Huskers glad they’ll have big following in Omaha for Big Ten tournament
By Jon Nyatawa / World-Herald Bureau
LINCOLN — Saturday’s season finale at Haymarket Park hadn’t started yet and Nebraska sophomore Jake Schleppenbach was already enamored by the buzz emanating from the fans in the stands.
Then the action began.
There were standing ovations for inning-ending double plays. Shouts of encouragement followed nearly every pitch as an NU hitter dug his cleats into the batter’s box dirt. The traditional slow-clap in two-strike counts — the crowd’s call for a strikeout — was as loud as it’s been all year.
The atmosphere made Nebraska’s 3-0 win over Indiana that much sweeter, Schleppenbach said.
Coach Darin Erstad sent out a tweet Saturday thanking the 5,558 in attendance. The second-largest crowd of the season left an imprint on the players, too.
“Before the game even started, I got goose bumps running out on to the field,” Schleppenbach said. “The fans were great. It was pretty unreal.”
That support will be amplified this week.
The Huskers are the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, which returns to TD Ameritrade Park after setting attendance records two years ago. The five-day event drew 62,020 total — including 19,965 for the title game — to set an NCAA record for a conference tournament crowd.
Just about all of them were wearing Nebraska red.
And this year’s ticket sales are ahead of the 2014 pace. As of last week, about 5,800 all-session tickets had been purchased. Single-day passes went on the market Tuesday.
Roger Dixon, Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority president and CEO, said in April that TD Ameritrade Park staffers were preparing for 2014-like attendance numbers. About 4,500 NU fans bought single-game tickets the morning of Nebraska’s first game in the tournament. Something like that could happen again.
But even if the crowds don’t eclipse previous marks, the Huskers know the stands will be packed with fans cheering for them. They play at 1 p.m. Wednesday against No. 7 seed Michigan State.
“Everybody can skip work — let’s go,” Erstad said. “Should be fun.”
Said Schleppenbach: “It will be an awesome crowd, I’m sure.”
Nebraska’s opponents are looking forward to it, too.
The Big Ten coaches two years ago all voted in favor of annually playing the league tournament in Omaha, despite it being in NU’s backyard.
After losing to Nebraska in the first round in 2014, Ohio State coach Greg Beals admitted that the stadium was so loud his players couldn’t hear him shouting instructions from the dugout’s top step — but he insisted that he’d do it all over again.
Michigan coach Erik Bakich noted that more than 7,000 came to the ballpark for two elimination games on a day that the Huskers didn’t play, which impressed him.
“The other coaches wouldn’t have voted unanimously to go play there if it wasn’t good for their guys, too,” Erstad said. “It amps everything up. It’s another fun experience for the guys.”
Now NU has to take advantage of it. That won’t be easy, though.
There’s no team that separated itself from the pack in league action this year — like Purdue in 2012, Indiana in 2013 and 2014, and Illinois in 2015. Minnesota won the regular-season crown by a half-game. And after the conference sent a record five teams to NCAA regionals last season, there are a few programs in reload mode.
But all eight Big Ten tournament participants are in the top 100 of the RPI. Minnesota (at No. 24) was the only team in last week’s
D1Baseball.com Top 25, but several others have made cameos in that SEC- and ACC-dominated poll during the season.
Illinois, last year’s regular-season champion and super regional qualifier, didn’t make the Big Ten tournament. The Illini have the league’s top MLB draft prospect (pitcher Cody Sedlock), too.
“Anything can happen (this week),” Erstad said.
The Huskers know that all too well. They ran through the losers bracket and nearly upset eventual CWS participant Indiana in 2013. Last year, though, they lost both tournament games in heartbreaking fashion.
They’ll be looking to secure their first Big Ten championship this time. And they’ll be happy to see all the friendly faces rooting them on.
“I’m excited,” sophomore Jake Meyers said. “It’s going to be a heck of a tourney. If we show up and do what we can do, it’ll be a lot of fun.”
Go Hoosiers!
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