Lincoln – Jeff Christy’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly broke a 4-all deadlock, as fifth-ranked Nebraska rallied for a 5-4 victory over Kansas State Friday evening in front of a crowd of 6,593 at Hawks Field.
Nebraska’s win, coupled with Missouri’s loss to Baylor and Texas A&M’s extra-inning win over Texas, assures that Nebraska can finish no worse than second in the Big 12 race. NU now needs to sweep Kansas State and hope that Missouri takes the final two games of the season to force a tie in the Big 12 standing.
Trailing 4-3, Brandon Fusilier opened the sixth with a single before an error on Jared Goedert error put runners at first and second with no outs. Ryan Wehrle’s sacrifice moved both runners into scoring position before Trey Adams tied the game with an RBI single. Christy then lofted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Ryan Bohanan with the go-ahead run off KSU starter and loser Chase Mitchell (7-6), who allowed all five NU runs.
Adams led the Huskers (44-12, 17-8) going 2-for-2 with two walks and an RBI in helping the Nebraska record its 17th come-from-behind win of the season. Joba Chamberlain picked up the victory, allowing four runs on six hits over six-plus innings to improve to 7-2 on the season. The right-hander earned his first win since April 22, fanning six while walking only one. Ryan Bohanan, Brian Duensing and Brett Jensen combined for three innings of one-hit relief, getting the Huskers out of jams in both the seventh and eighth frames. Jensen pitched a perfect 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save of the year, which is one off NU’s single-season record.
Kansas State (30-23, 8-17 Big 12) used a controversial call to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth. With two outs and runners on second and third, Eric Eymann’s infield single pulled KSU within 3-1. Josh Dent than lofted a three-run homer, that landed in foul territory, but was called a three-run homer by home plate umpire Bob Homolka, much to the ire of the nearly 6,600 in the ballpark.
“The thing that I am most proud of is that we called the kids up (after the homer) and said ‘There is some adversity that we haven’t faced before and we got a chance in the next five innings to overcome it or cry in our Wheaties and say we got cheated.’” Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson said. “Our kids responded. I am really proud of our kids for overcoming that. It is fortunate that we were able to win and overcome adversity.”
The Huskers struck early, scoring its first run without the aide of a base hit in the bottom of the first. Jesse Boyer opened the inning with a walk and moved into scoring position on a balk. After a groundout moved him to third, Alex Gordon walked to put runners on the corners with one out. Curtis Ledbetter hit a liner to Steve Murphy in right, who doubled up Gordon, but Boyer scored before the third out to give the Huskers a 1-0 lead.
Nebraska continued to apply pressure on KSU starter Chase Mitchell, adding single runs in the second and third to make it 3-0. Fusilier, who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, led off the second with a double before eventually scoring on a passed ball. One inning later, Alex Gordon singled and stole second before coming home on an RBI single by Ledbetter, giving the hosts a 3-0 lead.
After the Huskers took the lead, KSU had a pair of opportunities to tie the game, getting the tying runner on second with no outs in both the seventh and eighth frames. In the seventh, a leadoff single to Eymann, who went 2-for-4, and a balk on Chamberlain moved him into scoring position. Bohanan then came out of the bullpen and retired the next three hitters to get out of the jam. The Husker reliever then gave up a leadoff double to Jared Goedert, but Brian Duensing came in and retired the next three hitters in order to preserve the one-run lead.
The Huskers and Wildcats continue the series Saturday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. The game will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network and also carried state-wide on Nebraska Educational Television.
Kansas State vs Nebraska (May 20, 2005)
Box score (NCAA)
2005 Nebraska Baseball
Kansas State at #5 Nebraska
May 20, 2005 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)
Kansas State 4 (30-23,8-17 Big 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Blunt, Terry lf.......... 3 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 0
Farr, Brandon c.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
Goedert, Jared 2b........ 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 1
Murphy, Steve rf......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 0
Rice, Barrett 3b......... 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 0
Tapia, Cris 1b........... 3 1 1 0 1 1 11 0 1
Roundy, Joe dh........... 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Eymann, Eric ss.......... 4 1 2 1 0 2 1 5 2
Dent, Josh cf............ 4 1 2 3 0 0 1 0 0
Mitchell, Chase p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Edwards, Daniel p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 34 4 8 4 1 9 24 13 5
Nebraska 5 (44-13,17-8 Big 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Boyer, Jesse rf/lf....... 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 4
Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 2 0
Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 4 0 1 1 0 1 11 0 1
Fusilier, Brandon lf..... 4 2 2 0 0 0 3 0 0
Bruce, Daniel cf........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bohanan, Ryan dh/p....... 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Wehrle, Ryan 2b.......... 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0
Adams, Trey cf/rf........ 2 0 2 1 2 0 1 0 0
Christy, Jeff c.......... 3 0 1 1 0 0 8 1 2
Chamberlain, Joba p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Duensing, Brian p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jensen, Brett p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 29 5 8 3 4 1 27 10 7
Score by Innings R H E
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Kansas State........ 000 400 000 - 4 8 1
Nebraska............ 111 002 00X - 5 8 0
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E - Goedert, Jar(4). DP - Wildcats 2. LOB - Wildcats 5; Huskers 7. 2B -
Goedert, Jar(9); Fusilier, B.(6). HR - Dent, Josh(5). HBP - Wehrle, R.. SH -
Blunt, Terry(3); Wehrle, R.(6). SF - Christy, J.(3). SB - Rice, Barret(12);
Tapia, Cris(1); Gordon, A.(22); Wehrle, R.(3); Adams, T. 2(7).
Kansas State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
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Mitchell, Chase..... 7.0 8 5 3 3 1 26 31 110
Edwards, Daniel..... 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 3 5 20
Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
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Chamberlain, Joba... 6.0 7 4 4 1 6 24 26 108
Bohanan, Ryan....... 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 4 4 16
Duensing, Brian..... 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 9
Jensen, Brett....... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3 11
Win - Chamberlain (7-2). Loss - Mitchell, Ch (7-6). Save - Jensen, B. (10).
HBP - by Edwards, Dan (Wehrle, R.). BK - Mitchell, Ch(2); Chamberlain(3). PB -
Farr, Brando(3). Pitches/strikes: Mitchell, Ch 110/63; Edwards, Dan 20/10;
Chamberlain 108/70; Bohanan, R. 16/9; Duensing, B. 9/7; Jensen, B. 11/8.
Umpires - HP: Bob Homolka 1B: Mike Droll 3B: Chris Coskey
Start: 6:38p.m. Time: 2:50 Attendance: 6593
Chamberlain faced 1 batter in the 7th.
Bohanan, R. faced 1 batter in the 8th.
Game: NU56
Courtesy: Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations
