Nebraska at Kansas State
Tointon Family Stadium
Manhattan, Kansas
Radio: 1600 AM, 105.5 FM, Nebraska City
6 p.m. Tuesday: LH Kyle Perry (1-0, 4.82 ERA) vs. LH Joey Martin (2-0, 4.41)
Scouting Nebraska (13-9): The freshman Perry has settled into his midweek role after not pitching out of the second inning in his first career start against Oregon State in February. His combined line in starts against Air Force and Creighton: 7 2/3 innings, nine hits, two earned runs, two walks, 13 strikeouts. … The Huskers committed just one error in three games at Minnesota last weekend and saw their fielding percentage (.966) improve to 158th nationally. The team ERA (4.37) has tightened to 114th while the walks issued per nine innings (3.25) are 30th fewest in the country. … As NU’s pitching and defense normalize, hitting with runners in scoring position has been a major gauge for wins and losses. The Huskers hit .298 (37 for 124) in those situations in their 10 March victories compared to .250 (10 for 40) in four March losses. … Center fielder Joe Acker (.365) and Aaron Palensky (.337) continue to lead the team in batting average. No Big Red player owns more than two homers this spring.
Scouting Kansas State (12-16): The Wildcats are coming off their best win of the season, a 5-4 outcome against No. 10 Texas Tech on Sunday. But it’s their only victory in six tries in Big 12 play after being swept by Oklahoma State last month. … Martin is a freshman left-hander from Texas making his fourth career start. He has 18 strikeouts against eight walks in 16 1/3 innings. … After finishing 23-31 last season, K-State hired Pete Hughes as its new head coach. Hughes was the volunteer assistant at Georgia last season and spent time leading major programs at Virginia Tech (2007-13) and Oklahoma (2014-17) before that. … Outfielder Zach Kokoska is KSU’s leading hitter with a .348 batting average and three homers. Designated hitter Will Brennan (.324, seven steals) and third baseman Cameron Thompson (.301) are top threats as well.
Dugout chatter: The Huskers lead the all-time series between the former Big 12 rivals 169-115. Each won a tight game on the other’s home field last season. … K-State has one Nebraska native on its roster in true freshman Dylan Phillips. The Creighton Prep grad and first baseman is hitting .228 with a team-best four homers across 27 games (25 starts). … Tointon Family Stadium dimensions are 340 feet down the left-field line, 400 to center and 325 to right. … Kansas State boasts the 68th best strength of schedule and an RPI of 135 according to warrennolan.com. Nebraska checks in at 55th and 45, respectively. … NU shortstop Spencer Schwellenbach (ankle) could return for this weekend’s home series against Purdue but likely won’t play Tuesday.
