Nebraska Baseball Travels to Baylor

Still no home opener in sight

By Keith Yaple Mar 8, 2019, 12:00pm CST

The Nebraska baseball team (4-6) travels to Waco, Texas this weekend to face former Big 12 foe Baylor in a three game series. The Huskers and Bears were originally scheduled to play in Lincoln, but weather conditions at Hawks Field have prevented the Huskers from hosting any games so far this season.

Nebraska and Baylor are playing for the first time since Nebraska left for the Big Ten. Baylor is 9-2 on the season with both losses coming last weekend to Texas A&M and Rice. The Bears have swept Holy Cross and Cornell in early season action.

As a team, the Bears are batting .334, while allowing opponents to hit only .198. Baylor leads the Big 12 in batters being hit by pitches, with 23.

David Wendzel leads Baylor with a .465 batting average. Wendzel was a preseason All-American and is projected to be a first round draft pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.

Baylor has eight players with batting averages over the .300 mark. Richard Cunningham is tied for the team lead with Wendzel in extra base hits with nine. Davion Downy leads the Bears with three home runs.

The pitching staff for the Bears suffered a major blow when 2018 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Cody Bradford was ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering an injury last weekend.

INJURY NEWS: @BaylorBaseball LHP Cody Bradford, an All-American and reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, will miss the rest of the season with an injury. He has thoracic outlet syndrome. Bradford was up to 92-93 over the weekend in Houston. #mlbdraft
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) March 6, 2019

Nebraska will now instead face off against Hayden Kettler on Friday night. Saturday the Bears will start Paul Dickens, while they are undecided on a starter for the series finale.

Kettler threw 13 innings of scoreless baseball to start the season. He gave up five runs in his last start against the Aggies of A&M. Kettler will be a challenge for the Husker hitters to solve as he has shown the ability to rack up strikeouts.

Dickens has pitched four times on the season, going no longer than 3.2 innings in any one of his appearances. Dickens does have the advantage of being left handed, something the Huskers have struggled with at times over the course of the young season.

The Baylor bullpen does have some dynamite arms in Kyle Hill and Daniel Caruso. Neither pitcher has allowed a run this season. They have combined to give up just three hits in nine appearances.

The Husker starters will need to continue being aggressive if they want to come out with another solid trip to Texas. Baylor will be a factor in the Big 12 this season, and being able to go down and take a series from the Bears would be a huge boost before the Huskers return home to start their 2019 home schedule.

Nebraska (4-6) at #21 Baylor (9-2)

March 8-10, 2019

Baylor Ballpark • Waco, Texas

Friday, March 8 • 6:35 p.m. (CT)

Video Stream: Facebook Live (Baylor Baseball)

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Matt Waldron (1-0) vs. Hayden Kettler (2-1)

Saturday, March 9 • 3:05 p.m. (CT)

Video Stream: Facebook Live (Baylor Baseball)

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Nate Fisher (1-1) vs. Paul Dickens (1-0)

Sunday, March 10 • 12:05 p.m. (CT)