Lincoln – Joba Chamberlain fanned 10 over eight innings, while freshman Ryan Wehrle drove in a career-high three RBIs, lifting seventh-ranked Nebraska to an 8-4 win over No. 8 Baylor Friday evening at Hawks Field.
Chamberlain (6-0) was dominant in holding Baylor to one run on five hits for his sixth win of the season. The right-hander from Lincoln fanned 10 Bears – the fourth time this season he reached double figures in strikeouts – over eight innings, while lowering his season ERA to 1.84.
Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson said that Chamberlain set the tone for the Huskers, who snapped Baylor’s seven-game Big 12 winning streak, while improving to 33-7 overall and 9-4 in the Big 12. The win, the first by NU in six tries over Baylor since 2003, also was BU’s first loss to a ranked team since Feb. 18.
"It is important to get a win on Friday night," Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said. "Joba did a great job of controlling the game. He put zeros on the board, and when we scored early it relaxed him, and it all came together. I am really proud of the kids tonight."
The Huskers pounded out 10 hits, including two doubles by Wehrle, who went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. The freshman from Papillion, Neb., tied or set career bests in hits, doubles, RBIs and runs scored in Friday’s win.
"To be honest, I was more impressed with the swings he didn’t take," Anderson said of Wehrle, who is hitting .385 with eight RBIs in his last 10 contests. "He worked the count and showed discipline. He’s doing a nice job and putting good swings on the ball."
The Huskers also took advantage of Baylor’s porous defense, as the Bears committed five errors, leading to six of Nebraska’s eight runs. BU starter Trey Taylor (4-4) suffered the loss, as he allowed seven runs, although only one was earned, as Baylor dipped to 26-15 and 12-4 in league play.
With winds gusting to 35 miles per hour through most of the game, the Huskers took advantage of the conditions to plate a pair of runs on the second. After Brandon Fusilier reached on an error, Jesse Boyer’s pop-up dropped for a wind-aided single, putting runners on first and second. Wehrle then cleared the bases, sending Taylor’s 3-1 pitch down to left for a two-run double. Daniel Bruce made it 3-0 moments later with an RBI single to left.
Baylor pulled to within 3-1 in the fifth off Chamberlain, as Kevin Russo reached on an infield single, moved to second on a walk and came home on Paul Witt’s RBI single to right.
That would be as close as the Bears would get, as Nebraska scored a run in the fifth, taking advantage of Russo’s second error of the night, as Bruce, who went 2-for-4 singled and stole second before scoring on the Bear miscue to make it 4-1.
The Huskers pulled away with three runs in the sixth, highlighted by Brandon Fusilier’s 11th homer of the season while Wehrle chipped in with an RBI single, as Taylor allowed eight of NU’s 10 hits over 5.2 innings. NU plated its final run in the eighth on Joe Simokaitis’ RBI single to score Jake Opitz, who doubled to open the frame.
Baylor made it closer in the ninth on a three-run homer by Chase Gerdes off reliever Luke Wertz.
The Huskers and Bears will continue the series Saturday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. Zach Kroenke (4-1, 2.57 ERA) will take the hill for NU while Mark McCormick (4-1, 2.57 ERA) toes the rubber for the Bears. The game will be carried state-wide on NET-1 (Ch. 12 in Lincoln) and shown on a tape-delayed basis on College Sports Television Saturday night at 7 p.m. (CST).
-- Huskers --
Baylor vs Nebraska (Apr 22, 2005)
Box score (NCAA)
2005 Nebraska Baseball
#8 Baylor at #7 Nebraska
Apr 22, 2005 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)
Baylor 4 (26-15,12-4 Big 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.
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Griffin, Michael 2b...... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .293
Reynolds, Kyle 1b........ 3 0 0 0 1 2 10 0 0 .268
Ford, Josh dh............ 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .329
Dillon, Zach c........... 4 0 0 0 0 1 6 2 0 .312
Brees, Reid lf........... 4 1 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 .275
Russo, Kevin 3b.......... 3 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 .278
Rippee, Jake ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .250
Gerdes, Chase cf......... 4 1 1 3 0 1 2 0 0 .239
Sevigny, Kevin rf........ 3 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 1 .258
Witt, Paul ss............ 3 0 1 1 0 2 0 7 0 .232
Taylor, Trey p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Bullock, Tyler p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Cassavechia, Nick p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -
Totals................... 33 4 8 4 2 11 24 10 4
Nebraska 8 (33-7,9-4 Big 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
Bruce, Daniel cf/rf...... 4 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 .331
Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 5 0 1 2 0 1 0 5 1 .273
Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 4 0 1 0 1 1 1 3 0 .404
Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 5 0 0 0 0 2 10 0 3 .340
Gerch, Andy dh........... 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 .358
Adams, Trey ph/dh....... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .273
Fusilier, Brandon lf..... 3 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 .319
Nimmo, Bryce cf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .271
Boyer, Jesse rf/lf....... 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .326
Christy, Jeff c.......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 11 0 1 .238
Wehrle, Ryan 2b.......... 3 2 2 3 0 0 3 4 0 .246
Opitz, Jake ph/2b....... 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .253
Chamberlain, Joba p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -
Wertz, Luke p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Totals................... 37 8 10 7 2 7 27 13 9
Score by Innings R H E
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Baylor.............. 000 010 003 - 4 8 5
Nebraska............ 030 013 01X - 8 10 1
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E - Griffin(5); Russo 2(13); Witt(11); Taylor(1); Simokaitis(5). DP -
Huskers 2. LOB - Bears 4; Huskers 9. 2B - Ford(12); Wehrle, R. 2(4); Opitz,
J.(4). HR - Gerdes(1); Fusilier, B.(11). HBP - Fusilier, B.. SH - Christy,
J.(10). SB - Bruce, D.(4); Fusilier, B.(11).
Baylor IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ERA
-----------------------------------------------------
Taylor, Trey........ 5.2 8 7 1 1 4 28 30 3.62
Bullock, Tyler...... 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 4 5 2.70
Cassavechia, Nick... 1.0 2 1 1 1 1 5 6 4.50
Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ERA
-----------------------------------------------------
Chamberlain, Joba... 8.0 5 1 1 2 10 27 29 1.84
Wertz, Luke......... 1.0 3 3 3 0 1 6 6 5.40
Win - Chamberlain (6-0). Loss - Taylor (4-4). Save - None.
WP - Taylor(7). HBP - by Bullock (Fusilier, B.). PB - Dillon(6).
Umpires - HP: Bob Homolka 1B: Tim Norman 3B: Jeff Henrichs
Start: 6:42p.m. Time: 2:45 Attendance: 5015
Game: NU40
Courtesy: Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations
