Rotation, Key Stats, Top Players As Husker Baseball And Softball Begin Midweek Games

Nebraska baseball just powered its way to 28 runs and a series win over South Alabama, but Will Bolt’s guys aren’t the only diamond dwellers who are coming off a big weekend. The Husker softball team is also riding high after a 3-1 showing at the Razorback Rumble in Fayetteville, Arkansas pushed the club back to the .500 mark on the season.

We’ll see what both teams are made of on short rest as both get back into action with their first midweek games getting underway today.

Nebraska baseball (9-4) travels to Wichita State for a two-game road set on Tuesday and Wednesday (both games start at 6:00 p.m. CT) with those two games available to stream live on ESPN+ and listen live on Huskers Radio Network.

Nebraska softball plays a doubleheader at home on Tuesday against Northern Colorado (10-14) at noon and Maine (1-15) at 5 p.m. with a game between Northern Colorado and Maine (2:30 p.m.) sandwiched in between at Bowlin Stadium.

Admission is free into both Nebraska softball games today, in addition to the Northern Colorado-Maine game. There will be open seating throughout the stadium as season ticket holders will not be guaranteed their reserved seat since the games were just added to the schedule last week and were not part of the season ticket package.

Below is a preview of what’s on tap for both programs with the starting pitching matchups, the most important stats to know, keystone players to watch and more.

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WHEN: Tuesday-Wednesday (March 12-13)

WHERE: Eck Stadium (Wichita, Kan.)

WATCH: Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+

LISTEN: Huskers Radio Network with Greg Sharpe (play by play) and Dave Gustafson (color) on the call.

>> Every game this season can be heard for free on Huskers.com and the Official Nebraska Huskers App for both iOS and android devices.

>> TUESDAY – 6:00 p.m.

LHP Will Walsh (0-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. RHP Brady Hamilton (0-1, 2.00 ERA)

>> WEDNESDAY – 6:00 p.m.

RHP Ryan Harrahill (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBA

Both times Central

NOTES:

>> Redshirt junior Will Walsh takes the mound Tuesday night after beginning the first three weeks as the Sunday starter for the NU pitching staff. The Leawood, Kan., native is 0-0 on the season with a 6.00 ERA and eight strikeouts in 12 innings of work.

• Freshman Ryan Harrahill gets the nod for his collegiate debut on Wednesday night. Tabbed the No. 58 right-handed pitcher and No. 172 overall prospect in the country by Prep Baseball Report, Harrahill earned all-conference, all-state and Super-State accolades at Elkhorn North.

>> Nebraska holds a slim 26-25 advantage in the series against Wichita State through 51 all-time meetings.

>> The Huskers and Shockers last took the diamond in 2018 for a three-game set in Wichita.

>> The Shockers took the first two games, while the Big Red rallied for a 10-9 victory in 10 innings in the series finale.

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All game notes courtesy of Nebraska Athletics

>> Nebraska recorded its best 10-game start since 2008 with a 7-3 mark through the first three weekends of the season.

>> Since going 8-2 in 2008, the Big Red have won six of its first 10 games in six seasons, never reaching the seven-win mark until this year.

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Stokes strokes, picks up weekly award:

>> Junior Rhett Stokes has been named the Big Ten’s Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon.

>> Stokes hit .750 (9-for-12) with four doubles, five RBI and two runs in three games vs. South Alabama, while recording a 1.083 slugging percentage and .750 on-base percentage.

>> The Roswell, N.M., native became the first Husker since 2021 to record three consecutive three-hit games.

>> Stokes went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run in the series opener on Friday, followed by a 3-for-4 performance with three RBI on Saturday afternoon.

>> The junior had a 3-for-4 day with two doubles and a pair of RBI in Sunday’s series finale, including the game-tying two-RBI single in the fifth inning.

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Don’t run out on ’em:

>> Nebraska enters the week as one of two teams nationally to limit opponents to two stolen bases or fewer this season.

>> The Huskers have limited opponents to just two stolen base attempts on the season and are one of five teams to hold opponents to five stolen base attempts or less on the year.

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Driving them home:

>> Josh Caron has been a key piece to the NU offense this season, hitting .283 at the plate with a triple, four home runs, 15 RBI and 11 runs.

>> Since 2012, Caron is one of five Huskers to drive in 15-plus runs in Nebraska’s first 13 games to start the season. Caron’s 15 RBI are tied for third-most, trailing Jesse Wilkening (2018) and Brice Matthews (2023).

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Stone cleaning up:

>> Huskers cleanup hitter Tyler Stone has hits in each of his last nine starts, going 14-for-37 (.378) over that stretch with three doubles, three home runs and 13 RBI.

>> Stone has four games this season with multiple RBI, which is the most by a Husker this season. The Scottsdale, Ariz., native leads all qualified Nebraska hitters with a .977 OPS.

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Silva is number two but he’s not two:

>> Since moving up in the lineup to the No. 2 spot for the NU offense, Riley Silva has gone 11-for-27 (.407) at the plate with a double and two RBI.

>> Silva is the only Husker to have reached base in all 13 games to begin the season, leading all qualified Huskers with a .492 on-base percentage.

>> The Cambridge, Ontario, native paces the Big Red in hits (16), runs (15), stolen bases (9) and hit-by-pitches (10), as he is one of eight Division I players to be hit 10-plus times this season.

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Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive:

>> The Husker offense has found success at the plate with two outs this season.

>> Nebraska is hitting .342 (54-for-158) and has recorded 37 of its 78 RBI this season with two outs.

>> 14 Huskers have recorded a two-out hit through the first 13 games, including six Huskers with at least four hits.

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WHEN: Tuesday (March 12)

WHERE: Bowlin Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)

WATCH: Both games will be streamed live on B1G+ for a subscription fee of $9.99/month

LISTEN: Huskers Radio Network with Nate Rohr on the call

>> Every game this season can be heard for free on Huskers.com and the Official Nebraska Huskers App for both iOS and android devices.

All game notes courtesy of Nebraska Athletics

>> Nebraska is coming off a 3-1 record at the Razorback Rumble in Arkansas last weekend.

>> In the tournament opener, Nebraska defeated Northern Iowa 13-3 in six innings, posting a run-rule victory over the two-time defending Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champions.

>> Nebraska then split a pair of close games with Saint Francis.

>> In the final game of the tournament, Sydney Gray homered twice and Kaylin Kinney tossed a complete game in a 5-1 victory over a South Alabama squad that is receiving votes in the top-25 poll and owns three wins and one tie against ranked opponents this season.

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>> Nebraska is set to host 10 home games from Tuesday, March 12 through Sunday, March 24. That 10-game homestand is the program’s longest at Bowlin Stadium and the program’s longest since a 14-game homestand in 1995.

>> The Huskers will play three games against Northern Colorado (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday), one game apiece against Maine (Tuesday), North Dakota (Friday), Creighton (Saturday) and Omaha (Wednesday, March 20) before wrapping up with three games against Illinois over the March 22-24 weekend.

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Streak lives on:

>> Nebraska star Billie Andrews’ final hit last weekend was the 200th hit of her career. She is just the 14th Husker with 200 career hits.

>> She has also hit safely in 17 straight games. That ties for the longest hitting streak by a Husker since Andrews had a 22-game hitting streak in 2022.

>> The last Husker to have a hitting streak of 18 games or longer was Andrews, who had a 22-game hitting streak in 2023 which marked the third-longest hitting streak in school history.

>> There have been only four 20-game hitting streaks in program history and no player has ever had two separate 20-game hitting streaks. Andrews is batting .468 (29-for-62) during her hitting streak with eight doubles, one triple and seven home runs.

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Chasing the HR record:

>> Andrews hit her 50th career home last weekend. She ranks third in school history with those 50 homers.

>> Andrews ranks 15th nationally in home runs per game this season with seven homers in 18 games. Andrews is on pace to break Nebraska’s career home run record this season.

>> The Husker home run record is 54 by two-time All-American Taylor Edwards, who played from 2011 to 2014.

>> Andrews needs four home runs to tie Edwards’ Nebraska record and five to break the mark. Andrews is on pace to hit nine more homers this year which would give her 59 career homers.

>> Andrews has already tied one home run record. She has seven games with multiple homers in her career, tying Tristen Edwards (2017-21) for the most multi-homer games in NU history.

>> Andrews ranks 17th among all active Division I players with 50 career home runs. She has played at least 10 fewer games than each of the 16 players ranked ahead of her on the active home run chart, with the exception of Wichita State’s Addison Barnard.

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This is 40 (and 40)

>> Andrews had four stolen bases last week to give her 41 career steals. Andrews also hit her 50th career home runs last week giving her 40 career home runs and 40 career steals.

>> Andrews has joined Jennifer Lizama as the only players in program history to hit 40 career home runs and steal 40 career bases. Andrews has 50 career home runs and 41 career stolen bases, while Lizama had 47 career home runs and 91 career stolen bases.

>> With nine more stolen bases, Andrews would become the first Husker with 50 career home runs and 50 career stolen bases.

>> Nationally, there are only eight active Division I players with 40 career home runs and 40 career stolen bases. Of those eight, Andrews is one of only four players who has played her entire career in a power conference, and Andrews and Clemson’s McKenzie Clark are the only two players among those four who aren’t competing in her fifth or sixth season.

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“So extra”

>> Andrews has a knack for producing extra-base hits during her Husker career and this year has been no different. Andrews ranks fifth in school history with 86 career extra-base hits, including 16 this season. Forty-three percent of her career hits have gone for extra bases.

>> Andrews ranks 16th nationally 16 extra-base hits in only 18 games this season. Since she has played fewer games than many of her peers, Andrews’ average of 0.89 extra-base hits per game ranks second nationally among players with at least 12 games played.

>> Andrews has at least one extra-base hit in 13 of her 18 games this season, including 10 of her last 12 games. Andrews has also had two games this season with multiple extra-base hits.In addition to ranking second in extra-base hits per game, Andrews is ninth nationally in slugging percentage (.923) and 15th in home runs per game (0.4).

>> Andrews ranks 28th among all active Division I players with 83 career extra-base hits. She ranks ninth nationally among active players in career extra-base hits per game (0.49).

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>> Nebraska’s team and several individual players are riding streaks entering Tuesday’s two games.

>> As a team, the Huskers are on pace for 113 doubles this season, which would break both the Nebraska record (94) and the Big Ten record (110).

>> Nebraska leads the Big Ten with 47 doubles, ranking fourth nationally in doubles and third in double per game (2.1).

>> Nebraska has doubled in 14 straight games. The Huskers had a double in 15 consecutive games last season but the last time Nebraska had a double in more than 15 straight games was a 17-game streak during the 2017 season.

>> The Huskers have had at least two doubles in nine straight games. Nebraska had multiple doubles in 10 consecutive games last season which is believed to be the longest streak in school history, based on available records.

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>> Nebraska stole 13 bases in four games last week after swiping just seven bases in its first 18 games of the season. The Huskers have stolen multiple bases in four consecutive games. The last time Nebraska had multiple stolen bases in five consecutive games was in 2003.

>> The Huskers have used a different batting order in all 22 games this season.

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>> Nebraska has used multiple pitchers in every game this season but one, utilizing a “pitching by committee” approach. The Huskers have used at least two pitchers in 21 of 22 games, including eight games where three or more pitchers were utilized.

>> Nebraska was the last Big Ten team to throw a complete game this season. Each of the other 13 Big Ten teams had a complete game within the first two weeks of the season. Nebraska’s first complete game did not come until the fourth week of the season, when Kaylin Kinney went the distance against South Alabama in the Huskers’ 22nd game.

>> The Huskers have had five pitchers start a game this season. That is a first for Rhonda Revelle, as Nebraska had never used more than four starting pitchers in a season since she took over the program in 1993.

>> Peyton Cody enters Tuesday with 147 career hits, three shy of 150.

>> Sydney Gray is the only player to win multiple Big Ten Player of the Week awards this season.

>> Emmerson Cope has two saves, one shy of the Nebraska freshman record.

>> Brooke Andrews has hit safely in seven straight games entering Tuesday. She is batting .458 (11-for-24) during the hitting streak with five doubles.

>> Bella Bacon has an RBI in four consecutive games, the longest streak of her career and tied for the longest streak by a Husker this season.

>> Led by first-year transfers Bacon and Cody, the Huskers’ offensive newcomers have made a big impact at the plate this season. As a group, the newcomers to the Husker lineup have out-paced the returners in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage, a notable accomplishment considering Nebraska returned the majority of its production from a 2023 offense that was among the best in school history.

>> Bacon and Cody are batting a combined .323 (32-for-99) this season as the two transfer additions to the lineup. They have combined for six doubles, two homers and 18 RBIs.

>> Freshmen Samantha Bland and Emmerson Cope are the other two new bats that have been regulars in the Husker lineup this season. Bland and Cope have been among the Huskers’ top sluggers, combining for seven doubles, three homers and 21 RBIs.

>> With the quartet of productive new hitters, two of the top five batting averages on the team are owned by newcomers (Cody, 2nd and Bacon, 5th). Newcomers also account for two of the three highest home run totals (Cody and Bland tied for 3rd).

>> Bacon, who spent her freshman season at Purdue in 2023, has started 21 of Nebraska’s 22 games at first base this season. The Omaha native is batting .302 and is third on the team in hits (19), runs (14) and RBIs (12).

>> A sixth-year player who spent her first five seasons at St. John’s, Cody was limited during the first weekend, going 1-for-2 as a pinch hitter. She has returned as a regular in the lineup with 12 starts in the past 18 games, splitting time with Cope as the designated player. Cody is batting .361 this season, ranking second on the team in average, slugging percentage (.611) and third in on-base percentage (.425) and home runs (2).

>> Bland has started 20 of Nebraska’s 22 games as a freshman with starts at four different positions. She ranks second on the team in RBIs (14) and is third in doubles (6) and home runs (2).

>> Cope has found her way into the starting batting order 11 times despite also pitching for the Huskers. She is batting .250 with two doubles, one home runs and seven RBIs.