By: NU Media relations
Lincoln – After winning its final non-conference home game of the season Tuesday night, the Nebraska baseball team (30-13, 6-6 Big Ten) gets back to Big Ten play this weekend with a trip to Iowa City, Iowa, for a three-game series against the #19 Iowa Hawkeyes (27-11, 10-2 Big Ten).
The Huskers and Hawkeyes will meet at Duane Banks Field for the third straight season, with the series opener scheduled for 5:05 p.m. (MT) on Friday night. The series continues on Saturday at 2:05 p.m., (MT) while the finale is set for 12:05 p.m. (MT) on Sunday. The Huskers hold a 5-4 advantage in the series since joining the Big Ten and won the first two series between the two teams before the Hawkeyes took 2-of-3 last year.
Nebraska enters the weekend seventh in the Big Ten with a 6-6 record and have played just one league series on the road, and they were swept at Maryland. The Hawkeyes were not picked in the top six of the preseason Big Ten coaches poll, but sit second in the league with a 10-2 mark, including a 5-1 home record. On the season, the Hawkeyes are 9-3 at Duane Banks Field following a 4-3 11-inning win over Northern Illinois on Wednesday night.
Iowa has won each of its first four league series this year, including a home sweep of Indiana and a road sweep at Purdue. Following its series with the Huskers, the Hawkeyes have three series remaining, including a trip to Michigan, Minnesota at home and a road series at Rutgers to end the regular season.
Chance Sinclair is scheduled to make his 27th career start on Friday night and will look to move above .500 on the year, as he sits at 5-5 in 10 starts. Over 62.0 innings, Sinclair has struck out 46, while walking 13. Sinclair started the middle game of the series last season and pitched the Huskers to their lone win of the weekend. Sinclair gave up one unearned run over 7.0 innings.
Iowa is scheduled to start junior Tyler Peyton on Friday night, who also leads the Hawkeyes with a .363 average (45-for-124) in 33 starts. The two-way player is 4-3 on the year in 10 starts on the mound with a 2.83 ERA in 57.1 innings of work. The right hander has 46 strikeouts on the year to 18 walks, and has given up 15 doubles. Peyton started the finale last season and gave up four runs on six hits over 6.1 innings, but didn’t factor into the decision after the Hawkeyes rallied for a win with four runs in the bottom of the eighth in an 8-4 Iowa victory.
Senior Kyle Kubat is scheduled to start on Saturday and for the fifth straight week he’ll try to notch his 20th career win. With a 4-2 record on the year and a 19-5 career record, Kubat is looking to become the 11th pitcher in school history to record 20 wins. Kubat is coming off a 9.0-inning outing against Ohio State where he took the mound in the 10th inning, but took the loss in a 2-1 defeat to the Buckeyes. Over his past four starts, Kubat has 18 strikeouts to one walk. The lefty did not pitch against Iowa last season.
Blake Hickman is scheduled to start on Saturday for the Hawkeyes. The junior from Chicago has been in Iowa’s weekend rotation all year after making five starts in 17 appearances last season. The 6-5 right hander has drawn attention from MLB scouts after touching 96 mph last summer in the Cape Cod League. This season, Hickman is 6-1 on the year with a 2.56 ERA over a team-high 59.2 innings. He has struck out 38 on the year season, but has also given up 26 walks. Hickman threw 2.1 innings of scoreless relief over two appearances against the Huskers last season.
Sophomore Derek Burkamper will take the hill on Sunday for the Huskers and he’ll be in search of his fifth win of the season. A native of Muscatine, Iowa, Burkamper will face the Hawkeyes for the first time as a Husker. Burkamper is coming off a career-low 2.2 inning start last weekend, after he had thrown at least 5.0 innings in seven of his eight outings to start the year.
Junior Calvin Matthews is scheduled to start the finale for the Hawkeyes after he started the series opener last year. Matthews leads Iowa’s starters with a 2.01 ERA and is 3-1 on the year in nine starts over 10 appearances. A 6-4 right hander from Bloomfield, Iowa, Matthews has struck out 26, but walked 18, over 44.2 innings. Last season, Matthews gave up one run on six hits over 8.0 innings and was on the hook for the loss before Iowa walked off the Huskers in the ninth with a pair of runs.
On the Radio
Fans across Nebraska and around the world can listen to Greg Sharpe and Ben McLaughlin call all of the action on the Husker Sports Network – including KCOW 1400 AM – and live on Huskers.com, the Official Husker App or the TuneIn Radio App.