Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball

• Head coaches are not available from 1899, 1900, 1905, and 1907-1912. The Huskers didn't have a team in 1903, 1913-1918 (WWI), 1926-1928, 1932, and 1943-1945 (WWII).^[3]

[edit] John Sanders (1978-1997)

Sanders compiled a 767-453-1 record in his 20 years. He had only 2 losing seasons, which included his last season.^[4] He produced 3 NCAA Tournament teams. Nebraska made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1979 and made it again in 1980. The only other time under Sanders was in 1985. All three teams never made it to the Super Regional. In 1997, the Big 8 became the Big 12 with Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor coming into the league.

[edit] Dave Van Horn (1998-2002)

Nebraska baseball has seen a resurgence in recent years. Much of the success of these teams and the teams that have followed is due to the efforts of Dave Van Horn, who compiled a record of 214-92 and 3 straight Big 12 Tournament championships while leading Huskers from 1998-2002. He posted a 16-3 mark in four years of Big 12 Tournament play and a 15-9 record in the NCAA Tournament.

He was chosen as the ABCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2000. He also earned Big 12 Conference Coach-of-the-Year honors before his selection as NCAA Coach of the Year by Baseball America in 2001.

[edit] 1998-2000

Van Horn was hired just 35 days before the 1998 season and led the huskers to a 24-20 record and a 7th place finish in the Big 12.

In 1999, they won the Big 12 Tournament championship, marking the school's first conference title of any kind since 1950. Nebraska reached the first NCAA Tournament appearance in 14 seasons. They finished with a 42-18 record.

After many years of being a perennial doormat, the 2000 Huskers became the first team in school history to advance to the Super Regionals in the NCAA tournament but fell one game shy of the College World Series.

[edit] 2001 : 1st CWS

See also: 2001 College World Series

In 2001, the huskers were ranked as high as 4th in the nation starting the season in the top 10 for the first time in team history. They started off going 2-3 but won their next 13 games. They captured a conference best 20-8 mark in Big 12 play after winning a series against Texas and sweeping Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Baylor, and Oklahoma State. The Huskers got their first regular-season conference crown since 1950. The pitchers had great outings en route to a 4-0 performance winning the Big 12 Tournament for the 3rd consecutive time. They are the first team to win Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles in the same season. They were number 8 overall in the NCAA tournament and hosted a regional for the first time in team history getting wins over Northern Iowa and Rutgers. They advanced to the Super Regional facing Rice who beat the huskers 16-2 in the season opener. Nebraska beat Rice in the 1st two games and got their first chance to play in the College World Series but lost their 2 games and were eliminated.

The '01 huskers finished with a 50-16 record, their 2nd straight 50 win season. They produced a 23-4 record at home including nine straight victories before closing stadium gates for the last time. The Huskers ranked in the top 10 nationally with their .334 average and 9.20 runs per game, while leading the Big 12 in 10 categories, including hitting, runs scored, walks, homers and stolen bases. The team produced 4 All-Americans, Shane Komine, Dan Johnson, John Cole and Matt Hopper. They also produced All-Big 12 first teamers, Shane Komine, Dan Johnson, John Cole, Matt Hopper, Thom Ott, and Jeff Leise. Shane Komine was also the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.^{[5] [6]}

[edit] 2002 : A New Home

See also: 2002 College World Series

2002 was the first year that Nebraska played at Hawks Field. The '02 campaign started off well going 7-3 before playing against Big 12 opponents. The Huskers swept 7 teams during the entire season helping the huskers with a 11 game win streak from the end of the regular season to the Big 12 Tournament until they lost to Texas in the tournament final. Coach Dave Van Horn picked up the 200th victory in his Husker coaching career with a 4-3 win over Cal Poly on May 10, near the end of the regular season. Nebraska got to host another regional and won its third straight regional title, sweeping the board and outscoring its opponents 30-6 in three games over Southwest Missouri State, Marist, and UW-Milwaukee. They hosted Richmond in the Super Regionals and won the series 2-1 earning a ticket to Omaha for the 2nd straight season. Like 2001, the huskers were eliminated in their 2 games being defeated by Clemson and South Carolina.

The Huskers ended with a 47-21 record. The hitters have been plunked an amazing 95 times in 66 games, a total which is not only a single-season record, but the 10th-highest total in NCAA history. Jed Morris was awarded to the All Big-12 team, became the big 12 Player of the Year, and was the first catcher in school history to earn All-America honors. Jeff Leise also earned All-American and All-Big 12 honors. Aaron Marsden was the only other husker to be on the All-Big 12 team.^[7]

After the 2002 season, Van Horn left to accept a position at his alma mater, Arkansas; assistant coach Mike Anderson became head coach.

[edit] Mike Anderson (2003-present)

In his first 5 season from '03-'07, Mike Anderson guided the huskers to a 214-100 record. He was awarded the Big 12 Coach of the Year Award in 2003, and 2005.^[8] He has a Big 12 Tournament record of 12-8 and a NCAA Tournament record of 11-8.

[edit] 2003-2004

The Huskers were better than expexcted under first year Mike Anderson. They were picked fourth in the league by the Big 12 coaches in the preseason. Nebraska started off winning 11 of their first 13 games. They won 8 of their 9 conference series going 20-7 and becoming the Big 12 regular-season conference winner. They went 2-2 in the Big 12 Tournament winning their 1st two but lost the next 2. The Huskers hosted a Regional but were eliminated by Southwestern Missouri State. They ended the season with a 47-18 mark.

Matt Hopper became an All-Big 12 honoree for the 3rd time, and became the Big 12 player of the Year. Aaron Marsden became the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year. Curtis Ledbetter and Quinton Robertson also earned First Team All-Big 12 honors. Alex Gordon earned Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America honors and became the Big 12 Freshman of the Year.^[9]

The bad for Nebraska in 2004 was finishing 36-23 and 8th in the Big 12 with an 11-16 record. It was the 1st time that Nebraska hasn’t finished first or second in the league since 1999. The May 16 loss at Baylor marked the first time that Nebraska had been swept in league play since the 2000 season. After going 1-2 in the Big 12 Tournament, they didn't make it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.

The good is that the husker pitchers issued a league-low 2.77 walks per nine innings. They went at least 45 innings without an error three times. The Huskers scored five or more runs in an inning 12 times in 11 games. Alex Gordon was the lone husker All-American. ^[10]

[edit] 2005 : Husker History

See also: 2005 College World Series

The Huskers had their most successful season ever. They started off sweeping a 5 game series over Hawaii-Hilo. After coming back from Hawaii, they go an outstanding 20-3. They won 8 of their 9 Big 12 Conference Series losing their only series to Texas 1-2. They won the regular season crown and were ready for the Big 12 Tournament. They lost their 1st game but came back and won their next 5 games winning the tournament. The Huskers hosted a regional winning their 3 games and winning the Super Regional at home sweeping Miami in 2 games. They advanced to the College World Series for the third time in five years. They beat Arizona State is the first game but lost to Florida. The Huskers played Arizona State again but lost and were done in 3 games. The win against Arizona State was Nebraska's first CWS win in husker history.

They recorded a team record 57-15 (more wins than any teams in '05) and the .791 winning percentage also easily beat the previous best of .771 set in 1982. They had two 11 game win streaks during the season. One during non-conference play and one in the postseason. The Huskers finished 33-4 at Hawks Field breaking the previous single-season home mark for wins of 29 set four times (1980, 1988, 2002 and 2003). Starting pitchers went a combined 40-5 this season and won 15 straight decisions until Johnny Dorn’s loss to Florida on June 19 at the College World Series. Nebraska had 20 come-from-behind wins all season. Nebraska led the Big 12 and ranked second nationally in ERA.

Nebraska produced great players in Alex Gordon who won the National player of the Year Award, became an All-American, earned First Team All-Big 12 honors, and became the Big 12 Player of the Year. Johnny Dorn won the Freshman Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, became a Freshman All-American, and earned First Team All-Big 12 honors. Joba Chamberlain won the Big 12 Newcomer Pitcher of the Year, and earned First Team All-Big 12 honors. Tony Watson became a Freshman All-American. Curtis Ledbetter earned First Team All-Big 12 honors.^[11]

[edit] 2006-2008

In 2006, Nebraska sprinted into the top 5 nationally, and was looking poised to make it back to Omaha for the College World Series. They were ranked as high as number 2 nationally and swept 3 Big 12 teams. However, Nebraska ran into a huge late season slump losing 8 of their last 11 regular season games and losing their last 3 Big 12 series. They were 3-0 in the Big 12 Tournament going into the championship game but lost to Kansas 7-9. They managed to host a regional, only to go two and out and bow out early ending with a 42-17 record.

The Huskers had a preseason ranking of 9th by Collegiate Baseball for the 2007 season. The team started off strong but quickly began to show their youth and inexperience. They were very inconsistent throughout the season going only 14-13 in Big 12 games. They ended up placing 4th in the Big 12 Conference and qualifying as the 3rd seed for the Tempe Regional. They went 2-1 before being defeated by Arizona State in the chanpionship game. They finished the season going 32-27. ^[12]

See also: 2008 Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball team

While 8 pitchers from 2007 left for the draft, the 2008 Cornhuskers team is the youngest for Mike Anderson with 15 newcomers. They started off with an 11-3 record and started strong in the Big 12 winning their first 4 series. They won 7 of their 9 series going 17-9-1 in conference play. From February 29 to March 18, the Huskers earned a 14 game win streak, the longest since 2000. They went 28-3-1 at home and 11-9 away from Hawks Field. They are currently ranked as high as #7 and ended in 3rd place in the Big 12. Jake Opitz, Mitch Abeita, and Johnny Dorn were selected to the All Big 12 First Team.^[13]

[edit] Results by Season

[edit] Post-Season Appearances

• Nebraska made both the big 12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007.^[14]

[edit] Rivalries

Nebraska competes in an in-state rivalry with the Creighton Bluejays of Omaha, Nebraska. Creighton's home field is the Creighton University Sports Complex, although they occasionally play home games at Rosenblatt Stadium. The Huskers and Bluejays play a 3-game series each year, switching venues for each game.

[edit] Alumni

[edit] All-Americans

• The Huskers have produced 16 All-Americans. Ten have come in the Big 12 era with Shane Komina and Alex Gordon earning the honors twice.^[15]

[edit] Major Leaguers

• 30 former Huskers have played at least one game in the Majors. ^[16][17]

[edit] Others

• Includes 24 former Huskers currently in the Minor Leagues.^[18]

[edit] Records

[edit] See also

Big 12 Conference

[edit] External links

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletic Department
• Huskerpedia.com
• HuskerExtra.com
• Big 12 Baseball

[edit] Sources

• Nebraska's All-Time Letterwinners