Stanford, Calif. – DJ Belfonte totaled career highs with four hits and four RBIs, leading Nebraska to a 9-2 victory over Stanford in the nightcap of Friday’s doubleheader at Sunken Diamond.
Belfonte’s timely hitting paced Nebraska’s 13-hit attack, going 4-for-6, as his four RBIs doubled his previous best of two RBIs in a game. All four of his runs were driven in with two outs, as the Huskers (1-1) scored eight of their nine runs in two-out situations.
Belfonte’s performance was more than enough for right-hander Johnny Dorn, who kept the Cardinal attack off balance all night. Dorn, who upped his career record to 32-9, allowed one unearned run over six innings for the win. The right-hander fanned seven and walked one, while allowing four singles against a Stanford offense that scored 17 runs in a 17-7 win earlier Friday.
Bryce Nimmo went 2-for-4 with a pair of walks and scored three times, while Mitch Abeita went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles to help the Huskers earn the split.
After Stanford plated an unearned run in the bottom of the first, the Huskers came back with timely hitting one inning later. NU put up four runs – all coming with two outs. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases and set the stage for a big inning. Ben Kline legged out an infield single to plate the first run before a wild pitch scored the go-ahead run to put NU ahead 2-1. Belfonte then delivered a two-run single up the middle to spot NU a three-run lead.
The Huskers chased Stanford starter Erik Davis one inning later, scoring three times, including RBI doubles from Mitch Abeita and Belfonte, to increase the margin to 7-1. Jeff Tezak opened the inning with a single before Abeita brought him home with a double down the line in left. Nimmo’s bunt single put runners on the corners with no outs. With two outs, a wild pitch scored Abeita before Belfonte ripped a double to right.
Davis (0-1) was touched up for seven runs on eight hits in just 2.2 innings to take the loss.
Kline’s hustle helped Nebraska extend its lead to 8-1 in the top of the fifth. The freshman shortstop was hit by a pitch, moved to second on Belfonte’s single and scored from second on Jake Mort’s two-out infield single.
Belfonte added the Huskers’ final run in the eight, driving home Nimmo with an RBI single to right.
The Huskers and Cardinal will continue the series Saturday afternoon. The threat of inclement weather on Saturday has pushed the start time to 3 p.m. (central). The game will be carried on Huskers.com and many of the Husker Network stations will join the game in progress.
Notes: Johnny Dorn became the eighth Husker to strike out 200 hitters in a career, as he totaled seven strikeouts tonight to increase his total to 203...DJ Belfonte’s four RBIs tonight were a career high as his previous best was two times, most recently against Coastal Carolina on May 5, 2007, while his four-hit game was the first of his career.
Nebraska at Stanford
Feb 22, 2008 at Stanford, CA (Sunken Diamond)
Nebraska 9 (1-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Belfonte, DJ rf.......... 6 0 4 4 0 1 4 0 0
Mort, Jake 3b............ 3 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
Opitz, Jake 2b........... 3 0 1 0 3 0 2 4 3
Neer, Cody 1b............ 5 1 1 0 0 0 7 0 6
Tezak, Jeff dh........... 5 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
Johnston, Dan pr/lf..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Abeita, Mitch c.......... 5 1 2 1 1 1 10 0 1
Nimmo, Bryce cf.......... 4 3 2 0 2 0 0 0 1
Sullivan, Nick lf........ 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
Kline, Ben ss............ 4 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 2
Dorn, Johnny p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nesseth, Mike p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Herr, Zach p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 39 9 13 7 7 5 27 6 16
Stanford 2 (1-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Cord Phelps 2b........... 3 1 1 0 0 1 2 3 1
Joey August lf........... 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0
Sean Ratliff cf.......... 2 0 0 1 1 1 3 0 0
Jason Castro 1b.......... 2 0 0 0 1 2 7 0 0
Randy Molina dh.......... 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Toby Gerhart ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
Austin Yount 3b.......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4
Colin Walsh 3b.......... 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
Brent Milleville c....... 2 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 0
Zach Jones c............ 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
Jeff Whitlow rf.......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
Brendan Domaracki ph/rf. 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Ben Clowe ph............ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jake Schlander ss........ 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 0
Erik Davis p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Danny Sandbrink p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Alex Pracher p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cory Bannister p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Tom Stilson p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 31 2 6 1 2 10 27 10 7
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Nebraska............ 043 010 010 - 9 13 2
Stanford............ 100 000 001 - 2 6 0
-------------------------------------------
E - Neer, C.; Abeita, M.. DP - Huskers 1. LOB - Huskers 16; Cardinal 7. 2B -
Belfonte, D.; Abeita, M. 2; Walsh. HBP - Mort, J. 2; Neer, C.; Tezak, J.;
Kline, B.; Phelps; Castro. SH - Sullivan, N.. SF - Ratliff. SB - Belfonte,
D.; Nimmo, B.; Phelps.
Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Dorn, Johnny........ 6.0 3 1 0 1 7 20 24
Nesseth, Mike....... 1.1 1 0 0 1 1 5 6
Herr, Zach.......... 1.2 2 1 1 0 2 6 6
Stanford IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Erik Davis.......... 2.2 8 7 7 1 4 16 19
Danny Sandbrink..... 2.1 2 1 1 2 0 9 12
Alex Pracher........ 2.0 2 0 0 1 1 8 10
Cory Bannister...... 1.2 1 1 1 3 0 5 10
Tom Stilson......... 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Win - Dorn, J. (1-0). Loss - Davis (0-1). Save - None.
WP - Nesseth, M.; Davis 2; Sandbrink; Pracher; Bannister. HBP - by Dorn, J.
(Phelps); by Davis (Tezak, J.); by Davis (Mort, J.); by Sandbrink (Kline, B.);
by Dorn, J. (Castro); by Pracher (Mort, J.); by Bannister (Neer, C.). PB -
Milleville 2. Inherited runners/scored: Herr, Z. 2/0; Sandbrink 1/0; Stilson 1/0.
Umpires - HP: Bill Speck 1B: Kelly Gonzales 3B: Joe Burleson
Start: 7:37p.m. Time: 3:40 Attendance: 1618
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; Winds NNW at 7
Game: NU2
Courtesy: Shamus McKnight/Huskers.com
