March 24, 2008

Game Notes: at #15 Nebraska

 

Games 23-24: Northern Colorado (7-15) at #20 Nebraska (17-3-1)

Tuesday, March 25 • Lincoln, Neb. • Hawks Field • 6:35 p.m. (Central)

Wednesday, March 26 • Lincoln, Neb. • Hawks Field • 1:35 p.m. (Central)

 

Third Trip To Nebraska

Northern Colorado will be playing in the state of Nebraska for the third time this season on Tuesday and Wednesday when they face the Cornhuskers. The Bears dropped all four games in an earlier series to Nebraska, and lost two games last week at Creighton.

 

Series History

This will be the second series this season between Nebraska and Northern Colorado. The Huskers won the first four games in the middle of their 14-game winning streak. The first time the teams met, Nebraska was not ranked, however they have climbed to 15th in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll. Northern Colorado is now 3-26 all-time against Nebraska. In 2007, the Bears dropped both games in a two-game set, 5-3 and 4-1 when the Huskers were ranked 26th in the nation. In 2006, the teams split a two-game series with the Bears winning the first game, 5-2 and dropping game two 9-1 when the Huskers were ranked second nationally.

 

Baseball Alumni Day

The Alumni Association will sponsor "Alumni Day at the Game" Saturday, March 29, at Jackson Field. The day will start with a barbecue at 11:30 a.m., followed by baseball at 1:05 p.m. with the Bears taking on South Dakota State. Cost is $15 for adults and $9 for children which includes barbecue and game ticket. Please R.S.V.P. to 970-351-1374 or events@unco.edu.

 

Snapped In The Best Possible Way

There's no better way to break a losing streak than by defeating the top-ranked team in the nation, and that's exactly what the Bears did late Friday. They beat previously unbeaten Arizona State in the Bob Schaefer Memorial Tournament, 6-3, to snap an 11-game losing streak. The Bears split the next two games in the tournament, falling to #5 UC Irvine 9-6 before bouncing back to defeat Florida International 13-9 in the finale.

 

Liking The Warm Weather

Both senior shortstop Cory Morales and senior catcher Erik Whinery had a great weekend at the Bob Schaefer Memorial Tournament. Morales led the team with a .474 batting average, tallying nine hits, while Whinery hit .444 with eight hits and five RBI. Morales also led the club with a .579 slugging percentage and 11 total bases. The entire club hit .283 for the four games of the tournament, well above the season batting average of .226.

 

Road Warriors

Northern Colorado is getting used to living on the road as the Bears start the 2008 season with 24 straight games away from home. The Bears do not play at Jackson Field until March 28 when they host South Dakota State for a three-game series. The 2007 team also started with its first 24 on the road, posting a 7-17 record to start the year. The 24 games is the longest road stretch to open a season in school history.

 

Spoiler

Northern Colorado has played a pair of ranked teams this season and has split both series. The Bears opened the year going 2-2 against then-#20 Texas A&M and this weekend, they went 1-1 against #1 Arizona State. The Sun Devils had won their first 19 games of the season before the Bears won game two, 6-3.

 

Putting It In Play

Junior Kevin Sandberg has struck out just twice in the last 10 games. He has had 45 plate appearances during that stretch, with 36 at bats and nine walks and is hitting .333.

 

Stop Thief

After recording only three stolen bases in the first 21 games of the season, the Bears almost doubled their season output swiping two bags against Florida International. Both senior Anthony Garcia and senior Adam Symons stole second base during the game.

 

Going Streaking

Senior Chad Murray, who has played four different positions for the Bears this season (first base, left field, relief pitcher, designated hitter) currently has the longest hitting streak of the season at nine games. Junior Kevin Sandberg is next on the club with an active seven game streak, after having an eight game streak earlier this year.

 

Closing In

Kevin Sandberg is now just 16 RBI short of 100 for his career. The junior now has 82 after knocking in a team-best 17 this season. Senior Adam Symons needs just six more at bats for the 450th of his career, and with 46 more will tie for 10th all-time at Northern Colorado with 490.

 

Multi-Functionality

Two different "position" players have spent time on the mound for the Bears this season. Senior Chad Murray has appeared in four games, throwing 4.0 innings, allowing four runs on five hits with one strikeout. Junior Cody Henry threw one inning against #5 UC Irvine, allowing one hit and striking out one. Murray has started seven games at first base, 10 as designated hitter and one in left field. Henry has started four at catcher and 13 in the outfield.

 

Playing the Big XII

This is the third series Northern Colorado has played against teams in the Big XII this year as they opened the season at Texas A&M, splitting a four-game set. The Bears also played another four-game series at Nebraska and will play two games in this trip. April 8-9 Northern Colorado will also play two games at Kansas. Last year the Bears were 1-3 against the power conference, while in 2006 they sported a 3-4 mark.

 

Going Yard

If one was going to predict what inning a Bear was going to hit a home run, the sixth would be a good bet. Three of the team's last four long balls have come in the sixth frame and junior Kevin Sandberg hit one at Nebraska on March 9, senior Chad Murray hit one at Missouri State on March 16 and junior Erik Hegstad hit one at Creighton on March 19. No one on the team hit any home runs during the four games in the Bob Schaefer Memorial Tournament, though the team went 2-2.

 

Inherited Runners

NC pitchers have done a fantastic job of not letting inherited runners cross the plate. Bears' hurlers have inherited 17 base runners through the first 22 games and only two have scored. Senior right-handed pitcher Dan Kazell has paced the squad, coming in with seven on base and none have scored. Twice he has taken over the game with the bases loaded and gotten out of the jam.

 

The Every Day Player

Senior shortstop Cory Morales is the only player on the Bears roster to have started and played in all 22 games this season. Morales is now hitting .238 after leading the team with a .474 batting average at the Bob Schaefer Memorial Tournament. He also has 73 assists and 36 putouts on the year, more than double anyone else's assists on the team. Last season, played and started in all 51 games, bringing his career total to 73 consecutive games started.

 

Playing With The Order

Head Coach Kevin Smallcomb is still playing quite a bit with the team's batting order. Most players have hit in at least four different places in the lineup, with junior Erik Hegstad hitting in six different spots. Junior Kevin Sandberg has been the most consistent, starting 17 games batting fourth.

 

It's Been A While

Northern Colorado was shut out in the finale of the first series against Nebraska. It marked the first time since March 24, 2007 the Bears were blanked on the scoreboard, a stretch of 45 games. The last shutout came against Arizona.

 

Strength of Schedule

The Bears will face some of the best teams in the nation in 2008. Six of the team's opponents played in the NCAA Regionals last year with UC Irvine and Arizona State advancing to the College World Series (Texas A&M, Nebraska, Creighton, Arkansas). Four of those teams (#1 Arizona State, #3 UC Irvine, #15 Nebraska, #26 Texas A&M) are currently ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Poll.