University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Baseball heads to Nebraska for two
3/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Northern Colorado Notes | Nebraska Notes
Second Series
Northern Colorado heads to Lincoln, Nebraska for its second series of the year against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The two teams met twice in the Bearkat Invitational, hosted by Sam Houston State with the Huskers winning both games.
Free Preview
Nebraska will be offering a free preview on Huskers Nside on Tuesday and Wednesday meaning Bear fans can take advantage and watch the video streaming of both games against the Huskers for free on huskers.com. Free audio is also available.
Scouting Nebraska
• The Huskers are 14-7 on the season, with a 9-3 record at home.
• Nebraska is coming off a four-game series sweep of Bears' Great West Conference foe, North Dakota.
• Nebraska won the first two games against Northern Colorado this year, 12-8 and 3-0 and have now won three straight against the Bears.
• Kash Kalkowski leads the Huskers offense, hitting .356 with seven extra base hits.
• As a team, Nebraska is hitting .297 with a 3.25 ERA.
• Nebraska head coach Mike Anderson and Northern Colorado head coach Carl Iwasaki played college ball together for the Bears.
• Northern Colorado is 4-33 all-time against Nebraska.
Rewriting The Books
Junior outfielder Jarod Berggren hit the 12th triple of his career on Wednesday against Colorado School of Mines, tying him for the all-time career record at Northern Colorado. He knots Brad Baker (2002-05), Mark Rodriguez (1989-91) and Alvin White (1076-77) who all hit 12 three-baggers during their careers with the Bears.
More About Triples
Junior Ben Packard tied the single-game school record with two triples against Colorado School of Mines on Wednesday. He ties 10 others who have accomplished the feat, including teammate Casey Coy, who was the last to do so on April 10, 2009 at Houston Baptist.
He's Going The Distance
Junior left-handed pitcher Joe Willman became the first pitcher at Northern Colorado to pitch back-to-back complete games since Tyler Pearson did so in 2005. Willman pitched consecutive 2-0 losses in his last two outings, lowering his ERA almost 14 points to 5.79. In 15.0 innings of work in the last two, Willman has walked just two and struck out 11, allowing just four runs on 15 hits. He now has seven complete games in his career.
Shuffling The Lineup
Head coach Carl Iwasaki is working on finding the right combination of players and has used a multitude of lineups this season. The only consistencies have been Bret Fanning in the leadoff spot and Adam Hilker in the second spot. Four different players have hit third, two in the cleanup, four in the fifth, seven in the sixth, five in the seventh, five in the eighth and three in the nine hole.
Balancing Act
Every player on the team who has played in at least eight of the team's 12 games this season has at least two RBI. Junior Adam Hilker leads the way with seven RBI, while junior Jarod Berggren is second with six.
Starting Strong
Northern Colorado has scored 47 runs through 12 games this season and 22 of those plated have come in the first two innings (46.8%). On the flip side, the Bears have scored just eight in the final four innings (2 in the 6th, 3 in the 7th, 3 in the 8th and 0 in the 9th).
Best In The Great West
Northern Colorado leads the Great West Conference statistics with six triples. Utah Valley is second in the league with four. The Bears also lead the league with 17 stolen bases, just ahead of NYIT with 14 swipes.
Good Eye
Senior second baseman T.J. Berge is seeing the ball well early in the 2011 season. Berge has struck out only twice in the first 12 games (36 at bats). He leads the team with a .389 batting average and has a team-best nine walks. Berge also ranks third in the Great West Conference statistics in on base percentage at .521.
Welcome Back
Junior Adam Hilker has been a welcome addition back to the lineup in 2011 after missing the entire 2010 season with an injury. Hilker currently leads the Great West Conference with seven stolen bases and is second on the team with a .348 batting average. He also has a team-best three sacrifice bunts and 16 total hits.
No Freebies
Junior right-handed pitcher Casey Coy leads the Great West Conference with just two walks allowed in 12.0 innings of work. In his career, Coy has walked just 17 batters in 15 appearances and 40.0 innings.
Stop Thief
Northern Colorado has stolen 17 bases this season through 12 games. It was the 29th game last year before the Bears had their 17th swipe of the year and in 2009 it was the 41st game of the season before the team had 17 successful steals.
Double Trouble
Senior T.J. Berge has three doubles this season, bringing his career total to 37, which moves him into a tie for seventh all-time in Northern Colorado history. Berge is now just one double shy of knotting his father, Jordan and Terry Davis for fifth on the list with 38.
Closing In
Junior Casey Coy is two at bats from 250 in his career and needs just four RBI for 50. Junior Adrian Schenk is also just three at bats from 200 in his career.
Family Affair
Northern Colorado has two current players on the team whose fathers also played baseball for the Bears. Senior T.J. Berge's father Jordan played from 1980-83, while junior Casey Coy's father Mike was on the team in. The team also currently includes a pair of brothers in Joe and Kevin Willman and sophomore Brian Vander Velde's older sister Sydney was a standout on the women's soccer team and his younger brother Derek recently signed a National Letter of Intent to play football.
Successful Season
Northern Colorado finished 2010 with a 34-24 record and second in both the Great West Conference regular season and Tournament. The Bears lost in the championship game, 4-3 to Utah Valley in 10 innings.
Berge And Bases
Senior second baseman T.J. Berge currently has five stolen bases on the season. While that may not seem like much, it surpasses his total from his first three years in the Blue & Gold combined. Entering this year, Berge was 4-for-6 in stolen bags and he is 5-for-7 through the first 12 games in 2011.
Welcome Home
The Bears have a new coaching staff for 2011. Carl Iwasaki was named the ninth head coach in school history and returns to his alma mater. Iwasaki played for the Bears in 1981-84, graduating in 1985. He brings Gabe Ribas and Anthony Everman with him as assistant coaches, while Patrick Perry - a 2004 NC graduate - remains on the staff as a volunteer assistant.
Preseason Respect
The Bears have been chosen second in the Great West Conference preseason poll. The team received one first-place vote and 52 total points, finishing behind Utah Valley which received seven first-place nods and 63 points.
All-Tournament Honors
Junior left-handed pitcher Joe Willman was named to the Great West Conference All-Tournament team last season, along with former teammates Mike Raudenbush and Mark Shannon. Willman pitched a complete-game shutout against Texas-Pan American in the team's second game of the tournament. He struck out seven and walked just two in eight innings of work.
Hitting The Books
Both juniors Jarod Berggren and Casey Coy were named to last season's Great West All-Academic Team. To be named to the team, an individual must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 and participate in at least 50 percent of the team's contests.
Returning Award Winners
A season ago, Joe Sawicki was named the Great West Conference Pitcher of the Year as well as an All-Conference First-Team selection. Second baseman T.J. Berge and outfielder Jarod Berggren joined Sawicki on the First Team. Sawicki went 7-0 with a 1.82 ERA in conference play, pitching two complete games, walking just 15 and striking out 46 in 54.1 innings. For the year, Sawicki was 9-2 with a 3.06 ERA. Berge hit .391 for the season and was third on the team with 10 home runs. Berggren had the country's second-longest hitting streak at 40 games and hit .392 for the year with eight triples and 11 home runs as well as 15 stolen bases and a team best 87 hits.
Rewriting The Record Books
The 2010 team not only played for the inaugural title in the Great West Conference, but also broke several school records during the year. The team broke the single season records for at bats (2,148), runs (510), hits (740), doubles (142), home runs (80), RBI (478) and double plays turned (62). The team also had 34 wins, just one shy of tying the 1994 team's record of 35 victories.
Streak Ends At 41
Jarod Berggren had one of the best hitting streaks in NCAA Division I baseball history a season ago, hitting safely in 41 consecutive games, which ties for the sixth-longest ever. Berggren's streak lived in relative obscurity, however, thanks to Florida International's Garrett Wittels, who hit in 56 straight.
Hitting For The Cycle
Jarod Berggren also hit for the cycle in a seven-inning win over Chicago State last season. Berggren singled in the first, doubled in the second, hit a solo home run in the fourth and tripled in the sixth to go 5-for-6 in the game. It is the first cycle at Northern Colorado since May 11, 2007 when Zack Brockman did it against Sacramento State.
Closing In
Senior second baseman T.J. Berge is closing in on several career record lists at Northern Colorado. Berge is tied for seventh in career doubles with 37. Berge also has 104 RBI, needing just 18 to move into the top 10. Berge has 160 career hits and is 15 shy of appearing in a tie for 10th with 175 (Joe Strain, 1973-76). Junior centerfielder Jarod Berggren tied school record of 12 triples, held by three others and needs one more to own the record by himself. Junior third baseman Tony Crudo also needs just five doubles to appear in the top 10 career list. He currently has 31, second on the team.
Nationally Ranked
Northern Colorado finished the 2010 season ranked among the top 50 in 14 categories in the NCAA Division I statistics. The Bears finished 10th in batting average (.345), 11th in slugging percentage (.544), 14th in scoring (8.8), 17th in hits (740), 18th in triples (24), 25th in runs (510) and double plays (62), 26th in double plays per game (1.07), triples per game (0.41) and sacrifice flies (34), 34th in doubles (141) and doubles per game (2.43), 35th in home runs per game (1.38) and 37th in home runs (80).
