Game slows down as NU's Wilkening speeds up

Suddenly, the game was there and going so fast, it was hard to breathe, hard to remember all the signs, the pitches. The experience was humbling.

“My first at-bat, three pitches came down the middle, and I will never forget that feeling,” said Jesse Wilkening, who will start at catcher for Nebraska this year. “It’s surreal. You’re there and there is so much going through my mind. And that’s why Coach (Darin) Erstad reminds us to breathe and relax.”

Wilkening eventually settled in.

This year, "100 percent more comfortable and 100 percent more confident," said the record-setting hitter from Hanover Central High in Cedar Lake, Indiana. "I think I’m used to all the commotion going on with the…