Huskers – Page 53 – North Platte Post Archive

Huskers Clinch Series Against FGCU with 8-2 Win

Posted on March 14, 2015

Lincoln – With over 6,000 fans in the seats at Hawks Field for the second straight day, the Nebraska baseball team (11-6, 0-0 Big Ten) clinched a series win over the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles (8-11-1, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) with an 8-2 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Huskers will go for the sweep tomorrow at 12:05 p.m.

With a series attendance of 12,285 through two games, the mark already ranks fourth among non-conference series crowds at Hawks Field. NU’s series with Alabama in 2006 ranks first with a three-day attendance of 14,885. The Huskers need 2,601 fans tomorrow to break the mark.

Senior Kyle Kubat went 7.0 innings in the win and improved to 3-0 on the year. It was Kubat’s third start this season of at least 7.0 innings this season, and the lefty was efficient in his work as he needed only 10 pitches in an inning four times during the game to retire the Eagles.

Offensively, sophomore Ben Miller led the way with a 3-for-4 performance, while Tanner Lubach was 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Ryan Boldt also notched a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3, after recording three hits in the series opener.

For the fifth straight game the Huskers scored in the first inning, taking a 3-0 lead on Lubach’s three-run home run, his second of the season. Jake Schleppenbach started the frame with an infield single and after a sacrifice bunt by Luis Alvarado, Boldt worked a four-pitch walk. Lubach then put the Huskers on the board when he launched a 2-2 offering from FGCU starter Devin Smeltzer off the left-field foul pole.

With Kubat in control on the mound, NU’s offense pushed across another run in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Boldt led off the inning with a single, but Smeltzer cleared the bases with a 6-4-3 double play. Blake Headley and Miller started a two-out rally with a pair of singles, and then Headley scored when Smeltzer uncorked a wild pitch with Scott Schreiber at the plate. It proved even more costly three pitches later when Schreiber popped out to end the inning.

The Huskers plated three more runs in the fifth on three hits, increasing NU’s lead to 7-0 for Kubat. Miller notched his third hit of the game with an RBI single and Schreiber also recorded an RBI with a sacrifice fly.

After being shutout for the first five innings, the Eagles got on the board in the top of the sixth. FGCU loaded the bases with no out on three straight singles and were poised for a big innings, but Kubat was able to limit the damage to just two runs. NU’s offense got one of the runs back in the bottom of the frame when Boldt delivered a two-out RBI single that scored Wes Edrington from second base, who led off the inning with a single.

Kubat tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning, while Jeff Chesnut pitched a perfect eighth inning and freshman Nate Fisher finished off the game with a shutout ninth inning of relief.

A reminder that tomorrow’s finale has been rescheduled to 12:05 p.m., it was originally set to start at 1:05 p.m.

Nebraska CB Charles Jackson Out for Spring with Knee Injury

Posted on March 14, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska defensive back Charles Jackson will undergo minor arthroscopic surgery on his knee and will miss the rest of spring practice.

Coach Mike Riley also announced Saturday that cornerback Daniel Davie probably would miss a week of practice with an ankle injury.

Jackson and Davie were injured on consecutive plays during coverage drills on Wednesday. Riley said Jackson will be ready for summer conditioning.

Jackson was in line for work as a nickelback last fall but missed the entire season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Davie is a returning starter.

Huskers Complete First Full Week of Spring Drills

Posted on March 14, 2015

Nebraska completed its fifth practice of the spring on Saturday with a two-hour workout under sunny skies and spring-like temperatures in Lincoln. The Huskers worked in full pads on Saturday, and for the first time this spring the entire roster practiced simultaneously.

Nebraska had practiced in two groups for the first four workouts of the spring, but worked as one unit on Saturday, beginning the practice with special teams work. Head Coach Mike Riley said the Huskers will follow a similar practice schedule on Monday when Nebraska returns to the practice field, and evaluate the practice format for the remainder of the spring.

With the completion of Saturday’s practice, the Huskers are a third of the way through spring practice. Riley said the learning curve in the first year of a job is different than being entrenched at Oregon State for a dozen years, but he applauded the work of this team.

“After the first third of spring practice, it hits you right between the eyes what being at a place for a long time means,” Riley said. “We could roll the balls out on the first day and here it was kind of starting from scratch. But the work and attention to detail of these guys is very good, and I think we have some outstanding character leadership on this team.”

Riley also complimented the transition being made by four true freshmen defenders who joined the Husker program at semester. Avery Anderson, Eric Lee and Aaron Williams are working in the secondary, while Dedrick Young has impressed at linebacker.

“Those are mature young men,” Riley said. “The biggest compliment I can give them is that at students in college and as football players they kind of blend in.”

Riley updated the injury status of defensive backs Daniel Davie and Charles Jackson. Davie (ankle) is expected to return to practice later in spring ball, while Jackson (knee) will undergo minor surgery, but should be at full strength for summer conditioning and the season.

Nebraska returns to the practice field on Monday for the first of three practices next week. The Huskers will also work out on Wednesday and Friday before departing for Spring Break.

Huskers Win 6-3 in Front of 6,062 at Hawks Field

Posted on March 13, 2015

Lincoln – Behind a pair of three-run innings and 7.0 innings of work from starter Chance Sinclair the Nebraska baseball team (10-6, 0-0 Big Ten) took the series opener from the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles (8-10-1, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) by a score of 6-3 on Friday in front of 6,062 fans at Hawks Field.

Riding a three-start losing streak, Sinclair picked up his second win of the season and the 11^th of his career in the win. The preseason All-American gave up three runs on eight hits and a walk, but got stronger as the game went on. After giving up the tying run in the fifth, Sinclair sat down the final eight Eagles he faced.

Colton Howell and Josh Roeder each tossed a perfect inning of relief, with Howell striking out the side in the eighth, while Roeder earned his fourth save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth. Sinclair, Howell and Roeder combined to retired the FCGU’s final 14 batters of the game.

Four Husker hitters produced a multi-hit game, including three-hits each from Jake Schleppenbach and Ryan Boldt. Blake Headley notched his fifth extra base hit of the week and added three RBIs to bring his season total to 19.

FGCU starter Mike Murray, who was the Atlantic Sun pitcher of the year last season and a 2015 preseason All-American by three publications, fell to 1-3 on the year after giving up six runs on 12 hits over 5.1 innings of work. Murray had gone at least 7.0 innings in each of his three starts entering Friday.

The Huskers made Murray work right away, as NU sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the first. The Huskers plated three runs in the frame on five hits. Headley plated the first run on a sacrifice fly, Tanner Lubach drove in another run with a single and Christian Cox picked up his second RBI of the season with a bases-loaded walk.

The Eagles tied the game with a run in the second and a pair in the fifth, while the Husker bats went quite with just three hits total from the second through the fifth innings.

After Sinclair put the Eagles away in order in the top of the sixth, NU’s offense got the lead back for its senior starter with three runs in the bottom of the frame on four hits, including three doubles. Schleppenbach got the rally going with a one-out double, his second of the game, and then the Huskers had runners on the corners following an infield single from Boldt. Already with four triples on the week, Headley picked up another extra-base hit with a two-RBI double and then scored when Miller followed with a double that knocked Murray out of the game.

The Huskers and Eagles continue their three-game series tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. Sunday’s finale has been moved from 1:05 p.m. to 12:05 p.m. due to FGCU’s travel.

Brasfield Joins Nebraska Staff, Wilhite Promoted

Posted on March 12, 2015

University of Nebraska Head Coach Mike Riley has announced the addition of Chris Brasfield to the Husker football staff. Brasfield will serve as Nebraska’s Director of High School Relations.

Brasfield joins the Nebraska staff following four seasons of working with Riley at Oregon State. Brasfield served as the Beavers’ running backs coach for the past four seasons and was regarded as an elite recruiter for Oregon State.

In his role at Nebraska, Brasfield will oversee the administration of the Huskers’ walk-on program and serve as the primary contact for high school football coaches. Brasfield will also serve as the initial point of contact with the Nebraska program for professional teams, and will help coordinate the Huskers’ annual pro day workouts.

“Chris will play a key role in the administration of our football program as we continue to develop relationships with high school coaches throughout the region, and also build on the great walk-on tradition at Nebraska,” Riley said. “Chris will bring great energy to this position and has an eye for identifying and evaluating talent. Chris has experience at the professional, college and high school levels which helps make him an excellent fit for this job.”

Brasfield helped develop versatile running backs in his four seasons on Riley’s staff at Oregon State. Tailback Storm Woods accounted for more than 2,100 rushing yards during the past three seasons in the Beaver offense. Known for his recruiting ability, Brasfield was recognized in 2012 as one of the top 50 recruiters in the country.

Brasfield gained a wide range of experience at both the collegiate and professional level before his time at Oregon State. He was a defensive graduate assistant at Oregon in 2010, after spending the previous four seasons as the defensive backs coach at Samford. Brasfield also served in assistant coaching roles at Midwestern State, Southwest Texas State and TCU.

Brasfield has NFL experience with three organizations, most recently participating in the NFL Minority Coaching Internship program with the Titans in 2009. He also served as an intern with the Oakland Raiders in 2000, and was an area scout for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2001 and 2002.

A San Antonio native, Brasfield has extensive high school coaching experience as well, including stops at Fort Worth’s Country Day, All Saints Episcopal School and Chicago Hope Academy in Illinois.

Nebraska has also announced that Kenny Wilhite has been promoted to Associate Director of Player Personnel. Wilhite joined the Husker football staff in the spring of 2014 as a regional recruiting assistant, before transitioning to the player personnel role on Mike Riley’s staff.

Wilhite plays a key role in the recruiting efforts in helping identify prospective Nebraska student-athletes, while assisting on all official and unofficial visits. Wilhite was a standout defensive back at Nebraska, earning All-Big Eight honors in 1991.

Huskers Welcome Eagles to Hawks Field

Posted on March 12, 2015

Fresh off a pair of wins against Northern Colorado, the Nebraska baseball team (9-6, 0-0 Big Ten) continues its 16-game homestand with a three-game series against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (8-9-1, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) that starts on Friday afternoon.

Friday’s series opener is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. and will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams. They are scheduled to meet on Saturday at 2:05 p.m., before wrapping up the series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

The Eagles have yet to play a game outside of the state of Florida this season. They have played 16 of their 18 games at home, while their two road games were in Tampa and Miami.

After opening the season with a win at UNLV, senior Chance Sinclair has dropped his last three starts and will look to break the streak in Friday’s opener. Sinclair, who was 9-1 last season, will match up against junior right-hander Mike Murray, who is 1-2 on the year after posting a 13-1 record last season. The 6-3 Murray was the Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Year in 2014, and was also named a second-team All-American by Louisville Slugger as well as a third-team All-American by both the NCBWA and ABCA. He has gone at least 7.0 innings in each of his last three starts, including 8.0 innings in a loss to Minnesota on Feb. 27.

Senior Kyle Kubat is scheduled to start Saturday for the Huskers and is 2-0 on the year, including wins in each of his past two starts. The Eagles are scheduled to start a left-handed pitcher also in freshman Devin Smeltzer. A native of Voorhees, N.J., Smeltzer is 1-1 on the year in four starts and has given up at least three runs in every start.

Sophomore Derek Burkamper is set to climb the hill for the Huskers in Sunday’s finale. Burkamper is coming off a loss to LSU where he struggled early, but allowed just four base runners and two hits over his final five innings of work. The Eagles have not yet announced a starting pitcher for Sunday.

Friday, March 13 (4:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters: RHP Sinclair (1-3) vs. RHP Murray (1-2)

TV: None

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Saturday, March 14 (2:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters: LHP Kubat (2-0) vs. LHP Smeltzer (1-1)

TV: None

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN Plus

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Sunday, March 15 (1:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters: RHP Burkamper (1-1) vs. TBA

TV: None

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN Plus

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Nine Huskers Qualify for NCAA Championships

Posted on March 11, 2015

Nine Husker wrestlers earned spots in the 2015 NCAA Championships when the field was announced on Wednesday.

Senior Robert Kokesh leads the team with the No. 1 seed at 174 pounds. Kokesh, a two-time All-American, is 33-0 this season after capturing the Big Ten title last weekend. He is one of five seeded wrestlers for Nebraska.

Three-time All-American James Green is the fourth seed at 157 pounds. The senior is looking to become the second wrestler in school history to capture All-America honors on four occasions. He is 30-4 this season after taking third place at the Big Ten Championships.

Anthony Abidin (No. 9 seed at 141), Aaron Studebaker (15th seed at 197) and TJ Dudley (16th seed at 184) are also seeded. Tim Lambert (125), Eric Montoya (133), Austin Wilson (165) and Collin Jensen (HWT) will also compete for the Huskers at the NCAA Championships.

The tournament begins on Thursday, March 19 at 11 a.m. (CT) and runs through Saturday, March 21 in St. Louis, Mo.

Nebraska’s NCAA Qualifiers
125: Tim Lambert
133: Eric Montoya
141: #9 Anthony Abidin
157: #4 James Green
165: Austin Wilson
174: #1 Robert Kokesh
184: #16 TJ Dudley
197: #15 Aaron Studebaker
HWT: Collin Jensen

Huskers Learning Under Riley

Posted on March 11, 2015

Lincoln, Neb.- The Nebraska football team continued its 2015 spring practice season Wednesday afternoon, as the Huskers practiced outside at the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields in sunny, 70-degree weather. The Huskers were in full pads for the first time this spring, as the team was again split into two groups, and each group practiced for about an hour and 45 minutes.

Nebraska Head Coach Mike Riley spoke with media members following Wednesday’s practice, as he mentioned that the Huskers had a really good first day of contact practice in full pads.

“I thought it was really good, it was a beautiful day, we added pads for the first time which means we were able to do our first ‘inside run’ period,” Riley said. “I thought the guys handled that very well, a lot of what we are doing is not only teaching the plays and how to run the plays, but basically it is how to practice.”

Riley added that the intensity at practice has been really good so far this spring.

“For the most part I really liked the enthusiasm at practice, I thought they got into the first day of pads and hit pretty well without a lot of craziness going on.”

According to Riley, the team is really starting to mesh and learn the playbook, not only the players, but the coaching staff as well.

“I think it is going pretty well, there is always some frustration for the coaches and for the players, when it doesn’t quite click all the time,” Riley said. “That is understandable, but for the most part for what we have done so far, both coaches and players are handling the newness pretty well.”

The first day of contact practice also brought the first day of practicing the inside run with both the offensive line and running backs. This was something Riley had been eager to see because as he said, the Huskers have to run the football to be successful.

“I was looking forward to today because of that, with everything being said, we really need to run the football. We need to have a little variety in the run game, so far we have probably more shotgun run than we have ever had in our offense to this point. That has been interesting.

Nebraska returns to the practice field on Friday for its fourth workout of the spring. Check back at Huskers.com for updates.

Penn State Hangs On, Beats Nebraska 68-65 in Big Ten Opener

Posted on March 11, 2015

CHICAGO (AP) — D.J. Newbill scored 26 points, Shep Garner added 19 and Penn State hung on to beat Nebraska 68-65 Wednesday in the Big Ten tournament opener.

The 13th-seeded Nittany Lions (17-15) advanced in the tournament for the first time since a run to the final in 2011, despite letting a 16-point lead in the second half dwindle to one.

They came away with their second-straight win after dropping six in a row when Shavon Shields missed a 3 for 12th-seeded Nebraska (13-18) at the buzzer.

Headley Knocks Pair of Triples, Huskers Win 9-2

Posted on March 11, 2015

Lincoln – For the second straight game senior Blake Headley roped a pair of triples, and freshman Scott Schreiber add another, to power the Nebraska baseball team to a 9-2 win over the Northern Colorado Bears. The Huskers improved to 9-6 on the year in front of 3,067 fans at Hawks Field.

Headley went 3-for-5 on the day and went 5-for-10 in the two-game series against the Bears with four triples, three runs scored and three RBIs.

Along with Headley and Schreiber, Ben Miller and Tanner Lubach also added multi-hit performances. Seven different Huskers notched an RBI on the day, including a career-high three from Schreiber on a bases-loaded triple in the seventh that was part of a five-run frame.

Freshman Zack Engelken started his first career game at Nebraska and went 3.1 innings. The Overland Park, Kan., native gave up a pair of runs on three hits on and struck out two. The Bears’ two runs on the afternoon came on a two-run homer in the fourth that just snuck over the left field wall off the bat of Payton Tapia.

Four Husker reliever combined to throw 5.2 innings of scoreless relief, and junior Jeff Chesnut earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the year. Nebraska’s pitching staff notched nine strikeouts on the day, while giving up just six hits.

The Huskers continue their 16-game homestand on Friday afternoon then they open a three-game series against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Friday’s series opener is scheduled for 4:05 p.m., while Saturday’s game is set for 2:05 p.m. and the finale on Sunday is scheduled to start at 1:05 p.m.