Baseball Weekend Preview: Penn State

The Nebraska baseball team (15-6) will head to University Park, Pennsylvania to play a three-game series against Penn State (8-13). Last weekend, the Huskers took two of the three games against Maryland with a win in the final game of the series 14-3.

With a series win over Maryland, Nebraska is still undefeated in series matchups, having won five and split one. NU split games against both Ohio State and Iowa during a pod series in Minnesota, but the Big Red won two of the three games the next weekend against the Hawkeyes.

In the last 12 games that Nebraska has played, the Huskers have scored at least six runs. As a team, NU is batting .292, and they rank at the top of the Big Ten with that average. The Big Red also ranks No. 1 in the Big Ten in runs scored, with 162, and RBI, with 140. Along with that, all of their losses this season have been by a margin of three or less.

Penn State split games against both Michigan State and Purdue last weekend. A Friday double-header against the Spartans started with a 7-4 loss for the Nittany Lions, but PSU won game two 7-3. On Saturday, Penn State won convincingly over Purdue 11-0, but Sunday went the way of the Boilermakers and PSU lost 8-5.

Friday, 5:00 p.m.: LHP Cade Povich (3-1, 3.74 ERA) vs. RHP Bailey Dees (2-2, 5.37 ERA)

Saturday, 12:00 p.m.: RHP Chance Hroch (2-0, 5.70 ERA) vs. RHP Conor Larkin (2-3, 3.98 ERA)

Friday, 10:00 a.m.: RHP Shay Schanaman (3-0, 5.59 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Virbitsky (1-2, 4.58 ERA)

Success from the mound

Nebraska's pitching staff is one of the best in the conference, ranking high in numerous categories. The Huskers are tied for first in the Big Ten with three shutouts. They come in second in both runs allowed (90) and walks allowed (67).

Individually, NU has some impressive pitchers as well. Cade Povich has been pitching well and he is tied for sixth in the conference with 41 strikeouts. Spencer Schwellenbach is also getting attention as he is tied for fifth in the conference with four saves. From the mound, the Big Red will look to shut down the Nittany Lions, who average just over 4.5 runs per game.

Staying fired up

Nebraska is coming off somewhat of an emotional win over Maryland in the series-clinching game. In the seventh inning, head coach Will Bolt was ejected from the game after he argued a hit-by-pitch call that he thought the batter leaned into. Before this, the Huskers looked like they were playing inspired, but after Bolt was tossed, they took it up a notch.

Jake Bunz showed plenty of emotion with his celebration when he got out of an inning, but the biggest exclamation point was the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth inning, NU put up seven runs and Brice Matthews hit the team's fourth grand slam of the season. That fire will likely continue into this series.

Leading the conference

The Big Red will look to maintain a lead in the Big Ten this week after another series win. The teams behind Nebraska are Michigan (15-7), Indiana (13-7), and Ohio State (13-9). The Huskers have yet to play Michigan or Indiana.

NU not only leads the conference in record, but in six other categories as well. Those stats are batting average (.292), runs scored (162), RBIs (140), sacrifice bunts (22), stolen bases (32), and on-base percentage (.395). Keeping near the top in these stats will continue the offensive success of the Big Red.

***Penn State is coming off a 2-2 weekend against Michigan State and Purdue. They split games against both teams.

***The Nittany Lions lead the conference in doubles with 48 and Nebraska is in last with 31.

***The PSU pitchers have only allowed 13 home runs this season. That is an average of about 0.62 home runs per game.

***Only one regular starter for Penn State averages over .300 from the plate. Gavin Homer is batting .338 on the season.