Husker baseball begins the season at Peoria, Arizona against Gonzaga in less than 10 days.

The last time we saw Husker baseball, well, let's say that fans stopped giving a damn, the team went straight into the tank, and Mike Anderson got hisself fired. Enter new head coach Darin Erstad, a new conference that's all but irrelevant on a national scale, and no one knows what to expect.

One thing is certain. The Husker athletic department wants you to come back to Husker baseball.

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The Lincoln Journal Star has confirmed that Darin Erstad will be named the new Husker baseball coach at a 3:30 PM press conference this afternoon. 

Erstad has never been held a head coaching position, having served last season as the team's volunteer coach. He was supposed to help the team increase it's hitting, and the team finished eighth out of 10 teams with a .269 average. 

My take: Tom Osborne interviewed other head coaches to make it look good, then hired the guy he wanted to hire all along. This pick may be popular with people just because Erstad was a known former Husker, having played in the major leagues and as the punter on a national title football team. 

Honestly, I think this sucks. I don't understand how you hire a guy who's never been a coach before. I wonder where he's going to find a staff, given that Eric Newman and Dave Bingham will not be retained. 

If you like this hire, I'd like to hear about the reasons why. 

[Update - Apparently former Husker WIll Bolt will be hired as an assistant coach per Kendall Rogers on twitter. 

In an apparently emotional meeting today with the baseball coaches, Tom Osborne dismissed Mike Anderson and his staff after missing the Big XII Tournament for the third straight year. Anderson went 337-196-2 in nine seasons in Lincoln, with two Big XII titles and Nebraska's only College World Series victory.

My how things have changed. When Anderson took over for Dave Van Horn, the Huskers were among the elite teams in college baseball, playing in front of big crowds at Haymarket Park, and playing at home in an NCAA regional seemed to be the norm. But then pitching coach Rob Childress left for Texas A&M, and the program, quite frankly, hasn't been the same ever since.

This one is a tough call. Most folks who have dealt with Mike Anderson consider him a class act all the way around, and it's a sad day for him. That being said, the results are what they are, and I think it was clear that a change needed to be made.  I'm not one to throw dirt onto the man, who should go out with some appreciation from Husker fans for getting the team to Omaha in 2005. Those weren't all Van Horn's players either; that was Anderson's third year in charge.

So who will replace Mike Anderson?

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Husker baseball takes on the Oklahoma State Cowboys this weekend in the first home conference opener of the season.

Nebraska comes into the weekend 1-2 in conference play after dropping a very close series at Texas Tech last weekend. Oklahoma State is at 3-3 after losing a series to Kansas to start the season, then upsetting highly ranked Texas last weekend.

Oklahoma State is ranked third in team batting average in the Big 12 at .306, while the Huskers are ranked fourth at .301. The Cowboys are ahead of Nebraska in team pitching, ranked second in conference at a 2.18 ERA, compared to the fifth-ranked Huskers at 3.48.

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Nebraska comes into today's game against Fresno State hoping to pick up a game and avoid getting swept after losing the first two games, 8-5 and 1-0. 

It's not like the world fell apart this weekend - this kind of stuff happens in college baseball - but the Huskers need to pick up a game here. You want to avoid going 0-3 every weekend because national people pick up on sweeps and your chances of getting ranked 

NU Lineup:

Kiser (LF), Peters (2B), Asche (3B), Scheffert (RF), Kalkowski (DH), Christensen (SS), Farmer (1B), Burleson (C), Cooper (CF) 

FSU Lineup:

Muno (3B), Gowens (CF), Weber (SS), Ribera (1B), Robinson (RF), Wise (DH), David (LF), Wynns (C), Hutcheson (2B) 

Pitchers: 

NU -Brandon Pierce - 0-1, 5.62 ERA

FSU-Tom Harlan - 2-0, 1.59 ERA

The Huskers lost yesterday's game 8-5 after giving up four runs in the fourth inning. They generated enough offense, coming up with 13 hits, but couldn't get them across as they left 16 runners stranded. 

Today's game starts at 2:05 PM. 

NU Lineup

Kiser (LF), Peters (2B), Asche (3B), Scheffert (RF), Kalkowski (DH), Christensen (SS), Tolentino (C), Farmer (1B), Cooper (CF)

FSU Lineup

Muno (3B), Gowens (CF), Weber (SS), Ribera (1B), Robinson (RF), Wise (DH), Judge (LF), Wynns (C), Hutcheson (2B)

Pitchers

NU - Matt Freeman - 2-0, 0.57 ERA

FSU - Greg Gonzalez - 2-0, 1.31 ERA

I missed the time to write up this game, but I haven't missed time to have an open thread. 

The Fresno State Bulldogs come to Lincoln for a three-game series, starting about the time I publish this post. 

Nebraska is coming off an exceptional performance - winning a series against a highly ranked-UCLA squad that featured one of the best pitching staffs in the nation. Not only did the Huskers win it, but their pitching kept UCLA's offense at bay, allowing Nebraska batters just enough to get the edge in two out of the three extra-inning games. 

Fresno State comes to Lincoln ranked #20 - so we'll see whether or not the Huskers can maintain their momentum. 

Here's your FSU lineup: 

FSU Lineup: Muno (3B), Gowens (CF), Weber (SS), Ribera (1B), Robinson (RF), Wise (DH), Gaspar (LF), Wynns (C), Hutcheson (2b)

Here's your Nebraska lineup: 

NU Lineup: Kiser (LF), Peters (2B), Asche (3B), Scheffert (RF), Kalkowski (DH), Christensen (SS), Burleson (C), Farmer (1B), Cooper (CF)

Pitching Match Ups: 

NU -  Jon Keller, 1-0, 0.0 ERA

FSU -  Derek Benny, 3-0, 2.70 ERA

Here's the deal - Nebraska lost Friday's game 1-0 in extra innings. 

Then the Huskers won Saturday's game 2-1 in extra innings. That sets up today's game for the series!

Consider this your game thread. Besides, what else you going to do, sit around and wait for more snow?