Opitz Named Big 12 Player of the Week

Dallas -- University of Nebraska second baseman Jake Opitz was named Big 12 Player of the Week Monday for his performance at the Rice Invitational over the weekend. It is the first weekly honor for Opitz, a junior from Littleton, Colo.

Opitz hit .600 (6-for-10) with five runs scored, one RBI and a pair of doubles in helping the Huskers to a 2-1 week, highlighted by a win over nationally-ranked Florida Atlantic. Optiz, who also drew three weeks, finished the weekend with a .692 on-base percentage.  Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, he went 3-for-4, scored three times and went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks against sixth-ranked Rice on Saturday.

Opitz and the Huskers stayed seventh in the Collegiate Baseball poll and jumped from 19^th to 18^th in the Baseball America poll released Monday. The Huskers return to action on Friday when they travel to Deland, Fla., for the Stetson Invitational, where they will face Iowa, Notre Dame and the host Hatters.

-- Huskers --

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's        
NCAA Div. I Poll
(As of Feb. 26, 2007)          
Rank School (Record)            Points  Previous
1. Vanderbilt (10-0)            493             1
2. Florida St. (13-0)           491             2
3. North Carolina (7-0)         490             3
4. South Carolina (8-1)         488             4
5. Clemson (6-1)                487             5
6. Rice (9-4)                   485             6
7. Nebraska (5-2)               483             7
8. Virginia (10-1)              482             11
9. Oregon St. (11-2)            476             9
10. Arkansas (9-3)              474             10

11. Cal. St. Fullerton (9-4)    471             8
12. Arizona St. (10-3)          468             14
13. Pepperdine (10-3)           465             18
14. Georgia Tech. (6-4)         463             15
15. Miami, Fla. (6-5)           461             16
16. Mississippi (6-3)           460             13
17. Arizona (11-3)              458             17
18. Wichita St. (8-2)           456             19
19. Texas A&M (11-1)            454             24
20. Long Beach St. (8-4)        452             20

21. San Diego (11-5)            451             21
22. Texas (9-6)                 450             22
23. Texas Christian (7-4)       447             12
24. Auburn (10-1)               445             29
25. North Carolina St. (8-1)    443             26
26. Coastal Carolina (9-1)      440             30
27. Florida Atlantic (10-2)     438             27
28. Southern Calif. (9-7)       435             -
29. Baylor (7-4)                432             -
30. South Florida (9-1)         430             -

Baseball America College Top 25 Rankings
Rk. Team W-L Last Week Previous
1. North Carolina 7-0 4-0 1
2. Clemson 6-1 4-0 2
3. Vanderbilt 10-0 4-0 3
4. South Carolina 8-1 3-0 4
5. Arkansas 9-3 3-1 5
6. Rice 9-4 4-0 6
7. Virginia 10-1 6-0 7
8. Florida State 13-0 4-0 8
9. Oregon State 11-2 2-1 9
10. Cal State Fullerton 9-4 2-2 10
11. Wichita State 8-2 7-0 12
12. Miami 6-5 2-1 11
13. Texas 9-6 3-1 13
14. Arizona State 10-3 3-0 14
15. Georgia Tech 6-4 3-1 16
16. San Diego 11-5 2-1 18
17. Pepperdine 10-3 3-0 20
18. Nebraska 5-2 2-1 19
19. Long Beach State 8-4 3-0 NR
20. UC Riverside 9-4 2-1 NR
21. Oklahoma State 6-3 1-2 17
22. Coastal Carolina 9-1 2-1 NR
23. UCLA 7-7 1-3 15
24. North Carolina State 8-1 2-1 NR
25. Texas A&M 11-1 4-0 NR