College Station, Texas –Daniel Bruce went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Johnny Dorn fired 4.1 shutout innings, as No. 10 Nebraska took the season series against Texas A&M, 6-4, in front of a crowd of 5,754 fans at Olsen Field Sunday afternoon.
The senior from Omaha delivered key RBI hits in the second and third innings, as the Huskers jumped to a 5-1 lead and held on to clinch their first-ever series win in four tries in College Station. NU had won only twice in 13 games at Texas A&M before taking 2-of-3 this weekend.
A freshman from Grand Island, Neb., Dorn picked up the win in relief of starter Brian Duensing. Dorn allowed two hits while striking out three and kept the Aggies off the scoreboard in the final four innings as he improved to 5-1 on the season.
With the win, the Huskers improved to 31-7 on the year and 8-4 in the Big 12, and moved into a tie for second in the Big 12 with Missouri, a loser at Oklahoma State earlier Sunday. The Aggies dropped to 23-16-1 with their 11th loss of the season by two runs or less.
Texas A&M manufactured a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI groundout by Andrew Baldwin. Todd Sebek coaxed a leadoff walk before a Ryan Hill single put runners on first and second. Cliff Pennington’s grounder moved Sebek to third before Sebek scored on Baldwin’s grounder to short one batter later.
Nebraska came right back in the top of the second, stringing together three straight hits to tied the score on Bruce’s RBI single. Brandon Buckman led off the second with a single before Curtis Ledbetter’s double put runners on second and third. Bruce then lofted an RBI single to right, scoring Buckman with the tying run.
The Huskers chased Aggie starter Chance Corgan in the third, scoring four runs to take a 5-1 lead. NU opened the frame with three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. Brandon Fusilier was then hit by a pitch to plate the first run before the second run scored as Buckman hit into a double play. Ledbetter continued the rally with a two-out RBI single before coming home to score on Bruce’s RBI double to the wall in left center off reliever Kyle Nicholson.
Corgan (3-2) took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits over 2.2 innings. Relievers Kyle Nicholson and Austin Creps allowed one unearned run over the final 6.1 innings to keep the Aggies in the game.
Brian Duensing took a 5-1 lead into the fifth before the Aggies chased the Husker starter with three runs, including a key two-out, two-run double off the bat of Pennington to pull within 5-4. Duensing went 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits, but did not factor into the decision.
The Aggies had a golden opportunity in the sixth, as Justin Pouk opened the inning with a triple to the wall in left. Dorn then fanned the next two hitters and a sterling play by shortstop Joe Simokaitis, who dove and fired to nip Parker Dalton at first, ended the threat.
The Huskers took advantage of a Texas A&M error to extend their lead to 6-4 in the eighth. With one out and Bruce on first, Jeff Christy hit a slow roller to third, which Austin Boggs threw wide of first, allowing Bruce to score on the play.
Texas A&M threatened in the eighth, putting runners on first and second with two outs, but Dorn induced John Infante to ground into an inning-ending fielder’s choice before retiring the Aggies in order in the ninth.
The Huskers will wrap up the four-game road trip on Wednesday, April 20, when they travel to Des Moines Iowa, to take on Northern Iowa at Principal Park.
#10 Nebraska at Texas A&M
Apr 17, 2005 at College Station, TX (Olsen Field)
Nebraska 6 (31-7,8-4 Big 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Boyer, Jesse rf.......... 5 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 1
Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 4 1 1 0 1 2 2 9 0
Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 2 1 2 0 2 0 0 3 0
Fusilier, Brandon lf..... 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 3
Gerch, Andy lf.......... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Buckman, Brandon dh...... 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 5 1 2 1 0 0 15 1 2
Bruce, Daniel cf......... 4 1 3 2 0 0 4 0 0
Christy, Jeff c.......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1
Wehrle, Ryan 2b.......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 1
Duensing, Brian p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Dorn, Johnny p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 36 6 12 4 4 4 27 18 9
Texas A&M 4 (23-16-1,5-10 Big 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Sebek, Todd lf........... 3 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Stein, Keith Jr. ph..... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hill, Ryan dh............ 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pennington, Cliff ss..... 4 0 1 2 0 0 1 6 0
Baldwin, Andrew rf....... 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
Boggs, Austin 3b......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 3
Pouk, Justin c........... 4 0 2 0 0 0 4 2 0
Mavroulis, Coby 1b....... 2 1 1 0 1 1 17 1 0
Infante, John cf......... 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2
Dalton, Parker 2b........ 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 2
Corgan, Chance p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nicholson, Kyle p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Creps, Austin p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
Totals................... 32 4 7 4 4 3 27 20 7
Score by Innings R H E
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Nebraska............ 014 000 010 - 6 12 0
Texas A&M........... 100 030 000 - 4 7 1
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E - Boggs(6). DP - Huskers 1; Aggies 3. LOB - Huskers 9; Aggies 7.
2B -Boyer, J.(6); Gordon, A.(12); Ledbetter, C(12); Bruce, D.(11); Pennington(10); Mavroulis(5).
3B - Pouk(1). HBP - Gordon, A.; Fusilier, B.; Hill. SH - Mavroulis(3).
Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Duensing, Brian..... 4.2 5 4 4 2 0 17 21
Dorn, Johnny........ 4.1 2 0 0 2 3 15 17
Texas A&M IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Corgan, Chance...... 2.2 7 5 5 2 0 12 15
Nicholson, Kyle..... 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 2 2
Creps, Austin....... 6.0 4 1 0 2 4 22 25
Win - Dorn, J. (5-1). Loss - Corgan (3-2). Save - None.
HBP - by Corgan (Fusilier, B.); by Duensing, B. (Hill); by Creps (Gordon, A.).
Inherited runners/scored: Dorn, J. 1/0; Nicholson 1/1.
Umpires - HP: Wes Hamilton 1B: Ken McQueen 3B: Pat Spieler
Start: 1p.m. Time: 2:36 Attendance: 5742
Game: NU38
Courtesy: Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations
