Husker Baseball: what do we know so far?

A Husker shake up in the lineup helped get past BYU. Will it be enough to get them past Loyola Marymount this weekend?

So far the bats haven’t been great. Granted I’m measuring against a standard of “pack your bags for the CWS great” but the Big Red bats aren’t quite up to Big Ten snuff yet. I’m not saying they won’t get there, just that it’s the February rust (maybe). Austin Darby who hit  .290 last year, now sits a .179 for the year. Tanner Lubach who was at the top of the game last year (.282 ave.)  didn’t record a hit until the last game of the series in the bottom of 6th inning. Before that he was 0 for 18.

Good news: Ryan Boldt was 10 for 16 (.625)  in the 4 game series and sits at .520 so far with 8 runs scored (.311 in 2014). And he picked up Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Monday.

Blake Headley who provided clutch hits to secure the win in the 2nd and 3rd games is at .280 and still under his .323 from last year but putting it together at critical times is the hallmark of “CLUTCH.” Jake Schleppenbach is at .400 for the year so far (.288 at Hutchinson CC last year) and Ben Miller has turned in his usual great effort to be at .360 so far (.316 in 2014). if their able to keep it up and Lubach can turn it around, I’ll get the suitcase out of the closet.

What did we learn about the pitching staff?  You can be great all year long but 3 nights in a row great is WAY different from battling out of a regional where you might have to play out of the loser bracket and play 5 or 6 nights in a row. It’s been the death nell for many a great team. Factor in the injuries for pitchers as the season wears on and it can be dang near impossible to keep a DEEP bullpen.  The 4 game series was a nice (EARLY in the season) look at ALL the arms.

Derek Burkamper was off to a rocky start in the 1st inning. He suffered 3 runs on just 5 hits. after retiring the first batter he faced.  After that he settled down facing only 14 batters in 4 innings and managing to retire BYU in order in the 4th and 5th innings. He made his first start since February of last year and it looks like the rest did him some good. He finished very strong despite the bumpy  beginning. Reece Eddins came in for solid relief without giving up a hit in his 1.1 innings of work. Josh Roeder finished up the 9th inning.

Chance Sinclair was roughed up a bit in his start. He gave up 7 runs on 10 hits and fell to 1-1 on the year. On the bright side he had 3 shutout innings before that but it’s not about how you start in baseball, it’s how you finish. He rallied for a shutout 5th inning but walked the first two batters in the 6th. Freshman Garett King came in for relief and walked 3 in an inning and hit another batter. He was the beneficiary of a double play or he would have been in a bigger world of hurt (2 runs scored off of him). Nate Fisher finished up the 9th with 1 K out of 3 batters.

Kyle Kubat was the strongest performance at 7.1 innings in his 2nd start of the year and looked sharp as he retired Cougars in order 2 separate times on the double header day. 6 Ks and 95 pitches is fantastic for February. Only 7 hits, 1 double, and 1 walk puts him at the top of my list. Colton Howell worked 2.1 innings and had men on base but due to 2 infield errors. He was very effective with 26 pitches and put Roeder in a good place to close things out.

Max Knutson (soph) made it through only 3.1 innings before giving the ball to freshmen Zack Engleken and Jake Meyers. Knutson did record 2Ks and gave up only 4 hits, but walked 3. Engleken was sharp in his debut (and earned the W) by dropping the Cougars in order in the 6th. (He reminded me of Hohensee) Meyers picked up the save with 3.0 innings facing only 12 batters, and allowing only 2 hits and 3Ks.

Overall I’d say things looked pretty good for the Husker Hurlers. In my mind I would rate their series performance in this order: Kubat, Burkamper, Sinclair. Relievers: Engleken, Howell, Myers and King tied. Roeder isn’t considered in that group. He’s solid. We know this.  I’m still concerned about the early season MRI of Hohensee. He’s out indefinitely for now. I really liked his placement and velocity.

**Of note, Tanner Lubach threw out BYU’s Urry in a steal attempt moving him up to 34 on the caught stealing count. He’s chasing after the school record of 46 held by Cory Burleson (09-12). Jeff Christy is next at 38 (05-06).

Huskers take on the Lions in a 3 game series and we will have a scouting report on their team before the Huskers hit the diamond on Friday at 8:05 CDT. You can stream the game for free at Lions TV. GO BIG RED!!!