The Nebraska baseball team opens the 2022 campaign on Friday, Feb. 18, at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas, with the first of four games against the Sam Houston Bearkats. First pitch of the season opener is set for 6:30 p.m. (CT).
The teams will then meet for a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2 p.m. The first game of the twin bill will be a seven-inning contest, while game two will be a nine-inning affair starting at approximately 5:30 p.m. The four-game series wraps up on Sunday with a first pitch of 1 p.m.
Friday night’s game will be video streamed on ESPN+. Fans can listen to Greg Sharpe and Ben McLaughlin call the action this weekend on the Huskers Radio Network. Friday’s game will be carried on 105.3 The Bone, while Saturday’s doubleheader will be carried on KLIN (1400 AM, 99.3 FM) in Lincoln, KXSP (590 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington. Sunday’s series finale can be heard on KLIN (1400 AM, 99.3 FM) in Lincoln. Every game this season can be heard for free on Huskers.com and the Official Nebraska Huskers App for both iOS and android devices.
Scouting the Sam Houston Bearkats
• Sam Houston went 30-25 last season and tied for fourth in the Southland Conference with a 20-15 record in conference play.
• The Bearkats lost Dominic Robinson (12 starts) and Kyle Backhus (12 starts) from last year’s rotation, but return Tyler Davis (13 starts) and Matt Dillard (eight starts) on the mound. Davis was 6-5 last season with a 5.75 ERA in 14 appearances, while Dillard went 2-4 with a 6.34 ERA in 10 appearances.
• Of the 17 pitchers that made an appearance on the bump last season, 10 are back for the 2022 season.
• Sam Houston returns five players from last season’s team that saw at least 50 plate appearances. Trent Touchet leads the group of returners coming back after hitting .286 with five doubles, a triple, five homers and 24 RBI in 2021.
• Head coach Jay Sirianni enters his third season leading the Bearkat program and holds a 37-32 overall record at Sam Houston.
The Series
• Sam Houston leads the all-time series over the Huskers, 6-1.
• The Bearkats have won the last three games in the series dating back to the 2011 season. Sam Houston has won the last two games by one run, 11-10 in 2019 and 10-9 in 2011.
• Nebraska last won on Feb. 28, 2009 with an 8-1 victory in Huntsville.
Familiar Faces in the Dugout
• Despite only meeting three times on the diamond since 2011, there will be some familiar faces in the Husker and Bearkat dugouts this weekend.
• Head coach Will Bolt and Sam Houston head coach Jay Sirianni were teammates for one season on the 1999 Nebraska baseball team that advanced to the NCAA Regional after winning the Big 12 Tournament title.
• Sirianni was a left-handed pitcher for the Huskers who lettered four times in 1996-99 for the Big Red.
• Nebraska assistant coach Lance Harvell arrived in Lincoln in 2019 after spending the previous five seasons at Sam Houston as the team’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. During that span, the Bearkats captured four Southland Conference regular-season titles and qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2016 and 2017, advancing to the program’s first Super Regional in 2017.
Baseball is Back
• The Huskers are used to first pitch in mid-February, but it’s been awhile since the Big Red have faced a non-conference foe in the regular season.
• Dating back to an 8-1 win over Northern Colorado on March 11, 2020, Nebraska will have gone 710 days from the final out against the Bears to Friday night’s first pitch with the Bearkats without facing a non-conference opponent in the regular season.
• Per a directive from the Big Ten Conference, Nebraska was restricted to a 44-game conference-only slate in the 2021 season.
New Faces on the Bump this Weekend
• This weekend’s starting rotation includes two players making their first start at Nebraska after the Huskers lost Cade Povich and Chance Hroch from last year’s rotation. Out of NU’s four starters this weekend, only Kyle Perry and Shay Schanaman have started a game at Nebraska.
• Opening-day starter Kyle Perry gets the ball after seeing limited action in 2021. The Nebraska native made four starts last year, going 2-0 with a 3.48 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 10.1 innings of work.
• Shay Schanaman gets the nod for the game one of Saturday’s doubleheader after spending all of last season in Nebraska’s starting rotation. In 2021, Schanaman made 13 appearances, 12 starts, and went 5-2 with a 5.08 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 67.1 innings.
• Grand Canyon transfer Dawson McCarville is scheduled to start game two of Saturday’s doubleheader, making his Husker debut. Over his two seasons in Phoenix, McCarville made 21 appearances with a 3.78 ERA. In 2021, he went 5-3 in 17 appearances with 48 strikeouts in 65.1 innings.
• Braxton Bragg is slated to start Sunday’s finale in Huntsville after coming out of the bullpen for the Big Red in 2021. Bragg had 18 strikeouts in 15.2 innings on the mound, while posting a 1-2 record in 11 relief appearances.
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