Huskers 411

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Published 05/17/2010, INFORUM

The NCAA softball selection committee gave North Dakota State the ultimate national tournament challenge on Sunday. The Bison got Division I’s best team that features one of the best pitchers in the country.

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NDSU headed to Seattle Regional

at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark

Pool 1: No. 1 Texas, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 5 Texas Tech, No. 8 Missouri

Pool 2: No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Kansas State, No. 6 Baylor, No. 7 Kansas

Game 1: Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech, 9 a.m.

Game 2: Texas vs. Missouri, 12:30 p.m.

Game 3: Kansas State vs. Baylor, 4 p.m.

Game 4: Oklahoma vs. Kansas, 7:30 p.m.

Game 5: Texas vs. Texas Tech, 3 p.m.

Game 6: Texas A&M vs. Missouri, 7:30 p.m.

Game 7: Kansas State vs. Kansas, 3 p.m.

Game 8: Oklahoma vs. Baylor, 7:30 p.m.

Game 9: Texas Tech vs. Missouri, 9 a.m.

Game 10: Texas vs. Texas A&M, 12:30 p.m.

Game 11: Oklahoma vs. Kansas State, 4 p.m.

Game 12: Baylor vs. Kansas, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday's Championship

The anonymous phone call late Sunday afternoon said it all.

"You know, between (Jordan Barncastle) getting hit in the face, the men's tennis team not hosting a regional and baseball, this spring has really been hard on my language," said the Texas Tech sports fan.

You think it's been tough on you, how about the Red Raiders?

A season that just two weeks ago looked as though it would go down as one of the best and perhaps most improbable in Tech baseball history now suddenly looks just like any other, going to Oklahoma City needing to win the Big 12 Championships to have a shot at the NCAA postseason.

The difference between the baseball team's predicament and those of women's basketball and men's tennis is that Tech baseball has no one to blame but itself.

A week after the incident that set the downward spiral in motion, it looks like Chad Bettis' ejection and subsequent four-game suspension is going to be what costs Tech a shot at an at-large berth in the NCAA playoffs. Without him, the Red Raiders simply had no one to turn two when two close games at Nebraska needed a shut-down closer because Tech's depth, especially its quality depth, has been cut below bare bones minimum.

Had Bettis been available Saturday and Sunday, Tech likely would have won both games. Instead, Tech suffered the same fate Baylor did last year, getting swept by a Cornhusker team with nothing to play for but pride. The funny thing is, Tech players and coaches were well aware of it all week going into the series, but could do nothing about it.

The best-hitting team in the Big 12 has suddenly gone silent. A defense that showed so much improvement in April has rediscovered the holes in its gloves. The pitching staff now consists of three scholarship pitchers, another who had his redshirt taken off two weeks ago and a third who also doubles as the starting catcher.

Now Tech's postseason hopes may be all but dashed, barring an appearance Sunday in the tournament's title game. To do that, Tech must battle through a Texas A&M team that won five of its last six conference games, a Missouri team that dang near took two of three in Lubbock and top-ranked Texas, which has blitzed everybody else in the league en route to a nine-game margin of victory in the regular season.

Stranger things have happened. Larry Hays took a team with just eight pitchers to the tournament in 1998 and, in a double-elimination format, won the crown. Could that happen this year? Of course. Is it likely? No.

Perhaps losing to Nebraska could be a plus. I'm sure trying to get that one little bitty win might have put the Red Raiders on edge. Now they have nothing to lose and play free and easy, just like the Cornhuskers did this weekend.

All year, head coach Dan Spencer has used two key phrases to describe this team: He talked about how fragile their method of winning was, even throughout April, and talked about how thin the line was between winning and losing.

So thin that the absence of one pitcher turns that line into an earthquake fault line.

You know that's got to irk a pitching guy like Spencer, who made his name shaping an Oregon State staff that won consecutive College World Series titles. But, he's as handcuffed as his players right now. That's why he had to stick with Jay Johnson on Saturday and Bobby Doran on Sunday about an inning longer than normal. Bettis was in the stands, not the bullpen, and he'll be there one more time Wednesday for the final game of his suspension.

Whether he intended to hit Baylor's Gregg Glime or not, Bettis has some making up to do this week. He's got to be fresh and focused because for the Red Raiders to have any chance this week he's going to have to pitch lights out against Texas and Missouri. That's the only chance Tech has to win this tournament until the offense gets out of its doldrums.

Regardless of what happens in Oklahoma City, Tech fans should look at this year as a successful one. The consensus among Big 12 coaches said the Red Raiders would finish last. So a fifth-place finish in the regular season is significantly better than expected.

At the beginning of the season Spencer said he expected the Red Raiders to close the regular season in the discussion for an NCAA at-large berth, and he was almost right. The Red Raiders were right there the last six weeks of the season.

It just hurts Tech fans, and their language, to be that close.

GEORGE WATSON is a member of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and has been covering Texas Tech baseball for 13 seasons. He can be reached at george.watson@lubbockonline.com or at (806) 766-2166.

In one week, Tech goes from strong contender to longshot

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Nebraska might go to the Big 10. Will the famed traveling fans follow?

May 17, 2010 - Pacific Coast League (PCL) Omaha RoyalsOMAHA, NE - Alex Gordon has been a big winner on the Omaha Royals' trip to Reno and Las Vegas. Gordon today was named the Pacific Coast League's Batter of the Week for the week that ended yesterday.

In the first six games of Omaha's swing through Nevada, Gordon has hit .500 (11-for-22) with three doubles, three home runs, ten RBI and seven runs scored. Not bad for a player who also has to concentrate on switching from third base to left field since being sent down by Kansas City two weeks ago to make that conversion.

Kansas City announced that move on May 2, when infielder Mike Aviles was recalled by the parent club. Gordon missed the first ten games of Kansas City's season due to a broken right thumb. He had an eight-game rehab assignment in the Minor Leagues in April, including one contest with Omaha, before being recalled by Kansas City.

The former Husker All-American struggled in 12 big league games, batting .194 (6-for-31) with one home run and one RBI. In 12 games with Omaha, including his rehab assignment tilt, Gordon is hitting .364 (16-for-44) with four doubles, five homers and 12 RBI.

Gordon is the first Omaha player to receive the weekly honor from the PCL office since Brian Buchanan was named Batter of the Week on August 23, 2009.

Memphis starter P.J. Walters is a compelling story as the recipient of PCL Pitcher of the Week honors. The 25-year old right-hander was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two outings last week. Walters and his wife lost their prematurely-born daughter a couple days before the season began. After sitting out the month of April, he owns a 0.48 ERA in three starts this month, racking up 23 strikeouts compared to three walks in 18-and-two-thirds innings.

Tonight's scheduled starter for Omaha, Bryan Bullington, had his contract purchased yesterday by Kansas City. To make room for him on the roster, the Royals optioned first baseman Kila Ka'aihue back to Triple-A. Bullington, a 29-year old right-hander, was 2-0 for the O-Royals and posted a 1.71 ERA - fourth-best in the PCL - in seven games, including five starts. He'll be used as a reliever by Kansas City.

Since being recalled by the parent club on May 5, Ka'aihue played in only two big league games, getting one hit in four at-bats. In 23 Triple-A games to begin the season, the former University of Nebraska recruit batted .304, smacking seven homers and collecting 20 RBI. Ka'aihue will rejoin the Royals in Omaha on Thursday, when the team opens a 12-game homestand at Rosenblatt Stadium with a 6:35 p.m. game vs. the Salt Lake Bees.

For tickets, call (402) 738-5100, or print tickets online at www.oroyals.com.

ABOUT THE ROYALS: For the second year in a row, readers of Omaha Magazine voted the Omaha Royals as Best Omaha Sports Team in the magazine's 18th annual Best of Omaha Awards, published in its January/February 2010 edition. 371,046 fans attended Omaha Royals games in 2009, making the Royals the largest-drawing sports team or event in the metro area last year. The team's total attendance, as well as the average of 5,457 fans per game, marked its largest figures since the 2000 season. Omaha's Triple-A franchise has drawn over 300,000 fans a year to Rosenblatt Stadium for 22 consecutive seasons, dating back to 1988.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 17, 2010 • Aces Fall 9-2 to Iowa - Reno Aces • Sounds Split Monday's Twinbill with Portland - Nashville Sounds • Huge Inning Sends 'Birds by Rainiers - Memphis Redbirds • Sky Sox and Express Game Suspended - Colorado Springs Sky Sox • Comeback Falls Short in Z's 9-8 Loss - New Orleans Zephyrs • Round Rock Express Suspended at Colorado Springs - Round Rock Express • Pre-Game Concert, Fireworks Highlight Topes' Eight-Game Homestead - Albuquerque Isotopes • River Cats To Celebrate Raley Field 10th Anniversary May 21 - Sacramento River Cats • RedHawks Game Notes - Oklahoma City RedHawks • Express To Host 100th HeartGift Patient - Round Rock Express • Pre-Game Concert, Fireworks Highlight 'Topes Next Homestand - Albuquerque Isotopes • River Cats to Celebrate Raley Field 10th Anniversary Friday, May 21 - Sacramento River Cats • Gordon, Walters Named PCL Player, Pitcher Of The Week - Omaha Royals • Gordon Named PCL Batter of the Week - Omaha Royals • Wilson Completes Rehab, Budde Optioned to Salt Lake - Salt Lake Bees • Johnny Rosenblatt Bobblehead Giveaway Highlights Next Homestand - Omaha Royals

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Gordon Named PCL Batter of the Week

For the past two seasons, the Big 12's best have finished the season second to the SEC. Now, it's the entire conference's turn. The SEC should be king again, but the Big 12 is good enough to edge out the Big Ten as college football's second-best conference.

Ohio State will enter the season likely ranked in the top three, but the chances of the Buckeyes playing like they did against Oregon for an entire season are about as good as Nebraska's offense scoring 33 points a game.

Meanwhile, Texas and Oklahoma don't return Heisman frontrunners for the first time in three seasons, but give their young offenses plenty of room for error with two of the nation's best defenses, along with Nebraska, who lose Ndamukong Suh and a handful of other starters, but could still contend for the title of football's best defense, one they held in 2009.

Most have faith in Oklahoma and Texas to replace their departed stars each year, just as they've done over the past decade. Texas boasts nine consecutive 10-win seasons. Oklahoma has won 11 games or more in eight of the past 10 seasons. Nebraska is inching back into that territory, and new starters like Baker Steinkuhler, who could draw the task of replacing the House of Spears, will try to prod that perception of the Huskers nationally.

Though the Longhorns and Sooners lost Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford, neither faces a question at quarterback. Garrett Gilbert will try to build on the hype surrounding his performance in the national championship game and spring game. And Landry Jones, who performed well (3,198 yards, 26 TD) when his number was unexpectedly called as a redshirt freshman, now enters 2009 with almost an entire season as starter to build on.

The conference's second tier of teams, Missouri and Texas A&M, should enter the season flirting with top 25 status, and racking up a few early wins will only solidify it. It's up to them to make sure the conference strays far from top-heavy.

Beyond the Aggies and Tigers, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Baylor could all overachieve and finish much higher than anyone will predict this preseason.

The Big Ten has a case for No. 2, but as a tiebreaker, let's just take the recent head-to-head record.

3-0 in last season's bowls, 2-0 in the season before that, plus a 1-1 record in head-to-heads last season? Guess that settles it.

Here's how the six BCS conferences measure up:

Where does the Big 12 rank?