Lincoln –Top-ranked Texas used a five-run sixth inning to break open a one-run game, as the Longhorns evened the series with an 11-4 victory in front of 8,163 at Hawks Field Saturday afternoon.
Alex Gordon went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and an RBI while Joe Simokaitis went 2-for-4 with an RBI, as the duo combined for half of the Huskers’ eight hits in the losing effort. Freshman Bryce Nimmo also scored three times in the loss.
Nebraska (27-5, 6-2 Big 12) trailed 3-1 in the fifth before Andy Gerch pulled the Huskers within 3-2 with a bases-loaded RBI single to left. Unfortunately, that would be as close as NU got, as Texas scored five runs off reliever Johnny Dorn. A solo homer by David Maroul pushed the lead to 4-2 before run-scoring hits by Drew Stubbs, Seth Johnston and Taylor Teagarden and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Calvin Beamon pushed the margin to 8-2, giving the Longhorns all the breathing room they needed.
Johnston had four hits, including a homer, and four RBIs, while Teagarden had three hits and an RBI for Texas, which evened the series after Nebraska’s 4-3 win in 16 innings on Friday.
Adrian Alaniz (2-0) earned the victory, fanning a career-best nine Huskers over 6.1 innings. The right-hander allowed four runs on seven hits, while Buck Cody pitched the final 2.2 innings of shutout relief for the save. With the win, Texas improved to 28-6 overall and evened its Big 12 mark at 5-5.
Zach Kroenke suffered the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits over the first four innings, as he dropped to 4-1 on the year. It also marked the first time a Husker starting pitcher had dropped a decision in 2005.
Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson said that the Longhorns were the better team on Saturday, but the Huskers have a great opportunity to take the series with a win in Sunday’s finale, which is schedule for 1:30 p.m.
“Today was the first time that we just flat out got beat,” Anderson said. “They beat us in all facets of the game, so you have to give them a lot of credit. It was our first loss like that this season, and in the game of baseball, these types of things just happen, but I think that we will respond well tomorrow.”
Texas took a 2- 0 lead off the Husker left-hander, scoring an unearned run in the second on a pair of Husker miscues and a solo homer by Johnston to lead off the third. The Huskers closed to within 2-1 in the bottom of the third, as Bryce Nimmo drew a two-out walk and scored on Simokaitis’ double to right center.
Texas regained the two-run lead in the fourth, as a walk to Maroul and a single by Nick Peoples put runners on first and second with one out. Robby Hudson, who went 3-for-4, then singled to center to put UT up 3-1.
Trailing 8-2, the Huskers rallied on Alaniz in the seventh, as an error and a single put runners on first and second before Gordon’s RBI single trimmed the lead to five runs. Andy Gerch drew a walk to load the bases before pinch hitter Rryan Wehrle’s sacrifice fly to center off Buck Cody pulled NU within 8-4.
Will Crouch capped the Longhorn scoring with a three-run, pinch-hit homer off Jeremy Becker in the eighth.
The Huskers and Longhorns will conclude the series Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., as Brian Duensing (5-0, 1.72 ERA) takes on Randy Boone (4-2, 2.62 ERA).
--Huskers—
#1 Texas at #4 Nebraska
Apr 09, 2005 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)
Texas 11 (28-6,5-5 Big 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
Stubbs, Drew cf.......... 5 1 1 1 0 2 4 0 1
Johnston, Seth ss........ 4 3 4 2 1 0 2 3 0
Teagarden, Taylor c...... 4 1 3 1 1 0 9 1 0
Kainer, Carson dh........ 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Beamon, Calvin ph....... 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Crouch, Will ph......... 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0
Wheeless, Chance 1b...... 5 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 2
Incaviglia, Thomas lf.... 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3
Maroul, David 3b......... 4 2 1 1 1 2 0 0 0
Peoples, Nick rf......... 5 2 3 0 0 1 1 0 0
Hudson, Robby 2b......... 4 1 3 1 0 0 3 5 0
Alaniz, Adrian p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cody, Buck p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 39 11 17 10 3 6 27 9 6
Nebraska 4 (27-5,6-2 Big 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
Nimmo, Bryce cf.......... 4 3 1 0 1 0 5 1 0
Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 4 1 2 1 1 1 2 3 0
Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 3 0 2 1 2 0 3 0 0
Fusilier, Brandon lf..... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Gerch, Andy lf.......... 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 2
Buckman, Brandon dh...... 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3
Wehrle, Ryan ph......... 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 4 0 0 0 0 2 8 0 2
Bruce, Daniel rf......... 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0
Christy, Jeff c.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 6 2 0
Opitz, Jake 2b........... 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 4 0
Kroenke, Zach p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dorn, Johnny p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Wertz, Luke p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Becker, Jeremy p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 33 4 8 4 5 9 27 11 8
Score by Innings R H E
Texas............... 011 105 030 - 11 17 2
Nebraska............ 001 010 200 - 4 8 2
E - Johnston(8); Teagarden(2); Fusilier, B.(3); Ledbetter, C(5). DP -
Longhorns 1; Huskers 2. LOB - Longhorns 6; Huskers 8. 2B - Teagarden(15);
Simokaitis(5). HR - Johnston(3); Crouch, W.(3); Maroul(2). HBP - Kainer, C..
SF - Beamon(3); Wehrle, R.(1). SB - Peoples, N.(4); Nimmo, B.(4). CS -
Johnston(7); Nimmo, B.(1).
Texas IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
Alaniz, Adrian...... 6.1 7 4 2 5 9 26 31 134
Cody, Buck.......... 2.2 1 0 0 0 0 7 8 21
Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
Kroenke, Zach....... 4.0 7 3 2 1 4 17 19 64
Dorn, Johnny........ 2.0 8 5 5 0 0 12 13 41
Wertz, Luke......... 1.2 1 2 2 2 1 5 7 30
Becker, Jeremy...... 1.1 1 1 1 0 1 5 5 19
Win - Alaniz (2-0). Loss - Kroenke, Z. (4-1). Save - Cody (1).
HBP - by Kroenke, Z. (Kainer, C.). BK - Alaniz(1). PB - Christy, J.(7).
Inherited runners/scored: Cody 3/1; Becker, J. 2/2. Pitches/strikes: Alaniz
134/76; Cody 21/16; Kroenke, Z. 64/38; Dorn, J. 41/27; Wertz, L. 30/17; Becker,
J. 19/12.
Umpires - HP: Jeff Henrichs 1B: Ken McQueen 3B: Randy Wetzel
Start: 1:06p.m. Time: 2:59 Attendance: 8163
Courtesy: Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations
