Around the Horn: Nebraska baseball hosts Illinois State
After three weeks on the road, Nebraska baseball is finally home. Head coach Will Bolt’s squad meets the Redbirds of Illinois State (5-6) for the first weekend series of the season at Haymarket Park.
Here’s what Husker fans need to know about the matchup complete with notes on Illinois State, pitching matchups, what else is going on in the Big Ten this week and much more.
Weekend Starters
Friday, 4:05 p.m.: LHP Emmett Olson (4.32 ERA, 16.2 IP, 15 K, Record: 1-1) vs. RHP Derek Salata (1.72 ERA, 15.2 IP, 22 K, Record: 2-0)
Saturday, 2:05 p.m.: RHP Jace Kaminska (3.18 ERA, 17.0 IP, 11 K, Record: 2-0) vs. RHP Tyrelle Chadwick (8.49 ERA, 11.2 IP, 14 K, Record: 0-1)
Sunday 1:05 p.m.:Â TBD vs. RHP Thomas Harper (8.44 ERA, 5.1 IP, 6 K Record: 0-0)
What to watch for the Huskers
Taking care of business
Nebraska’s 10-game homestand provides a serious opportunity. The Huskers have proven they can compete with and beat the country’s best teams. Now Bolt’s squad needs to handle the lesser opponents on its March slate.
A year ago, Nebraska had a similar schedule.
The Huskers were 4-8 and had a chance to right the ship with 11 games in Nebraska with nine of those 11 at Haymarket Park. At the end of the Month, NU had gone 5-6 in that stretch with losses to UNO and Creighton. One of those losses was a 21-4 drubbing at the hands of Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Arguably, that was the worst loss of the year.
Illinois State, Nicholls State, UNO and Creighton are all teams the Huskers should beat in 2023. Nebraska can seriously stack some wins in March. This time it won’t be to stabilize a season on life support, but rather to build confidence for conference play starting with Illinois on March 24.
Historic power
Nebraska has a chance to set a new program record on Friday.
The Huskers can become the first team since 1999 to homer in 12 consecutive games. It’s something the 2021 team failed to do going yard in 11 straight contests. Nebraska tied that record Wednesday hitting five blasts on a day that featured temperatures in the mid-30s.
So far this year, the Huskers have hit 24 home runs in total which is a mark that the 2022 squad took 36 games to achieve. There’s been plenty on how Nebraska’s new lineup stacks up to last year’s, but how do they compare to the 2021 group that won the Big Ten crown?
The Huskers passed 24 homers in 17 games two years ago. Nebraska’s current squad is five games ahead there. In extra-base hits, the 2023 team has totaled 63 in 12 games. The 2021 Huskers crossed that mark in game 21.
Safe to say that Nebraska is bringing the heat at the plate.
The weather
This is a typical baseball conversation during March in the Midwest. The forecast has included rain, snow, sleet, sunny skies and a range of relatively low temperatures as it fluctuated throughout the week.
As of Thursday afternoon, Lincoln is projected to see plenty of cloud cover on Friday, some precipitation on Saturday and rays of sun plus high winds for Sunday. The high temperatures for all three days do not surpass the mid-40s.
Doubtless, this is something to keep an eye on throughout the weekend.
Nebraska baseball notes
***The Husker connections don’t stop with Northern Colorado head coach Mike Anderson. Illinois State’s R.D. Spiehs is a former Nebraska pitcher with a 21-6 college record. The Redbird pitching coach is eighth in all-time career wins as a Husker and is a former teammate of Bolt.
***Shay Schanaman tallied three strikeouts last weekend and is five strikeouts away from tying Zach Kroenke for 10th-best in program history with 196 career strikeouts.
***Max Anderson is No. 7 nationally in batting average (.489) among players with 40 or more at-bats.
Know the foe: Illinois State
***The Huskers are 4-0 in the all-time series with Illinois State.
***In 11 total games, the Redbirds have scored double-digit runs five runs. That hasn’t been the issue. Illinois State has allowed double-digit runs in four games and eight or more runs six times.
***There’s a pretty serious drop-off behind Redbird Friday starter Derek Salata and his 1.72 ERA. Every other pitcher on the roster has an ERA above 4.00 and 12 hurlers have ERAs above 8.00. Eight Illinois State pitchers own double-digit ERAs.
***Player to watch: Daniel Pacella
Pacella was named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball News this past week. The freshman hit .300 (6-20) this past week including blasting four home runs. For the year, Pacella is batting .304 with six homers and 15 RBIs in 46 at-bats.
Around the Big Ten
Here are a few Big Ten games to keep tabs on this weekend. Rankings are according to the D1Baseball.com Top 25.
Weekend Series:
No. 23 Iowa (10-1) @ Texas Tech (12-2)
Purdue (8-4) @ No. 4 Ole Miss (11-2)
Illinois (6-4) @ Coastal Carolina (8-4)
Minnesota (2-11) @ West Virginia (7-4)
Michigan State (5-7) Vs. Kansas (7-4)
***Spartans face Western Carolina on Friday. That’s followed by a double header with Kansas on Saturday and another meeting with the Jayhawks on Sunday. All games in Greenville, South Carolina.
Conference Standings
SCHOOL | CONF | PCT | HOME | ROAD | OVERALL | PCT | HOME | ROAD | NEUTRAL | LAST 10 | STREAK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Iowa | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 10-1 | .000 | 2-0 | 1-0 | 7-1 | 9-1 | W7 |
Purdue | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 8-4 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 8-4 | 6-4 | W3 |
Penn State | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 7-4 | .000 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 6-1 | 6-4 | L1 |
Nebraska | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 7-4-1 | .000 | 2-0 | 3-3-1 | 2-1 | 7-2-1 | W2 |
Illinois | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 6-4 | .000 | 0-0 | 4-4 | 2-0 | 6-4 | L1 |
Indiana | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 6-6 | .000 | 3-0 | 2-5 | 1-1 | 6-4 | W1 |
Ohio State | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5-6 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5-6 | 4-6 | W1 |
Maryland | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5-7 | .000 | 2-1 | 3-3 | 0-3 | 4-6 | W1 |
Michigan State | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5-7 | .000 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 2-3 | 3-7 | L3 |
Rutgers | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4-7 | .000 | 1-0 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 4-6 | W1 |
Michigan | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4-8 | .000 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 2-5 | 2-6 | L6 |
Minnesota | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-11 | .000 | 2-8 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 2-8 | W2 |
Northwestern | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-10 | .000 | 0-0 | 0-10 | 0-0 | 0-10 | L10 |
Broadcast Information
TV: BTN+ (Stream online HERE)
Radio: Huskers Radio Network (Radio simulcast found HERE)
Stations: Lincoln (1400 AM), Omaha (590 AM)