UNO & New Mexico State

The Nebraska baseball team (4-8) is set to play their home opener coming up this next week in a series against Omaha (4-9), followed by a series against New Mexico State (8-3). The Huskers were slated to play their first home series against Long Beach State this weekend however, due to the weather, it was canceled. With UNO being in a similar situation, the Big Red scheduled the series against the Mavericks with less than a week’s notice. The series will be a “home-and-home” series where NU will travel to Omaha on Sunday, then the two teams will come to Lincoln to play the second game on Monday.

Last weekend Nebraska started to find some of the production that they had been wanting to see all season. The Huskers won three of the four games in Arlington, Texas, taking both over Northwestern State and splitting games with UT Arlington. The Friday loss was the toughest for NU as they held a 3-0 lead heading into the ninth inning, but let that slip, losing 4-3.

On Tuesday, the Big Red played the first midweek game of the season against Kansas State. Nebraska lost 6-4 after trailing by five at one point in the game. A late comeback was snuffed out by the Wildcats and the Huskers were handed their eighth loss of the season.

Omaha is also coming off a weekend series followed by a midweek game. The Mavericks played Valparaiso three times last weekend, taking just one game. UNO lost the first game 4-2, then followed up with a 9-2 win before falling in the final game 7-5. On Tuesday, the Omaha powerhouses collided as the Mavericks took on Creighton. Omaha won the bout 5-3 after trailing early.

New Mexico State is coming off a four-game series against Prairie View A&M. The Aggies lost the first game 6-7, but bounced back nicely with three straight wins. 32 runs in the final three games of the series led NMSU to a 3-1 series win.

Sunday, 3:00 p.m. @ Omaha: RHP Koty Frank (1-0, 0.60 ERA) vs. RHP Charlie Bell (2-1, 2.81 ERA)

Monday, 1:00 p.m. vs. Omaha: RHP Shay Schanaman (1-2, 3.77 ERA) vs. RHP Mark Timmins (0-1, 7.11 ERA)

Tuesday, 6:35 p.m. vs. NMSU: TBA vs. TBA

Wednesday, 1:35 p.m. vs. NMSU: TBA vs. TBA

***All four games are available on Husker Sports Radio Network, and the NMSU games will also be available to stream on Big Ten Plus.

Limiting mistakes

Errors killed Nebraska in the midweek game against Kansas State. Back-to-back errors that could have ended the inning for the Huskers in the fourth turned into a crooked number. The following inning, another error led to run, and that was all that was needed for KSU to win the game.

NU has a fielding percentage of .969, lower than what they prided themselves on last season. Making the routine plays will be a point of emphasis for the Big Red in these four games.

Freshman Leaders

Two of the best batting averages in the Nebraska lineup are freshmen. Garrett Anglim and Luke Jessen are averaging .412 and .353 respectively. The redshirt freshman, Anglim, has made just eight appearances, but in those, he has recorded seven hits in 17 at-bats. Jessen has 12 hits in 34 at-bats and the two have four RBI this season. Bolt will look to the young guys to add a spark to this lineup.

A chance to get out of the park

The Huskers have struggled to get the ball over the wall. Just four players have hit home runs for NU, and not one of them has done it more than once this season. On Friday coach Bolt talked about the ballparks they have played in, and the conditions they have played in being a factor in that. Coming back home, in a park that they prefer, there is a chance this team finds its pop.

Omaha

***The Mavericks beat No. 21 UCLA in February 9-4 in a single game series.

***RHP Joey Machado has recorded a 1.65 ERA in four appearances and one start. The senior has allowed 18 hits in 16.1 innings.

***Mike Boeve, is averaging .429 from the plate. The sophomore has started all 13 games and has 21 hits.

New Mexico State

***The Aggies will be playing a series at the same time the Huskers are playing Omaha. NMSU lost the first game of the series to Seattle U 13-12 in 13 innings.

***Antillon Gunner is averaging .489 from the batter’s box. He has started all 11 games for New Mexico State.

***In three starts, Ian Mejia has an ERA of 2.84. The redshirt sophomore has pitched 19 innings and allowed 10 runs.