, the Huskers take on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Friday. This is the eighth time in the last nine years that Nebraska has participated in the Rice Invite in Houston.

Nebraska record: (3-1, 0-0 Big 12)
TAMU-CC record: (9-1, 0-0 Southland)
Game Time: 1 p.m. CST
TV/Radio: none
Webcasts: Huskers.com Live Stats

Projected Starters

TAMU-CC will start Houston native Will Norman. The senior southpaw put up a 70:27 SO:BB ratio over 81.0 innings last season, with a 4.33 ERA. The official athletic department site can't help but cherry-pick his stats, though, pointing out that his "ERA drops to 3.33 if take away rough outing in first start where he allowed nine earned runs in just over two innings". Ignoring the odd grammar, it reminds me of an old saying my grandpa's fond of: "Sure, and if a frog had longer legs, his ass wouldn't drag on the ground."

Tony Watson was slated to start Friday's game, but due to his suspension, Drew Bowman will take his place. Bowman was on the Arizona State team that faced the Islanders last season, but he didn't pitch in the 10-2 ASU victory.

Bowman has only pitched three innings this season, but here's his out-type breakdown anyway:

Not much to see yet in terms of trends, but down the line, I think you'll appreciate this info, and find it to be insightful. At least that's the idea...

Offensive Breakdown

While Nebraska's offense isn't rolling quite yet, TAMU-CC is running on all cylinders. Last week, against Grambling State, the Islanders scored 19 runs in the first game, and 24 in the last. Even if you take those two games away, they're averaging 8.63 runs per game. However, they've yet to face a pitching staff that can hold a candle to Nebraska. Even if Watson isn't pitching, Drew Bowman has shown an ability to overpower hitters, and could impress in his Husker debut as a starter.

Top Opponent Players

Jason Graham, Chris Widner and Martin Parra are all hitting over .430, while Chase Wheaton is leading the team with three homers while hitting only .326. Starting pitcher Emerson Trager has yet to allow a run in 21.0 innings pitched, but Nebraska is highly unlikely to see him.

Three Amusing Facts

• The Islanders get their nickname from the fact that the TAMU-CC campus is entirely located on its own island in Corpus Christi Bay. They're one of two universities in the nation that can claim that fact, with the other being sister university TAMU-Galveston.

• This may be a matter of personal opinion, but the Islander jerseys remind me of what those guys who take your softball beer league too seriously might dig out of their closet. They're what I'd call the 1978 beach baseball look.

• TAMU-CC is home to the Conrad Blucher Institute, where the brightest young minds in the field of surveying can learn to measure hills and so on. No word on whether mention of the Blucher Institute causes horses to whinny.

For the second time already this season, a Nebraska player has been suspended. Last week it was Andrew Brown, and this week it's All-American starter Tony Watson and reliever Mike Harmelink.

They've been suspended for unspecified violations of team rules that occurred early Thursday morning. They won't make the trip to Houston for the Rice Invitational.

[UPDATE - Saturday 2/24] According to the Lincoln Journal-Star's Curt McKeever, "Harmelink was cited for driving while intoxicated. Watson was a passenger in the vehicle."

Husker head coach Mike Anderson had this to say:

Drew Bowman will take Watson's starting slot on Friday, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Andrew Brown, who was suspended for the UTA invota last week, and did not travel with the team, will return for this weekend's action.

Hopefully this will send a message to the rest of the team. If one of your top hitters being suspended the first week didn't keep you in line, perhaps the suspension of Nebraska's All-American pitcher will get the message across.

Nebraska comes into the second weekend of the season having already uncovered a quality 4th starter (Matt Foust), a third-baseman who can hit (Craig Corriston), and a closer that can get out of jams (Erik Bird). Tony Watson and Johnny Dorn pitched as well we'd hoped, while Charlie Shirek has shown good potential. The Huskers were rusty on defense, as should be expected after spending 39-of-39 practices indoors, but should be ready to go by Friday. There should be fewer than eight errors this weekend.

Here's a quick overview of the teams that the Huskers will be taking on in Houston. I'll have in-depth previews of each team on the morning that the Huskers are slated to play them, with recaps to follow.

-----

Friday, 1 p.m. - Nebraska vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Projected Starters
Nebraska - Tony Watson (1-0, 1.50 ERA)
TA&M-CC - Will Norman (2-0, 4.58 ERA)

TA&M-CC is 9-1 on the season so far, with the only loss coming in a very close game last week against Texas-Pan American. The Islanders have a very good offense, and have scored 112 runs in 10 games this season.

-----

Saturday, 1 p.m. - Nebraska vs. No. 4 Rice

Projected Starters
Nebraska - Charlie Shirek (1-0, 5.06 ERA)
Rice - Ryan Berry (2-0, 1.08 ERA)

Rice was the consensus No. 1 team in the country for the entire offseason before losing early to Texas State. The Owls then suffered losses to No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 24 Texas A&M and No. 20 Long Beach State. They recovered to win their last three games and improve to 6-4, but they've started slow this season, as is their habit. The much heralded SP/1B Joe Savery is living up to the hype so far as a pitcher, with a 0.90 ERA, but he's hitting only 6-for-35 (.171) on the offensive side.

-----

Sunday, 12 p.m. - Nebraska vs. No. 27 Florida Atlantic

Projected Starters
Nebraska - Johnny Dorn (0-1, 1.80 ERA)
Florida Atlantic - Mike Obradovich (3-0, 6.00 ERA)

FAU is undefeated so far, going 9-0 to open their season. The biggest win for the FAU Owls was a 9-6 victory over Oklahoma State last week. FAU has another powerful offense, racking up 118 runs in nine games, including a 33-3 massacre of Mississippi Valley State. The Owls have only scored less than eight runs once this season, while their pitching staff has allowed three runs or less in four games.

Poll

How many games will the Huskers win at Rice?

2%

1 - A loss to Rice, and a surprise upset

2 votes

3%

0 - I'm not really a Husker fan

3 votes

87%

3 - Rice is overrated

78 votes

6%

2 - OK, the Owls are a very good team

6 votes

89 votes | Poll has closed

My apologies for the delay, I was busy yesterday and couldn't get anything written after Nebraska beat Illinois State 7-3 to take the tournament title and improve to 3-1 on the season.

Here are my thoughts following the Illinois State game, and the end of the invitational:

• Matt Foust had a very good start, pitching five innings of one-run ball. He gave up four hits, struck out three, and walked just one. He did it in a fairly economical 72 pitches -- 14.4 per inning. Encouraging is the fact that he posted an 8:3 groundball-to-flyball out ratio.
• How about Andy Gerch? The Lincoln Pius X graduate raised his season average to .412 by going 5-for-5 against the Redbirds. All five hits were singles, but it's nice to see Gerch get rolling.
• I expected Drew Bowman to pitch yesterday, but I was wrong about his role. He didn't start, but threw two innings of relief. He gave up the only two extra base hits of the game, and had to throw 54 pitches to get six outs. The Arizona State transfer seems to be repeating last season's underwhelming effort where he posted a 6.08 ERA. He's got a good arm and a good slider, though, so he should be able to rebound and post better numbers for the Huskers.
• Here's something to keep an eye on -- which will happen first, Jeff Lanning (12 plate appearances) striking out, or Bryce Nimmo (17 PA) walking? Neither have occurred yet. DJ Belfonte also hasn't struck out, in 15 times coming to the plate. He's walked five times, and been hit by a pitch twice.
• Speaking of getting hit by pitches, the Scarlet & Cream are turning black and blue. Through four games, they've been plunked 10 times. In 59 games in 2006, they were issued 75 free bases on hit-by-pitch calls, or 1.27 per game. I don't think that this year's team can sustain the 2.50 HBP-per-game rate, but it's already helped prop up the on-base-percentage to .405.
• From the esoteric stats dept., Nebraska's batting-average-on-balls-in-play (BABIP), stands at .350, meaning that the team average of .279 is right where it should be. Strikeouts are hurting the Huskers so far, with the SO-per-game for the offense sitting at 7.0, above last season's mark of 5.61 K's per game.

Nebraska's next action comes in the Rice Invitational next weekend. Here's the schedule:

	Feb. 23	NU vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	1 p.m. CST
	Feb. 24	NU vs. Rice	1 p.m. CST
	Feb. 25	NU vs. Florida Atlantic	12 p.m. CST

I'll have a preview coming up on Friday. Also, we're now just two weeks away from the Huskers' home opener against Nebraska-Kearney on March 6th. Unfortunately I'll be unable to attend, since I'll be in Arizona for Spring Training from the 5th to the 20th, but I'll be following the games and writing about the 'skers from Phoenix.

In the third game of the UTA Invite on Saturday, the Huskers defeated Texas-Arlington 5-4, and it was as close as that score would indicate. The Mavericks went to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Southland Conference in 2006, and remain a quality team.

Thankfully for the Big Red, Erik Bird is already filling the shoes of departed closer Brett Jensen.

[Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations]

Bird is quickly gaining the "closer's mentality". After Zach Herr left him a mess in the eighth inning, Bird struck out the last two batters to put the inning to rest. In the ninth, Bird walked the leadoff batter, but induced a ground ball and got the last batter to fly out to left field to end the threat, and the game. Bird already has two saves this season, and at this rate he'll break Brett Jensen's Nebraska record of 16 saves in a season.

Ryan Wehrle got his first hit of the season with a solo home run to lead off the sixth inning. When Wehrle gets rolling, this team will win a lot of games. Jeff Lanning and Thad Weber continued their hot hitting, as each notched three hits and one RBI. With those two, there should be little dropoff from the production that Jeff Christy and Brandon Buckman provided with last season. Watch out for Lanning. He could be a special hitter.

On Saturday, the fielding glove was on the other hand -- if you'll pardon the terrible pun -- as Texas-Arlington was the team that couldn't field a lick. With winds in the 25-35 mph range, the Mavericks committed four errors, helping Nebraska score three crucial runs in the first inning. The Huskers erred once (Wehrle), bringing their season total to seven through three games. All of last season, the Big Red had only 61 errors in 59 games, so this is a pace that needs to slow. It's early, though, this is to be expected.

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Sunday's finale against Illinois State is set to commence at 11:30 a.m. CST. With all the preseason talk from Mike Anderson about Drew Bowman getting a shot at the rotation, I've got to think that he's going to get the ball on Sunday.

While I was wrong about Chris Taylor taking the mound for UTA on Saturday, I feel a lot more confident in projecting the Illinois State starter. Senior Luke Baughman is slated to start the game.

He's a 6-2, 205 lb right-hander that doesn't have overpowering stuff. He posted a 5.25 ERA in 2006, and as far as I can tell, throws a lot of pitches and doesn't get past the 5th or 6th inning often. His career high for strikeouts is only five, which is telling.

The Huskers played the Redbirds last April and racked up 22 runs and 23 hits over two games. Illinois State managed to score 13 runs, though, and much of the offense is back.

I don't like the term "trap game", but this smells like one. Nebraska hasn't been playing particularly well, an untested pitcher will be toeing the rubber for the Big Red, and Illinois State can score runs. Hopefully Mike Anderson can keep the kids' minds in the game on getaway day.

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Nebraska: (2-1, 0-0 Big 12)
Opponent: Illinois State (1-1, 0-0 Missouri Valley)
First pitch: 11:30 a.m.
Media: No TV, no radio, Huskers.com Live Stats, CSTV GameTracker