Houston, Texas – Bryce Nimmo went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBIs, including the go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning, as No. 3 Nebraska pulled away for a 10-3 victory over Texas State at the Rice Invitational Friday afternoon.
Nimmo’s two-out infield single plated Jeff Christy to snap a 3-3 tie, as the Huskers (4-1) scored once in the seventh and added six more in the eighth to break open a tie game. With runners on first and third and one out, Nimmo hit slow grounder deep in the hole between third and short that Texas State shortstop Thomas Field picked up, but did not attempt to throw out the speedy Nimmo, allowing Christy to score from third with the go-ahead run.
"That was a great at-bat," Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said of Nimmo’s game-winning RBI. "It was a quality at-bat against a left-hander and with two strikes, and he went the opposite way and was able to drive in the run for us. We tell our team that big home runs will be here and there, but it is quality at-bats like that one Bryce had that will help us win games."
Nimmo played a role in the Huskers taking a 3-0 lead, scoring twice before adding RBI singles in both the seventh and eighth frames. In all, NU pounded out 13 hits, including three by Ryan Wehrle, while Nick Jaros and Luke Gorsett both added two-run homers for Nebraska in the win.
Left-hander Tony Watson earned the victory on the mound, scattering four hits while fanning a career-high eight Bobcats over seven innings of work. The sophomore allowed three runs in the fourth, but allowed just one hit in his final three innings in the longest start of his career. Watson, who improved to 2-0, topped his previous high of six strikeouts set against Northern Iowa last April.
"I thought Tony was outstanding today and put us in a position to win," Anderson said. "Tony was pitching at a good rhythm and pace early, and he tried to keep that same rhythm out of the stretch (in the fourth), and that is where his walks came from. Once he found his rhythm again, he was great. His pitch count was ideal for what we wanted."
The Huskers struck quickly in the bottom of the first, as Jaros belted his first homer as a Husker, a two-run shot, to give NU a 2-0 cushion. Nimmo was hit by a pitch to open the game before Jaros laced a 1-1 pitch from Texas State left-hander Dan Donaldson over the fence in right to spot the Huskers a quick two-run lead.
Nimmo started the rally in the bottom of the third, as the Huskers tacked on another run to make it 3-0. The Husker center fielder drew a leadoff walk before Jaros’ sacrifice bunt moved him into scoring position. Wehrle, who went 3-for-5, then singled Nimmo home, sending a 3-2 pitch to left, as NU extended its lead to three runs.
Watson was sharp early, retiring the first nine Bobcats in order before running into trouble in the fourth. After a leadoff double to Thomas Field, Watson struggled with his control, walking the next two hitters to load the bases. Cody Merrell’s sacrifice fly put Texas State on the board before the Bobcats (3-7) tied the game with two-out RBI singles from Heath Keel and Elliott Babcock.
The score remained tied until the seventh, when NU scratched across the go-ahead run. Christy led off the frame with a single before Jake Mort’s second hit of the day two batters later put runners on the corners and chased the Bobcat starter. Left-hander Justin Fiske came in to face the left-handed hitting Nimmo, but allowed the go-ahead infield single as NU took a 4-3 lead.
Donaldson pitched well in defeat, allowing four runs on five hits over 6.1 innings to drop to 0-2 on the season
Texas State threatened in the eighth, putting runners on first and second with one out, but reliever Jared Cranston got out of the jam, getting Merrill to pop up before David Wood grounded to first to end the threat. Luke Wertz pitched a scoreless ninth, as the Bobcats finished with only four hits against the Husker staff.
The Huskers broke it open in the eighth, scoring six times on seven hits, including a two-run homer by Gorsett, his second of the year, and RBI singles by Opitz, Nimmo, Jaros and Wehrle that made it 10-3.
The Huskers will continue tournament play on Saturday afternoon, as they will take on the fourth-ranked Rice Owls. First pitch is set for 1 p.m and live stats will be available on Huskers.com. Live video will not be available on HuskersNside.
Nebraska Baseball
Texas State vs #3 Nebraska
Feb 24, 2006 at Houston, TX (Reckling Park)
Texas State 3 (3-7)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Field, Thomas ss......... 4 1 1 0 1 2 3 2 2
Jones, Kyle rf........... 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0
Garza, Aaron dh.......... 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
Bunn, Jared ph.......... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Merrell, Cody 3b......... 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
Wood, David 1b........... 4 0 0 0 0 2 9 1 2
Keel, Heath cf........... 3 0 1 1 1 1 3 0 0
Babcock, Elliott lf...... 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
Cannon, Luke ph......... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Bednarek, Dawid c........ 4 0 1 0 0 1 6 0 2
Siers, Steven 2b......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Ross, Cody ph........... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Crumpton, Pat 2b........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Schramm, Lance ph....... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Donaldson, Dan p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Fiske, Justin p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Garza, Jarod p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Baca, Jason p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 29 3 4 3 6 10 24 12 7
Nebraska 10 (4-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Nimmo, Bryce cf.......... 2 2 2 2 1 0 6 0 0
Jaros, Nick lf........... 4 1 2 3 0 0 2 0 1
Wehrle, Ryan ss.......... 5 1 3 2 0 0 0 1 1
Gorsett, Luke rf......... 5 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0
Brown, Andrew 1b......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 1
Buckman, Brandon 1b..... 2 0 1 0 0 0 4 1 3
Gerch, Andy dh........... 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0
Christy, Jeff c.......... 4 2 1 0 0 1 10 0 0
Opitz, Jake 2b........... 2 1 1 1 0 1 2 1 0
Mort, Jake 3b............ 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 1
Watson, Tony p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Schwab, Drew p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cranston, Jared p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wertz, Luke p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 33 10 13 10 3 6 27 6 7
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Texas State......... 000 300 000 - 3 4 2
Nebraska............ 201 000 16X - 10 13 1
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E - Crumpton, P. 2(2); Jaros, N.(1). DP - Bobcats 1. LOB - Bobcats 7;
Huskers 7. 2B - Field, T.(1); Wehrle, R.(3). HR - Jaros, N.(1); Gorsett,
L.(2). HBP - Nimmo, B.; Opitz, J.. SH - Jones, K.(2); Nimmo, B.; Jaros,
N.(1); Opitz, J.(2). SF - Merrell, C.(2). CS - Gerch, A.(2).
Texas State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Donaldson, Dan...... 6.1 5 4 4 2 5 20 27 95
Fiske, Justin....... 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 7
Garza, Jarod........ 0.2 3 3 3 0 0 4 4 12
Baca, Jason......... 1.0 4 3 2 1 1 8 9 23
Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Watson, Tony........ 7.0 4 3 3 2 8 24 27 86
Schwab, Drew........ 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 6
Cranston, Jared..... 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 10
Wertz, Luke......... 1.0 0 0 0 2 2 3 5 23
Win - Watson, T. (2-0). Loss - Donaldson, D (0-1). Save - None.
HBP - by Donaldson, D (Nimmo, B.); by Donaldson, D (Opitz, J.). Pitches/strikes:
Donaldson, D 95/57; Fiske, J. 7/4; Garza, J. 12/6; Baca, J. 23/16; Watson, T.
86/59; Schwab, D. 6/2; Cranston, J. 10/5; Wertz, L. 23/13.
Umpires - HP: Rob Johnson 1B: Jay McKeown 3B: Reggie Ligons
Start: 12:57p.m Time: 2:20 Attendance:
Fiske, J. faced 1 batter in the 7th.
Garza, J. faced 3 batters in the 8th.
Game: NU5
Courtesy: Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations
