Husker Dan: Spring Is in the Air!

Will Bolt’s Nebraska baseball team is off to a good start

Nebraska Athletics photo

Don't let the weather in eastern Nebraska fool you. Spring is in the air ... sorta. It's true Sunday's game in Lincoln with Illinois State was canceled due to cold temps, but despite that, the Huskers are off to a pretty warm start.

It's true the Huskers stumbled out of the chute with an 0-3-1 start. But since then, Nebraska has gone 9-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of defending national champion Ole Miss. The Huskers' 9-4-1 record also includes a win over No. 7 Vanderbilt.

Last year through 14 games, NU stood at 3-11. The Huskers finished last season at 23-30. To add insult to injury, the conference tournament was held last year in Omaha at Charles Schwab Field. Needless to say, Nebraska missed a golden opportunity to extend its season.

But Husker head coach Will Bolt likes this year's team. And why not? The team's batting average is .334 while opponents stand at .231. For now, Nebraska is in a much better position than it was last season.

Tuesday, Nebraska will take on my alma mater, the UNO Mavericks for a single game at Hawks Field in Lincoln.

Then on Thursday, the Huskers were to have started a four-game series in Lincoln with the 11-6 Nicholls State Colonels. But due to bad weather set for Lincoln this week, the series has been moved to Manhattan, Kansas, and shortened to three games.

Nicholls State and Nebraska have one common opponent this season: South Alabama. The Colonels lost their only game with them, 4-5 while Nebraska swept its three-game series with South Alabama last month.

Nebraska opens conference play March 24 in Lincoln against Illinois, which is off to a 7-5 start.

How ’Bout Them Huskers

In this week's podcast episode, grandson Will and I talk about Husker men's and women's basketball, baseball and football. We also comment on the updated lyrics to Nebraska's fight song "Hail Varsity." We talk about former Husker and Kansas State QB Adrian Martinez and his new role in the USFL.

---