Husker Baseball Moving Forward

Thanks_Tom RR

Thanks_Tom RR

New member
The fact that the B1G has 5 teams in the NCAA tourney and Nebraska is not one of them, is a red flag. Solid defense and small ball hitting has been the identity of this team under Erstad. This year (truthfully starting last year), Nebraska has added solid pitching depth to the mix. However, it doesn't seem enough to cover up the absence of run support. This quote from Erstad struck me,


Moving forward, are we expecting a continuation of living and dying on the bunt, or will Erstad look to recruit some big boppers? Huskers had some success with JUCOs in the 90's. Is this an avenue to explore? What will be the identity of the Husker offense?

 
Our biggest problem this year was that we couldn't keep up offensively. We had moments of quality offense, but weren't able to string together many rallys. As was said the pitching and defense were very good this year, you just can't expect to win many games scoring in the low single digits.

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Those of you that follow baseball closer, what exactly happened after such a great start?
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We still had some of the errors and lack of clutch hits by leaving runners in base, but we were winning so it didn't look bad. I'm thinking with the lower seams move away from the bunt and let them swing away. Hitting with two outs didn't happen. The defense is here, same with pitching. If the offense moves away from the bunt, I think we can become very good.

It's not that anything changed, ew just faced better pitching and couldn't get clutch hits like all year. That Texas team we swept won the Big 12.

 
1st thing 1st. We need to switch from the Rawlings 5150 chunks of steal to Louisville or Easton bats. 2nd recruit some power to add into our line up. Small ball is nice when its working but you have to be able to put it over the fence more then 2 times a week.

I love the team and think we will still be strong going forward.

 
BaytownHusker said:
1st thing 1st. We need to switch from the Rawlings 5150 chunks of steal to Louisville or Easton bats. 2nd recruit some power to add into our line up. Small ball is nice when its working but you have to be able to put it over the fence more then 2 times a week.

I love the team and think we will still be strong going forward.
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Thought we had a contract w/Rawlings? Or is that just a year to year thing? Agree we need to recruit power, and I think Erstad is already doing that.

 
VectorVictor said:
BaytownHusker said:
1st thing 1st. We need to switch from the Rawlings 5150 chunks of steal to Louisville or Easton bats. 2nd recruit some power to add into our line up. Small ball is nice when its working but you have to be able to put it over the fence more then 2 times a week.

I love the team and think we will still be strong going forward.
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Thought we had a contract w/Rawlings? Or is that just a year to year thing? Agree we need to recruit power, and I think Erstad is already doing that.
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I am sure we do have a contract with them.

 
BaytownHusker said:
VectorVictor said:
BaytownHusker said:
1st thing 1st. We need to switch from the Rawlings 5150 chunks of steal to Louisville or Easton bats. 2nd recruit some power to add into our line up. Small ball is nice when its working but you have to be able to put it over the fence more then 2 times a week.

I love the team and think we will still be strong going forward.
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Thought we had a contract w/Rawlings? Or is that just a year to year thing? Agree we need to recruit power, and I think Erstad is already doing that.
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I am sure we do have a contract with them.
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That sucks then.

 
Did the assistant coaching change have that much of an impact on the bats? Or can you chalk it up to just an off year?

We were less than 1 hit per game worse this year than last year, but as said, the main factor was that clutch hit. Plazceks wrist injury affected him, lowering his BA 60 points. Actually, only Boldt raised his average from year to year. Darby dropped 20 points, Headley 50+, and Miller 40. The leaders and heart of the lineup really struggled at the plate.

There's promise with the youth on the team, they just need to step up when presented an opportunity.

 
Savage Husker said:
Did the assistant coaching change have that much of an impact on the bats? Or can you chalk it up to just an off year?

We were less than 1 hit per game worse this year than last year, but as said, the main factor was that clutch hit. Plazceks wrist injury affected him, lowering his BA 60 points. Actually, only Boldt raised his average from year to year. Darby dropped 20 points, Headley 50+, and Miller 40. The leaders and heart of the lineup really struggled at the plate.

There's promise with the youth on the team, they just need to step up when presented an opportunity.
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Maybe. The Huskers, under Erstad, have never had big hitting power. What they did have were grinders on defense and clutch hitters on offense. Nebraska 2014 were dubbed the "Cardiac Cornhuskers". This year, not so much, with 10 one or two score loses. It is crazy to say a team coached by Erstad needs heart. My guess is if Erstad can recruit a big bopper JUCO (maybe from CA with some athleticism like in the 90's) to bat clean up and this team develops some mental toughness (not giving up the unforced errors late in the season), this team could be back on top of the B1G next year. They are close with young hitters like Boldt, Alvarado, and Jake Meyers.

 
Is it just me or would anyone else like to see the Big Ten conference tournament expanded to a best of three championship game, or if the undefeated team loses, they play again. I don't think it was that way this year.

 
hskrfan4life said:
Is it just me or would anyone else like to see the Big Ten conference tournament expanded to a best of three championship game, or if the undefeated team loses, they play again. I don't think it was that way this year.
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It has been winner take all in the championship for two years now (since they expanded to eight teams)

The kicker is that if it had been that way three years ago in 2013, Nebraska would have won the championship and went to the NCAA's. Nebraska came through the loser's bracket that year and had to beat Indiana twice. We won the first, lost the second.

 
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