NEBRASKA vs. CREIGHTON
April 18, 2023
Hawks Field at Haymarket Park | Lincoln, Neb.
 
Tuesday, April 18 – 7:02 p.m. CT
Pitching: LHP Kyle Perry (0-0, 4.97 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Kleinsorge (1-1, 5.16 ERA)
TV/Streaming: Big Ten Network
Radio: Huskers Radio Network – Lincoln (1400 AM), Omaha (590 AM), Huskers.com, Huskers App

Nebraska takes on Creighton for the second time this season in a midweek matchup tomorrow night at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
 
First pitch between the Huskers and Bluejays is scheduled for 7:02 p.m. Tomorrow night's game can be seen on Big Ten Network, with Larry Punteney and Jeff Leise on the call.
 
Fans can listen to Greg Sharpe and Ben McLaughlin call the action on the Huskers Radio Network, which can be heard on KLIN (1400 AM) in Lincoln and KXSP (590 AM) in Omaha. Every game this season can be heard for free on Huskers.com and the Official Nebraska Huskers App for both iOS and android devices.
 
Nebraska vs. Creighton
• Nebraska and Creighton have met 145 times on the baseball diamond, with the Huskers holding an 86-57-2 advantage in the all-time series.
• The Big Red have won six of the last 10 games against the Bluejays in Lincoln.
• Creighton has won the last four meetings after winning earlier this season in Omaha. The last time the Huskers won over the Bluejays was on March 26, 2019 with a 6-3 victory in Omaha.
 
2-For-.400
• Nebraska is one of two teams nationally with two everyday starters hitting at least .400 this season at the plate, joining Virginia.
• Anderson is hitting .417 with 13 doubles, two triples, 13 homers, 45 RBI and 29 runs, while Matthews is adding nine doubles, two triples, 13 home runs, 53 RBI and 41 runs with a .409 hitting clip.
 
Trio of Huskers Reach 10-HR Mark
• Through 33 games, Max AndersonBrice Matthews and Gabe Swansen have reached double-digit home-run totals with 13, 13 and 10 homers, respectively.
• With the 36 combined home runs from the trio of Huskers, the Huskers have three players with 10-plus homers for the first time since Alex Gordon (19), Curtis Ledbetter (13) and Brandon Fusilier (12) in 2005.
• NU's leader in home runs has finished with 10 in each of the last two seasons, while Scott Schreiber's 18 homers in the 2018 campaign is the last time a Husker surpassed the 10-homer mark for the whole season.
 
Burnham on Base
• Playing predominantly in the No. 9 spot in the lineup and most recently the No. 2 spot through 25 starts, Casey Burnham is third on the team with a .452 on-base percentage.
• Burnham's ability to get on base in different ways has been a key component to Brice Matthews' team-leading 53 RBI this season from the leadoff spot.
• The Kansas transfer is hitting .329 with eight doubles, a triple, a home run, six walks and 13 hit-by-pitches, while third on the team with 27 runs scored.
 
NU Offense Boasts Top Scoring Differential
• After scoring 5.8 runs per game in 2022, Nebraska holds one of the top scoring offenses in the country this season, ranking 30th with 8.3 runs per game.
• The Huskers are tied for sixth nationally and are first in the Big Ten with a scoring differential of +2.5 runs per game from last season to 2023.
• Through 33 games, the Big Red are 15-1 this season when scoring eight or more runs, including 9-0 with 10-plus runs.
 
Huskers Ride Rare 14-Game Home Run Streak
• Nebraska enters Tuesday night's matchup with Creighton having homered in 14 consecutive games.
• The 14-game stretch surpassed a 12-game streak set earlier this season, which was snapped against Illinois State.
• The 14-game streak is the longest single-season streak in program history since 1998, where the Big Red homered in 21 consecutive games.
• NU has totaled 31 homers in the 14-game stretch, including four games with three-plus home runs.
 
Shutting 'em Down From the Pen
•  Over the course of the last 11 games, the Nebraska bullpen has pitched 50.1 strong innings and picked up a pair of saves.
• In the 11-game stretch, the NU relievers have posted a 1.97 ERA and allowed 11 earned runs, while stifling opponents to a .181 batting average.
• The Husker bullpen has allowed just five extra-base hits (three doubles and two home runs) while striking out 55 batters and walking 17 in the last 11 games.
 
Huskers Slug Seven Multi-Homer Games in 2023
• Through mid-April, five Huskers have totaled seven multi-homer games for the Big Red this season.
• Josh CaronCole Evans and Brice Matthews have each homered twice in a game once this season, while Max Anderson and Gabe Swansen have compiled two multi-homer games this season.
• Since 2000, NU has had 76 individual multi-homer games, including a season-high eight times in 2000, 2001 and 2005. The five set this year are the most since having six multi-homer games in 2006.

Numbers to Know
2 – Nebraska and Virginia are the only two teams in the country with two everyday starters hitting at least .400 on the season.
3 – With seven home runs vs. Northwestern on Sunday, the Huskers became the third team to homer seven times in a game against a Power Five opponent in 2023, joining Miami and Texas State.
7 – Through 33 games, the Nebraska offense sits seventh nationally with a .556 slugging percentage.
10 – With Brice Matthews (13), Max Anderson (13) and Gabe Swansen (10) leading the home run barrage this season, the Huskers have three players with 10-plus homers for the first time since 2005.
14 – With 186 career hits, Max Anderson is 14 hits shy of becoming the 27th Husker in program history to reach the 200-hit mark in his career at Nebraska.

Huskers Add Assibey as Assistant Coach

A long-time NCAA Division I assistant with a track record of success around the country, Julian Assibey will join the Nebraska women's basketball staff for the 2023-24 season, Head Coach Amy Williams announced on Monday, April 17.

Assibey (pronounced ah-SEE-bay) comes to Lincoln after spending the past three years as an assistant coach at Florida, where he helped the Gators to three consecutive postseason berths. In his first season (2020-21) in Gainesville, Assibey helped the Gators to their first postseason berth since a 2016 NCAA Tournament bid, and their first postseason victory since 2014. In 2021-22, Assibey helped guide the Gators to a 21-11 record and a trip to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2022-23, Florida finished with a 19-15 overall record that included three wins to advance to the Postseason WNIT Great Eight.

"We are very excited to add Julian, his wife Kaylee, and son's Malachi and Elijah to our Husker women's basketball family," Williams said. "Julian is a high-energy, passionate coach and a dynamic recruiter. His 16 years of collegiate coaching experience coupled with his values and integrity make him the perfect person to positively impact our student-athletes through the game of basketball."

Assibey went to Florida after spending four successful seasons (2016-2020) at Montana State, where he helped the Bobcats to a pair of Big Sky regular-season titles and one conference tournament crown. In addition to his assistant coaching duties, Assibey served as the recruiting coordinator for the Bobcats, who produced nine all-conference honorees including a pair of Big Sky players of the year in his four seasons.

In 2019-20, Montana State produced one of the best seasons in school history, finishing with a 25-6 record that including a Big Sky regular-season title with a 19-1 mark. The Bobcats advanced to the Big Sky Tournament title game against Idaho, but the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fallyn Freije was named the 2020 Big Sky Player of the Year. In Assibey's first year at Montana State (2016-17), the Bobcats rolled to Big Sky regular-season and tournament titles, led by league player of the year Peyton Ferris. The Bobcats earned an automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament and finished the season with a 25-7 record that included a 15-3 Big Sky mark.

Assibey previously served the 2014-15 season as the video coordinator at Colorado, before advancing to a full-time assistant role for the Buffaloes in 2015-16. He returned to the state of Colorado after a pair of previous stops at Western Colorado (2010-11) and two years at Metro State Denver (2007-09).

Following his season at Western Colorado, Assibey traveled to Andover, Mass., where he spent three seasons as an assistant at Merrimack College. The Warriors posted a 12-game improvement in the win column from his first season (5-21) in 2011-12 to his second season (17-12) in 2012-13. 

Born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, Assibey grew up in Downey, Calif., before earning four letters in men's basketball while also competing in track and field (long jump, triple jump, 4x100-meter relay) at William Penn in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He earned his bachelor's degree in sports administration and strength and conditioning in 2005. Following his two seasons as an assistant coach at Metro State Denver (2007-09), he spent one season on staff as an assistant coach at William Penn (2009-10). While coaching at Merrimack in Massachusetts, Assibey completed his master's degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University in 2013.
 
Julian and his wife, Kaylee, have two sons, Malachi and Elijah.

Andrews Named Big Ten Player of the Week

Junior outfielder Brooke Andrews was named Big Ten Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday afternoon. 

Andrews was recognized for an outstanding performance in the Big Ten series sweep at Indiana. She hit .600 through three games with six hits including two doubles and a home run. Andrews tallied six RBI, a 1.100 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage. The junior started all three games in center field, finishing the weekend with a perfect fielding percentage.

The Gretna, Neb., native, produced three multi-games over the weekend. In game two, Andrews tallied three RBI, helping the Huskers secure the come-from-behind victory. She finished the weekend with a home run in game three against the Hoosiers, helping NU with the series sweep. 
 
This is Andrews' first Big Ten Player-of-the-Week award of her career. This marks Nebraska's first Big Ten Player of the Week this season and first since Billie Andrews received the honor March 8, 2022.