LINCOLN — Adam Bailey, in any of his 22 years, has likely never enjoyed a better 20 days.

The Nebraska senior is in one of those zones at the plate as the Huskers host 12th-ranked Oklahoma in a three-game Big 12 series starting Friday night at 6:35. Bailey has hit a blistering .531 with five home runs and 23 RBIs during an 11-game hitting streak that dates to March 6, his birthday.

He’s driven in at least two runs in each of the Huskers’ past nine games, a streak he extended Wednesday with a grand slam in a 15-2 win over Northern Colorado.

The right fielder from Scottsdale, Ariz., leads the Big 12 with seven home runs, 29 RBIs and 68 total bases.

“I’m trying not to think about it,” said Bailey, the reigning Big 12 offensive player of the week for his .562 hitting in three games against Texas and one against South Dakota State. “I’m just trying to keep it every swing and every pitch and every at-bat.”

Oklahoma (18-2, 1-0 Big 12) has produced its best 20-game start since 1985.

After Nebraska (11-9, 1-2) narrowly missed a series win at second-ranked Texas last weekend and hammered Northern Colorado pitching for 30 runs in a pair of midweek games, coach Mike Anderson directs a group that appears to be gaining belief in itself.

“From a confidence standpoint, we’re close to where we want to be,” Anderson said. “You’ll have a tough time believing this, but we went down to Texas with a pretty strong amount of confidence. We didn’t go down there to say, ‘Hey, let’s win a game.’ We went down there to sweep a series, and I felt like I had a team that had the right attitude going into it.”

NU held a two-run lead on the Longhorns with two outs in the ninth inning of the series opener before losing 6-5. The Huskers rebounded for a 5-3 win, but Texas took the series with a 13-3 victory Sunday.

“We’re supposedly last in the Big 12, and then we go up and face Texas,” Bailey said. “We just said, ‘It’s no big deal. Let’s just hit the ball. It’s just another game.’”

Bailey finished 7 for 11 with a pair of homers, two doubles and six RBIs against a Texas staff regarded as one of the nation’s best.

Mix in a 3-for-5 effort in the series finale against UCLA on his birthday, and Bailey is hitting .625 in his past four games against ranked foes. He’s at a team-best .449 for the season.

He said he worked on his balance at the plate during the past offseason, and it shows. He anchors a Nebraska offense averaging over 11.5 runs a game at home.

“Right now, one through six, we feel good about it,” Anderson said. “We’ve just got to get the bottom half of our order, from an offensive standpoint, to create that consistency.”

Contact the writer:

850-0781, nickrubek@hotmail.com

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