Nebraska ready to regroup

It doesn’t take long to figure out Nebraska is motivated for the upcoming baseball season.

All coach Mike Anderson has to do is tell a story about his team in the weight room earlier this fall. As the players were working out in different stations, a few veterans were giving the newcomers grief about not working hard enough.

Freshman infielder Josh Scheffert took exception to that comment.

“The older guys were telling the younger guys to get after it more,” Anderson said. “Scheffert chimes in and tells them that they [veterans] need to keep up with the newcomers. That’s the kind of mentality I want from our players.”

It’s not surprising to hear Anderson say that. After all, the Nebraska program was built and turned around on the idea of working harder than the other team. It started with previous coach Dave Van Horn and has continued with Anderson.

Only Anderson and the players know if the Huskers deviated from that last season. But there’s one thing for sure, they plan to live by that philosophy in 2010.

Nebraska expects another big-time campaign from slugger Adam Bailey.

(Nebraska)

The Huskers have much to prove.

After finishing the ’08 season with a 41-16 record and an impressive 17-9 mark in the Big 12, the Huskers entered the ’09 campaign with high hopes even without several key cogs, particularly on the mound.

The season didn’t exactly go as planned.

The Big Red began the campaign on the right foot, but they stumbled in conference play and were doomed with three consecutive sweeps to Kansas State, Texas and Texas A&M in April. That 0-9 stretch kept the Huskers from being a factor for a postseason berth and essentially cemented them at the bottom of the Big 12.

The Huskers point to personnel issues, not a bad attitude, as the chief reason for last season’s woes.

“We certainly didn’t prepare for what we experienced last season. We won 25 games, and I still didn’t think we were a dysfunctional team,” Anderson said. “Losing seven pitchers to the draft changes the dynamic of your team. But still, some was in our control and some things weren’t. I’ll say this, though, there’s a lot of dissatisfaction around this program about last season.”

The dissatisfaction may be even more persistent off the field, where many Nebraska fans seem to think the program is slipping.

That may or may not turn out to be true, but history is on Anderson’s side. The Huskers failed to make an NCAA regional in ’04 and finished eighth in the Big 12. The next season the Huskers compiled a 57-15 record and reached the College World Series.

In short, Huskers fans need to see how the ’10 campaign plays out before jumping to crazy conclusions. Sure, last season was disappointing. But remember, Nebraska isn’t nestled in an area of the country where it’s easy to have consistent big winners. Even perennial power Wichita State, after losing several players to the draft two seasons ago, took a step back last season in terms of overall record.

The pessimism also is present on the national stage. Most observers say the Huskers once again could finish at the bottom of the Big 12 in ’10. Others are taking a wait-and-see approach with a team littered with newcomers.

Anderson, though, likes the fact pundits are downplaying his squad.

“People don’t think we’re going to be any good, and that’s OK,” Anderson said. “What too many people tend to do is just look at last season as a measuring stick. I honestly tend to think last year was kind of a fluke for this program.”

Time will tell if that was the case, but the Huskers now are focused on rebuilding the offense and pitching staff for the upcoming season.

Nebraska finished last season with a .282 batting average. Tyler Farst and Adam Bailey spearheaded the lineup with batting averages of .333 and .325, respectively. Both players are back in the spring. Bailey’s return is most important, considering he hit 12 homers and knocked in 50 runs last season.

The Huskers hope for much more production from DJ Belfonte and Cody Asche.

Belfonte had put together a nice career for the Huskers until last season, when he batted just .256 with three homers and 26 RBIs. Asche, meanwhile, finished last season with a .290 average, two homers and 21 RBIs.

“I thought Cody [Asche] had a fantastic fall and I think he’s going to be a huge help to the middle of our lineup,” Anderson said. “Belfonte had the best fall he has had in four years, so I’m very excited about what he can do in the spring.”

Newcomers expected to have immediate impacts at the plate include Scheffert, Chad Christensen, Bryan Peters and Patric Tolentino.

The offense still is an area of concern, but the Huskers need to make the most strides on the mound after finishing last season with a dismal 6.22 ERA.

Sean Yost started eight games last season and had a solid summer. The Huskers expect him to be in the weekend rotation come spring. Michael Mariot’s velocity jumped a lot in the fall, and he’s expected to be in the rotation. The Huskers also are high on freshman right-hander Tom Lemke. Casey Hauptman is another pitcher who could enter the mix with a strong start to the spring.

Newcomers outside of Lemke to watch include Chase Adams, Kurt Giller, Ryan Hander and Ryan Hughes.

“I’ll tell you what our team is going to be about,” Anderson said. “I think we’re going to be OK offensively, but the veteran pitchers need to do well early in the season to take some pressure off the younger guys we have. Our pitching staff still is very young, but I definitely like the direction we’re going.”

Uncertainty may be the case with the offense and pitching staff with the season just three months away. But at least the Huskers have the attitude and team chemistry parts already down.

Now we’ll see if everything else gets worked out.