The Nebraska baseball team was hoping for a better start to the 2017 season than it has seen over the last few years. Instead the Huskers have had many of those same struggles, especially on their offensive side that Nebraska tends to face in the early part of the year. If there's one thing that's a bit more frustrating about this start, it's that the team is facing off against other "cold weather" teams that don't have the innate advantages of schools from California, Florida, and the south.
The 'Cold Weather' factor
The Nebraska baseball team is one fo those schools that has long blamed a slow offensive start on the fact that they don't get to practice outdoors much.
Nebraska head coach Darin Erstad has always claimed that getting started against the better west coast teams makes his team better as this season goes on. The problem with that theory is that so far, Nebraska has not been all that good at the end of their seasons either.
This year, the squad took on a UC Riverside team that finished with a losing record last season and split a series that was severely shortened by two rainouts. The second game of the season is the only one Nebraska has managed to win so far this year. Nebraska baseball opened a four-game series against Oregon State and Utah this weekend and the offense has once again been less than impressive.
Nebraska hitting .236 as a team
Even when the weather heats up, the Huskers' bats have had a problem following suit in the Erstad regime.
This has always been a bit of a surprise to Nebraska baseball fans precisely because they assumed the legendary hitter could pass on his talents to the team he's coached. So far in his tenure that hasn't really happened.
The Huskers are hitting just .236 on the season, which is even more of a problem considering the pitching staff hasn't exactly been championship-worthy.
Opponents are hitting a whopping .320. The real question now is whether or not Nebraska is going to find a way to score some runs, or if Nebraska fans can expect another frustrating season. If it does get that frustrating, it would stand to reason that Erstad will be on a rather hot seat.
