Husker baseball in need of a tuneup on offense

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by curt McKeever

Jake Mullinax knows the Nebraska baseball team isn't going to rattle opposing pitchers much if all the Huskers have are their 'Fab Five.'

While Mullinax is part of a group in which every member is hitting at least .347, NU also has four regulars who are stuck below .260.

That considered, 21st-ranked Nebraska can't be chomping at the bit for this weekend's three-game series against a Boston College team loaded with pitching.

Today, the Eagles will send left-hander Kevin Shepard (1-2, 2.50 earned run average) to the mound. Saturday, they'll rely on Chris Lambert, a strong-armed right-hander whom Collegiate Baseball projects as the nation's 11th-best draft-eligible junior.

Backed by a team that's hitting just .244, Lambert is a hard-luck 0-2 in four starts. But he's holding opponents to a .167 batting average and has 23 strikeouts in 23 innings.

"It's a goal for our offense to set a statement for our whole team that we beat (guys like that)," said Mullinax, who's hitting .393. "It might come a little harder, but you just go up there and battle."

Already, the Huskers have gone up against Rice All-American Wade Townsend, Minnesota All-American Glen Perkins, Adam Kalkhof, a Freshman All-American last season, and UCLA's Casey Janssen, who's 5-0 with a 1.35 ERA.

Nebraska went 1-3 against those teams, scoring a combined five runs in the three losses.

While Mullinax agrees some Huskers are frustrated by their lack of offense, they're just as eager to see quality pitching.

"I think we all have the same mind-set of, 'This guy throws hard, but it's hittable,' especially with what we faced early on in the season," he said. "We've faced just as good of arms in the last 14 games."

Mullinax, Alex Gordon (.396), Colin Shockey (.366), Jesse Boyer (.353) and Joe Simokaitis (.347) have supplied Nebraska with most of its offensive pop. But with John Grose hitting .108, Daniel Bruce .222 and Curtis Ledbetter .259, the Huskers have a team average of just .292.

 "I still think we have 12 guys who are competitive at the plate," NUcoach Mike Anderson said. "What they need to be able to do is understand their roles. We've got guys trying to do too much."

Even so, NU has won five of six games to improve to 10-4.

That makes Mullinax wonder what could happen if a couple more of his teammates get going at the plate.

"I think we all can contribute," he said. "That's one thing that's going to be helpful in the long run -everybody can come up with a big hit (as opposed to)just one hitter up there at that right time."

The Huskers have never played Boston College, which enters just 3-10 and on a five-game losing streak. The Eagles have lost five games by one run, including a pair at No. 10 Auburn.

While Nebraska's Zach Kroenke will be after his third win today, the featured matchup may come Saturday, when the Huskers throw Quinton Robertson against Lambert. Robertson (1-3, 4.88 ERA)went head-to-head with Townsend, Perkins and Janssen, and didn't allowed more than two earned runs but ended up with losses.

As for the matchup against Lambert?

"Actually, I did not know that guy was a first-rounder. (But) why not?" Robertson said. "In all honesty, I'd rather face those guys."

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@;journalstar.com.