LINCOLN -- There's an old saying among baseball coaches that goes something like this: "Game one, gotta throw your gun."

Several well-intentioned skippers have attempted to fly in the face of that long-standing logic over the years at many different levels. Some of them have met with disastrous results as they dared to temp the fate of the baseball gods.

However, that's exactly what Nebraska baseball coach Mike Anderson plans to do in Friday's NCAA Tournament regional opener against fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois when he'll "pitch off" and start junior left-hander Dan Jennings against the Panthers. The move allows the Huskers to save No. 1 starter Johnny Dorn for a Saturday start against either No. 2 seed UC Irvine or No. 3 seed Oral Roberts, ideally in a winner's-bracket game.

Anderson recognizes that the decision not to throw Dorn in game one opens him up to criticism should the Cornhuskers either get upset or have to deplete their bullpen to pull off a victory against the regional's bottom seed. But the sixth-year coach insists that he doesn't feel like pitching Jennings, who has a 6-3 record with four saves and a 2.95 ERA, classifies as a risk and that his pitching plan gives top-seeded Nebraska its best opportunity to win the regional.

"I feel like it's the right move," Anderson told reporters Thursday after his team's practice at Haymarket Park. "Other people can categorize it as a risk or not.
"I feel like it's the right move and feel confident Dan Jennings, feel confident in Johnny Dorn and if it works, great. If it doesn’t, we still feel confident in it."

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