Yes, Angelo Altavilla admits, he does some scoreboard watching as the Nebraska baseball team finds itself in the thick of the Big Ten Conference title race with two league series remaining for the Huskers.

“I think I’d be lying to you if (I said) I wasn’t checking that stuff,” said Altavilla, the Huskers’ senior infielder. “I think everyone is checking that stuff.”

He also mentions one team he keeps tabs on more than any other.

That would be Nebraska.

“At the end of the day, we have to take care of business,” Altavilla said. “That’s just what it comes down to.”

That looking inward philosophy certainly resonates with the head coach, as Nebraska (23-16, 12-6 Big Ten) plays Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Northwestern (19-22, 6-9).

“Going on the road in the Big Ten is no joke,” Nebraska coach Darin Erstad said. “Just one of those things like pretty much every week, we can’t really concern ourselves too much with them. We need to go out and concern ourselves with playing good baseball, getting back to hitting like we can, cleaning up defense and pounding the zone.”

Nebraska currently is in third place in the Big Ten standings, behind frontrunner Michigan and Indiana. While each of those teams has three league series remaining – including one against each other next weekend – the Huskers are down to two. They close the regular-season with what figures to be a pivotal series, at home, against Michigan, May 16-18.

Nebraska is looking to get back on track after dropping back-to-back series against Iowa and Illinois.

“If you don’t peak at the end, you’re probably not playing very well,” Erstad said. “But we don’t put any more importance on one part of the season than the other. They all matter. Right now, it’s that time of year when attention to detail is super important.”