The weekend got off to a very shaky start Friday night as the Huskers walked 12 batters in a sloppy 6-4 loss to Illinois, a shell of the team that won the Big Ten last year. NU rebounded nicely to take the next two games and doesn't figure to have much trouble with lowly Northwestern this weekend.

But then things will get interesting for Nebraska. The Huskers will travel to Michigan April 15-17 to take on the Wolverines, off to their best start since 1987. Three weeks later NU will be in East Lansing, facing off against a Michigan State squad that has just four losses so far.

According to D1Baseball.com, Nebraska ranks No. 147 in terms of strength of schedule so far, and that number isn't likely to take a significant jump in conference play. The Huskers don't play Minnesota or Ohio State, teams that could give their RPI a nice bump. The two showdowns with the Michigan squads loom as NU's best opportunity to spike their RPI a bit.

There is a lot of time remaining in the season, and Nebraska isn't talented enough to get caught looking too far into the future. As cliche as it sounds, Darin Erstad is right - with its inconsistent starting pitching, this team must give razor focus to each game, starting Tuesday with Kansas State (RPI: 175). The Huskers have the ability to return to the postseason, but the schedule doesn't offer many chances for slip-ups.

Penn State rising: The other conference foe on Nebraska's schedule that could help the RPI is Penn State, which has won six straight and is fresh off a weekend sweep of Purdue. Interestingly enough, the Nittany Lions are last in the Big Ten in fielding percentage (.955) and second-to-last in batting average (.248). But they are propped up by a staff that sports a 3.11 ERA. The stats suggest PSU is a paper tiger, but the Nittany Lions are hot at the moment.

Boldt scorching: The fact that people aren't talking about Ryan Boldt's season highlights just how talented he is and the standard he is held to. Boldt leads the Big Ten in runs (30), is second in steals (14) and third in hits (42), total bases (64), triples (two). He's done this all while hitting .344 and knocking in 19 runs from the leadoff spot.

More thievery in Lincoln: Nebraska was one of the Big Ten's more conservative teams over the past couple of seasons, seldom opting to risk an out for a stolen base. But the Huskers have been much more aggressive this season:

Nebraska's jump in power has gotten most of the credit for its improved run totals, and it should. But don't sleep on the steals. Nebraska has essentially doubled its stolen base while succeeding at the same rate.