John Anderson's baseball team going into the final two weekends of the Big Ten and regular season tied for third in the conference with Penn State and Michigan State at 10-8.

The Nittany Lions won two of three games from the Gophers last weekend. Now the U travels to Nebraska.

The Gophers, 28-22, have been hit hard with injuries and are not near the top in the conference in any offensive categories except for being second in sacrifice bunts with 43 and sacrifice flies with 21.

But Minnesota has stayed competitive with pitching and fielding. The Gophers lead the conference in ERA (2.91) and strikeouts (346).

Opponents are hitting only .245, only one staff is holding opposing batters under that average.

In fielding, Nebraska has the smallest of edges possible over the Gophers for first in the conference. Both are fielding at .975.

T.J. Oakes is the Gophers top pitcher. He has seven victories and leads the Big Ten in ERA (1.70) and strikeouts (74).

* The Gophers' new baseball stadium proposal will be presented to the U of M's board of regents on Thursday morning. The board is expected to approve the start of phase one construction of the ballpark at its June meeting.