Huskers hit the road

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By CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska has the momentum of a three-game weekend sweep of Texas Tech at Haymarket Park. But this week, the Huskers step out of their comfort zone.

NU, 24-4-1 overall and leading the Big 12 Conference at 10-1-1, plays at Iowa tonight and then heads to Oklahoma State for a weekend series.

“It is a little bit of a grind,” junior pitcher Dan Jennings said of a there-and-back trip to Iowa City today that will be followed by a Thursday departure to Stillwater, Okla. “A lot of us are kind of used to it, though. We’ve just got to go into it with the same mind-set. Like Coach (Mike) Anderson always says, even if we’re playing on the road, it’s our ballpark.”

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Erik Bird is expected to take the mound Tuesday at Iowa. (LJS file)

Erik Bird is expected to take the mound Tuesday at Iowa. (LJS file)

Anderson’s club will be facing an 8-17 Hawkeye team that’s struggling. Iowa, though, split a pair of games with NU last season, erasing a huge deficit to win the first one and nearly coming back to take the second. And two years ago in Iowa City, coach Jack Dahm’s squad rallied big before losing 16-14 in 13 innings.

“It’s become a nice little rivalry,” Anderson said. “I have a lot of respect for Jack Dahm and his program. I know the way his kids play — they play good, hard baseball, so whether their season is good or not we know we’re going to get a competitive group out of Iowa’s kids.”

Nebraska will send junior right-hander Erik Bird (1-1, 1.62 ERA) to the mound tonight. Iowa is scheduled to throw its No. 1 weekend starter, sophomore lefthander Michael Jacobs (2-3, 5.91)

Briefly

** The Huskers jumped to No. 6 in the Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and USA Today/ESPN national polls. NU hasn’t been that high since it was No. 3 in May of 2006.

** A three-game home series against Louisiana-Lafayette originally scheduled for May 2-4, has been changed to May 2-3. The teams will now play the final two games of that series in a day-night doubleheader at 12:05 p.m. and 6:05 p.m. May 3.

Anderson said the changes were made to accommodate the teams’ finals week schedules.

** Nebraska’s 10-1-1 start in the Big 12 is its best 12-game mark since the league was formed in 1997. Two of the previous three times the Huskers won nine of their first 12 games in the Big 12, they won the conference title.

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