Lincoln – Curtis Ledbetter’s two-run homer broke a 4-all tie, as seventh-ranked Nebraska used three homers to topple No. 29 Oklahoma State, 8-4, in front of a crowd of 5,910 at Hawks Field Friday evening.

Ledbetter’s sixth-round tripper of the season off of Oklahoma State starter Thomas Cowley proved to be the go-ahead runs, as the Huskers improved to 23-3 on the season and 2-1 in the Big 12 with their fourth straight win.

Daniel Bruce and Brandon Fusilier also added homers, as the Huskers hit three homers off of Cowley, who entered the contest with a 6-1 record and a 1.61 ERA.

Bruce paced the 10-hit Husker attack, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored while Fusilier and Ledbetter drove in two runs apiece to help Nebraska improve to 13-0 at Hawks Field this season.

“I was really pleased with our offense,” Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson. “They did extremely well against what I consider to be one of the best lefties in the league (Thomas Cowley).I was really pleased with the discipline of our hitters tonight.”

Dustin Timm earned the win in relief of Joba Chamberlain, allowing one hit over 3.1 scoreless innings to improve to 2-0 on the season. Timm struck out four without a walk, matching his career high in strikeouts.

With the score tied at four entering sixth, Brandon Buckman coaxed a walk before Ledbetter sent an 0-1 pitch over the fence in right center, giving the Huskers the lead for good.  The Huskers tacked on a pair of unearned runs in the seventh and relied on Timm’s performance, as he held OSU scoreless over 3.1 innings of work.

“I am really proud of Dusty Timm tonight,” Anderson said. “He did a great job into the late innings and put zeroes up on the board.”

Early on, the Huskers broke the scoreless tie in the third, using Bruce’s solo homer and a two-run shot by Fusilier to take a 3-0 lead.

Oklahoma State (21-9, 4-3 Big 12) tied the game in the fifth, using a two-run triple by Chris Gutierrez and a run-scoring ground out by Justin Cobert to knot the score.

The Huskers regained the lead in the fifth, as Alex Gordon’s RBI single to right scored Daniel Bruce, who reached on a one-out single.

Cowley (6-2) took the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits in six innings of work.

OSU got the equalizer in the sixth on Corey Brown’s RBI double off Chamberlain, who allowed four runs on five hits in 5.2 innings, but did not factor into the decision.
 
The series continues Saturday afternoon at 2:05 p.m., as left-hander Zach Kroenke (3-0, 2.66 ERA) takes the hill for the Huskers. Oklahoma State has not announced its starter for Saturday’s game.

-- Huskers --

                     2005 Nebraska Baseball
                       #29 Oklahoma State at #7 Nebraska
                  Apr 01, 2005 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)

Oklahoma State 4 (21-9,4-3 Big 12)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Colbert, Justin 2b.......  4  0  0  1   0  0  4  4   0
Ryal, Rusty 3b...........  4  0  0  0   0  3  0  2   0
Hernandez, Mike rf.......  3  0  0  0   1  0  3  0   0
Parrish, Jeff c..........  4  0  0  0   0  0  7  2   0
Wright, Ty lf............  4  1  1  0   0  1  1  1   0
Brown, Corey dh..........  2  1  1  1   2  1  0  0   0
Carr, Adam 1b............  4  0  2  0   0  0  6  0   1
Ptak, Steve cf...........  4  1  1  0   0  2  3  0   3
Gutierrez, Chris ss......  3  1  1  2   0  0  0  1   0
Cowley, Thomas p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Barnard, Dusty p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 McDonald, Brett p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32  4  6  4   3  7 24 10   4

Nebraska 8 (23-3,3-1 Big 12)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Bruce, Daniel cf.........  4  3  3  1   0  1  3  0   0
Simokaitis, Joe ss.......  4  1  1  0   1  0  0  5   2
Gordon, Alex 3b..........  2  1  1  1   0  0  0  4   0
Fusilier, Brandon lf.....  4  1  1  2   0  1  0  0   1
Buckman, Brandon dh......  3  1  1  0   1  1  0  0   2
Ledbetter, Curtis 1b.....  4  1  1  2   0  1 10  1   1
Gerch, Andy rf...........  4  0  1  0   0  1  4  0   0
 Adams, Trey rf..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Christy, Jeff c..........  4  0  1  0   0  1  7  0   0
Wehrle, Ryan 2b..........  3  0  0  0   0  1  3  3   0
Chamberlain, Joba p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Timm, Dustin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32  8 10  6   2  7 27 13   6

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Oklahoma State...... 000 031 000 -  4  6  2
Nebraska............ 003 012 20X -  8 10  1
-------------------------------------------

E - Colbert(6); Wright, T.(2); Gordon, A.(4). DP - OS 1; Huskers 1. LOB - OS
4; Huskers 6. 2B - Brown(4); Carr(8); Bruce, D.(8). 3B - Gutierrez(5). HR -
Bruce, D.(3); Fusilier, B.(9); Ledbetter, C(7). HBP - Bruce, D.; Gordon, A.
2. SH - Wehrle, R.(3). CS - Buckman, B.(1).

Oklahoma State         IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Cowley, Thomas......  6.0  8  6  6  1  5 24 27 111
Barnard, Dusty......  0.0  0  2  0  1  0  0  2   8
McDonald, Brett.....  2.0  2  0  0  0  2  8  9  31

Nebraska               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Chamberlain, Joba...  5.2  5  4  4  3  3 21 24  96
Timm, Dustin........  3.1  1  0  0  0  4 11 11  34

Win - Timm, D. (2-0).  Loss - Cowley (6-2).  Save - None.
WP - Cowley(3). HBP - by Cowley (Gordon, A.); by Cowley (Gordon, A.); by Barnard
(Bruce, D.). PB - Parrish(5). Pitches/strikes: Cowley 111/70; Barnard 8/2;
McDonald 31/21; Chamberlain 96/57; Timm, D. 34/22.
Umpires - HP: Bob Homolka  1B: Tim Norman  3B: Doug Williams
Start: 6:35p.m.   Time: 2:23   Attendance: 5910
Barnard faced 2 batters in the 7th.
Game: NU26