Husker Baseball Faces A Tough Test Against Unbeaten UCLA
by Jon Johnston on Mar 4, 2010 8:00 AM CST
in Nebraska Husker Baseball
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PrintThe Husker baseball team faces a tough challenge this week as they head to California to take on the UCLA Bruins. UCLA has started the season at 6-0, their best start since 1997. They've played nearly perfect ball already this season, with wins over Southern, Bethune Cookman, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, Vanderbilt, and USC.
As a team the Bruins are hitting .379 while holding their opponents to .188. They've outscored their opponents 65-14 over those six games and they have 11 players hitting over .300. It's early in the season and people in the know are starting to take notice that UCLA may be a special team this season.
Bruin pitching is awesome good. Gerrit Cole was a first-round draft selection in 2008 by the New York Yankees, but instead chose to play college ball. He and Trevor Bauer played for Team USA last summer, and both were All Pac-10 Conference in 2009. If that ain't enough, Bauer collected last year's Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors. Lefty Rob Rasmussen played well enough in the Cape Cod League this summer to get a start in the league's All-Star Game, but struggled in his first start this season.
The good news for Nebraska is that it looks like Mike Anderson has already found a weekend starter in Tom Lemke, but the bad news is that the team's 5.78 ERA is second to last in the Big 12 already this season. Mike Nesseth has struggled early this season when he was expected to provide some veteran leadership as a closer.
The Husker offense has struggled as well. DJ Belfonte already has 14 hits early in the season, and Boomer Collins has four stolen bases on four attempts, the Huskers have (as they did last year) struggled with timely hitting.
The best news is - none of these things matter right now. What matters is this team continues to work hard, get their pitching settled and their lineups straightened out so they're ready for that trip to Austin, TX to start Big12 play.
UCLA Pitching Statistics:
| Player | ERA | W-L | APP | GS | CG | SHO/CBO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AB | B/Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 Goeddel, Erik.... | 0.00 | 2-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 7.2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 27 | 0.259 |
| 23 Klein, Dan....... | 0.00 | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 1 | 5.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 0.063 |
| 31 Grace, Matt...... | 0.00 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 3.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 0.083 |
| 41 Lodge, Brandon... | 0.00 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0.200 |
| 35 Beacom, Mitchell. | 0.00 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.000 |
| 38 Claypool, Garett. | 1.12 | 1-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 28 | 0.214 |
| 12 Cole, Gerrit..... | 3.27 | 2-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 11.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 36 | 0.139 |
| 47 Bauer, Trevor.... | 3.38 | 1-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 8.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 27 | 0.148 |
| 27 Rasmussen, Rob... | 5.40 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 8.1 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 32 | 0.313 |
| Totals.............. | 2.17 | 6-0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0/0 | 1 | 54.0 | 35 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 75 | 186 | 0.188 |
Husker Pitching Statistics:
| Player | ERA | W-L | APP | GS | CG | SHO/CBO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AB | B/Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemke, Tom.......... | 0.84 | 2-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 10.2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 38 | 0.237 |
| Hauptman, Casey..... | 2.79 | 0-1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 9.2 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 38 | 0.263 |
| Yost, Sean.......... | 4.66 | 1-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 9.2 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 42 | 0.286 |
| Mariot, Michael..... | 7.20 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 40 | 0.350 |
| -------------- | |||||||||||||||
| Adams, Chase........ | 0.00 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0.250 |
| Bublitz, Luke....... | 0.00 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.250 |
| Hughes, Ryan........ | 0.00 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 |
| Roualdes, Jordan.... | 2.84 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 6.1 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 25 | 0.320 |
| Giller, Kurt........ | 6.75 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 1 | 5.1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 0.364 |
| Nesseth, Mike....... | 18.00 | 0-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 0.444 |
| Niederklein, Tyler.. | 18.00 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.250 |
| Tate, Khris......... | 20.25 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1.1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.000 |
| Hander, Ryan........ | 36.00 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0.500 |
| Totals......... | 5.78 | 3-4 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0/0 | 1 | 62.1 | 75 | 42 | 40 | 26 | 44 | 248 | 0.302 |
UCLA Batting Statistics:
| Player | AVG | GP-GS | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | SLG% | BB | HBP | SO | OB% | SB-ATT | E | FLD% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Espy, Dean....... | 0.500 | 6-2 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 1.100 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .455 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 24 Krill, Brett..... | 0.474 | 5-5 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 0.684 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 1-1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 25 Amaral, Beau..... | 0.421 | 6-4 | 19 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 0.579 | 2 | 1 | 6 | .500 | 0-1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 18 Regis, Cody...... | 0.412 | 6-5 | 17 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0.529 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .500 | 2-2 | 1 | .917 |
| 5 Rahmatulla, Tyler | 0.409 | 6-6 | 22 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 0.500 | 6 | 1 | 3 | .533 | 1-4 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 7 Keefer, Cody..... | 0.400 | 6-6 | 20 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0.500 | 8 | 0 | 2 | .571 | 0-1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 15 Uribe, Justin.... | 0.389 | 6-5 | 18 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0.444 | 4 | 2 | 1 | .520 | 1-1 | 2 | .956 |
| 9 Dunlap, Blair.... | 0.357 | 5-4 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0.643 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .438 | 0-0 | 0 | .000 |
| 30 Navarro, Marc.... | 0.357 | 6-3 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 0.571 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .412 | 2-2 | 0 | .000 |
| 3 Rodriguez, Steve. | 0.350 | 6-6 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 1.100 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .458 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2 Gallego, Niko.... | 0.333 | 6-6 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 18 | 0.750 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .346 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 21 Giovinazzo, Chris | 0.200 | 5-2 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.200 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| -------------- | ||||||||||||||||||
| 17 Holt, Dennis..... 1 | 0.000 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1 Williams, Adrian. | 0.000 | 3-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0-0 | 1 | .750 |
| 32 Heineman, Tyler.. | 0.000 | 2-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 20 Gelalich, Jeff... | 0.000 | 4-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .667 | 0-0 | 0 | .000 |
| 11 Brown, Trevor.... | 0.000 | 2-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 0-0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals.............. | 0.379 | 6-6 | 214 | 65 | 81 | 15 | 2 | 11 | 60 | 133 | 0.621 | 31 | 11 | 31 | .471 | 7-12 | 5 |
Husker Batting Statistics:
| Player | AVG | GP-GS | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | SLG% | BB | HBP | SO | OB% | SB-ATT | E | FLD% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfonte, DJ........ | 0.467 | 7-7 | 30 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 17 | 0.567 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0.541 | 3-4 | 1 | 0.938 |
| Bailey, Adam........ | 0.419 | 7-7 | 31 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 18 | 0.581 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0.455 | 1-2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Bubak, Kyle......... | 0.286 | 7-7 | 28 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0.357 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0.382 | 0-1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Asche, Cody......... | 0.286 | 5-5 | 21 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0.333 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0.375 | 1-2 | 1 | 0.875 |
| Farst, Tyler........ | 0.200 | 7-7 | 30 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 0.300 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0.219 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Collins, Boomer..... | 0.190 | 7-6 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0.190 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0.414 | 4-4 | 0 | 1.000 |
| -------------- | ||||||||||||||||||
| Scheffert, Josh..... | 0.375 | 5-4 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0.438 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0.474 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Tolentino, Patric... | 0.313 | 5-5 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0.375 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0.421 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Burleson, Cory...... | 0.273 | 4-3 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.273 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.467 | 1-1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Kiser, Kale......... | 0.267 | 6-4 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.400 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.450 | 0-1 | 1 | 0.941 |
| Thompson, Cade...... | 0.250 | 3-2 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.250 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0.400 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Cooper, Khiry....... | 0.222 | 4-2 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0.333 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.222 | 1-1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Christensen, Chad... | 0.200 | 2-1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0.800 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.167 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Peters, Bryan....... | 0.091 | 6-3 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.182 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.231 | 0-0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Totals.............. | 0.298 | 7-7 | 252 | 49 | 75 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 42 | 98 | 0.389 | 36 | 8 | 56 | 0.397 | 11-16 | 5 | 0.981 |
Current UCLA Poll Rankings:
Baseball America - #19
Collegiate Baseball - #14
NCBWA - #20
USA Today/ESPN Coaches - #18
Rivals - #23
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, March 5 (2 p.m.) - Jackie Robinson Stadium
Nebraska - Sean Yost, RHP, So. (1-0, 4.66)
UCLA - Gerrit Cole, RHP, So. (2-0, 3.27)
Friday, March 5 (6 p.m.) - Jackie Robinson Stadium
Nebraska - Michael Mariot, RHP, Jr. (0-1, 7.20)
UCLA - Trevor Bauer, RHP, So. (1-0, 3.38)
Saturday, March 6 (2 p.m.) - Jackie Robinson Stadium
Nebraska - Tom Lemke, RHP, Fr. (2-0, 0.84)
UCLA - Rob Rasmussen, LHP, Jr. (0-0, 5.40)
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This weekend should be interesting
mainly because UCLA has a history of not showing up for a weekend after they run together a nice string of games. This team has played with the type of tough attitude that UCLA teams of years past haven’t though, which is encouraging.
Frankly, I’ve yet to find much reason to believe that so long as we show up to play, we won’t win the series. Your pitching has been very poor and the offense is pretty mediocre. There’s a lot of youth on your team, but focusing on just this weekend, all that we’re going to see is the downsides of youth and not what it can develop into, most likely. Based on what I heard from my Fresno friends, your close losses in the opening weekend have their roots in youth so it could come back to bit you guys again. After last season, Bruin fans know how that can be.
I’m really surprised that Lemke is going to be held back for the final game of the series with the forecast making it look unlikely that we play a third game. Even though going up against Bauer or Cole would be a tough task for him, I would think that you guys would make sure he got his start in.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
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