LINCOLN Only two Big 12 baseball teams are scoring fewer runs than Nebraska, no team has hit fewer homers and no team has fewer extra-base hits.
And yet no one is playing better than the Cornhuskers.
The Huskers have won seven of their last eight games and lead the conference with a 10-1-1 record, their best start in the 12-year history of the Big 12. Their 29-game record of 24-4-1 is third-best in program history. Their No. 6 national ranking is their highest in two years.
Coach Mike Anderson is almost apologetic explaining how something with such little panache team chemistry has played the biggest role in the Huskers' fast start.
"What has surprised me more than anything is the kids' commitment to being a Nebraska baseball player, and that means off the field first," he said. "That may not be what you want to hear. But they've made a commitment to that."
Of course, outstanding pitching, solid defense and timely hitting have helped along the way. But Texas coach Augie Garrido, whose team lost two of three to the Huskers last month, doesn't downplay the all-for-one, one-for-all mantra.
"They are playing the most consistent team baseball that we've seen so far," Garrido said Thursday. "What separates them at this point from the rest of us is their teamwork and the power that goes with that kind of teamwork."
The weekend rotation of Johnny Dorn, Thad Weber and Aaron Pribanic head a staff that leads the Big 12 and is third nationally with a 2.86 ERA entering this weekend's series at Oklahoma State. Starting pitchers are a combined 17-2 and have won 17 of their 18 decisions.
Despite hitting a league-low 19 homers, the Huskers are making the most of their 6.7 runs a game. They rank in the top 50 nationally in stolen bases (48), hit batters (31) and sacrifice flies (9), and they've struck out a league-low 132 times.
Nebraska's sources of offense have been varied.
Nick Sullivan drove in five runs against Texas Tech last Sunday one more RBI than he had over 30 games in an injury-plagued 2007 season. Craig Corriston's game-ending homer against Oklahoma on March 21 was the first walk-off homer by a Husker since 2005. Mitch Abeita, who hit one homer in 46 games last season, is batting .360 with six of the Huskers' 19 homers.
The Huskers were picked sixth in the preseason coaches' poll, which wasn't a surprise to senior second baseman Jake Opitz after the team lost seven of eight players who were drafted.
"From what we had back and what we had coming back in pitching, we didn't know how we'd be," Opitz said. "All offseason we were working as hard as we could, and we planned for this success. But to be 10-1 in the league, no one really does that. We're definitely happy where we're at."
To fans, the season's high point, to date, was the series win at nationally ranked Texas. Anderson said the wins were undoubtedly big.
But the most telling series, according to Anderson and his players, was the first of the season at Stanford. Before traveling to California, the Huskers had not practiced outdoors even once. They got down 17-0 in the first game and lost two of three games. But they scored 18 of the final 24 runs in the series.
"That caught my eye more than anything," Opitz said. "We did lose, but the determination to win was there, and we kept that all the way."
The Huskers have come from behind in nine of their 24 wins, including a four-run deficit at Texas on March 28.
That's testament to teamwork, Weber said.
"There is so much positive that goes on here every day," he said. "Last year there was a lot of division between some of the older guys and younger guys, and we had some off-field issues as well. This year, Coach and the rest of us took it upon ourselves to I don't want to say clean it up but kind of restore what Nebraska baseball was about."
Last year's team was 18-11 after 29 games and finished 32-27, losing in the NCAA regional finals.
Asked whether this year or last year's team had more talent, Weber said: "Last year's team by a thousand miles."
The difference, he said, has shown up in the close games. Three of the Huskers 10 Big 12 wins were decided in the ninth or 10th innings, and they scored twice in the ninth to tie Oklahoma in a game ended because of the Sooners' travel schedule. They also have comeback wins over Texas and Texas Tech.
"When we got down in the late innings last year, we didn't have the team (unity) to get the job done," Weber said. "I go to a couple instances this year, when we got down late in ballgames and fought as a team to win in the Big 12, that speaks volumes to what our team can do."
Nebraska-OSU Series
FridayNebraska (Johnny Dorn, 4-0, 2.12 ERA) at Oklahoma State (Andrew Oliver, 2-3, 3.00 ERA), 6:30 p.m.
SaturdayNebraska (Thad Weber, 6-1, 3.06 ERA) at Oklahoma State (Tyler Lyons, 5-2, 3.12 ERA), 1 p.m.
SundayNebraska (Aaron Pribanic, 3-1, 2.70 ERA) at Oklahoma State (Tyler Blanford, 3-2, 6.03 ERA), 1 p.m.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]