LINCOLN - Excuse Dave Bingham for his momentary flashback to 1995. That was the Nebraska pitching coach's final season steering Kansas' baseball program, and the shape it took came as no less a surprise than the run the Jayhawks made to the 1993 College World Series.
Even with a mix of tested veterans and promising young talent who'd helped KU get back to a NCAA regional again in 1994, Bingham's final team never got untracked and finished with a losing record. In his opinion, it was underachievement at its frustrating best.
Twelve years later and in his second season with the Huskers, Bingham is watching a similar phenomenon, as NU - a No. 6 national seed in last year's NCAA championships and a 2005 CWS participant - is fighting for its postseason life.
The difference for Bingham this time is he has a better feel for how a team that in Big 12 Conference games is No. 1 in hitting and No. 2 in pitching could be 12-12 in the league heading into its final series at Kansas this weekend.
“A lot of things we do are silly and, I hate to say it, but in the growing-up process we're just at that stage of learning,” Bingham said Thursday. “There hasn't been a game, hardly, that's been easy. We make enough mistakes that we tend to provide opportunities for teams.”
Still, Bingham is far from thinking the rest of the season will be a lost cause for NU. For all their ups and downs, the Huskers are still in position to make an eighth NCAA regional in the last nine years.
Winning their fifth Big 12 series in the last six tries would take them another step closer. But if Nebraska follows the season-long script, its fans may need to stay tuned all the way to the ending scene of Sunday night's finale.
“We're trying to get (to where things click),” Bingham said. “Hopefully it happens yet this year, because these guys are really into it.
“We squared up every ball through six innings (during Tuesday's 9-2 loss to Creighton), but we hit balls and we couldn't hit them out of the park. (DJ) Belfonte hit one to the warning track. (Jake) Mort hit one there. A year ago, that was Brandon Buckman hitting one over the light tower.”
Adding intrigue to this weekend is the unclear playing status of shortstop Craig Corriston. The junior, who replaced Ryan Wehrle after he was dismissed from the program 13 days ago, injured his right shoulder on Monday and didn't play in Tuesday's game.
Corriston was reportedly doing better on Wednesday and Thursday. But he still might be used as a designated hitter only this weekend, leaving the regular third baseman Mort at shortstop and regular DH Jeff Tezak at third.
NU's defense probably isn't its biggest area of concern.
While the Huskers own the Big 12's top batting average of .304 in league games, they've also stranded nearly nine runners per contest.
Nebraska's hitting a respectable .284 with runners in scoring position, but in the 12 games it's won that number is .310, while in the 12 losses it's .246.
“We're collecting 10 hits and 12 hits, but we've got to have clutch hitting. There's a big difference,” coach Mike Anderson said. “Let's dig into the runners in scoring position with less than two outs. You've got to have those things.
“Our pitching (is what's) kept us in games. It's been good the second half of this season.”
Nebraska's 4.02 ERA in Big 12 games trails only the 3.29 of Texas (which would discount theories that Husker pitchers haven't responded to Bingham as well as they did to former coach Rob Childress, whose Texas A&M team has a 5.34 ERA in Big 12 games). But NU dropped three of its first four league contests by allowing final-at-bat runs, and lost another of that variety in their third series against A&M.
As a contrast, Nebraska hasn't delivered a final-at-bat win in the league.
“We were hitting the ball hard, lining out to the wall,” junior second baseman Jake Opitz said of Tuesday's game. “One of these days, those are going to fall for us. When that happens, it's going to be scary.
“I feel good about this team. I don't know what it is, but we've got that second life and we're about ready to get on a roll.”
Briefly
n Nebraska can finish no higher than fourth and no lower than sixth in the Big 12. The league tournament begins Wednesday in Oklahoma City, where the Huskers will play three games looking to advance out of their four-team pool into the May 27 championship.
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