Columbus, Ohio - Despite a 14-run, 17-hit offensive outburst, Nebraska fell to Mississippi State, 18-14, in the first round of the NCAA Baseball Tournament in Columbus, Ohio, Friday afternoon.

The Huskers, who saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end against the Bulldogs, will face the loser to tonight's Ohio State/Bowling Green contest Saturday morning at 10 a.m. (CDT).

The 14 runs was the most runs Nebraska (41-17) has scored in 11 postseason appearances, dating back to 1979, while it was the most MSU has given up since a 15-14 victory over Rice in last season's NCAA Regional.

Mississippi State struck quickly in the first inning. After Chris Lotterhos and Ty Martin struck out against NU starter Chad Wiles, Brian Wiese ripped a single to left field. Cliff Wren followed with a bloop single to center field, advancing Wiese to third. The Huskers had a chance to escape, but Travis Chapman's grounder was booted by Will Bolt, allowing Wiese to give MSU (41-1) an early 1-0 advantage

Making its first NCAA postseason appearance since 1985, Nebraska promptly erased the Bulldog lead with a run of their own in the bottom of the first inning. Jamal Strong drew a walk from MSU starter Brian Compton to lead off the inning. After a flyout by Adam Shabala, Ken Harvey moved the runner to second with a groundout to the pitcher. Jeff Hedman singled Harvey home with the tying run.

The Bulldogs struck back for four runs in the top of the second, highlighted by Chris Curry's seventh homer of the season to give MSU a 2-1 lead. With one out, consecutive singles by Josh West and Lotterhos give the Bulldogs runners on first and second, setting the table for the first of two Ty Martin homers on the day. Martin's three-run shot to right gave the Bulldogs a 5-1 lead.

Nebraska chopped the lead in half in the bottom of the second inning with a pair of runs. Jim Bailey led off with a home run to right field, his third of the season closed the MSU lead to 5-2. With two outs, singles by Will Bolt and Jamal Strong put runners on first and second before Shabala then hit a grounder deep in the hole at second base and reached for a single. But Lotterhos fired the ball past first base on the play, allowing Bolt to score.

Martin would extend the Bulldog lead to 6-3 on his second homer of the day, but the Huskers would respond, scoring five runs in the bottom the frame to take their first lead at 8-6. Bolt led off the inning with an infield single deep in the hole at shortstop before Strong, who went 3-4 with three walks, three steals and 2 RBI, drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Shabala's double to the left field corner plated both Bolt and Strong to cut the MSU margin to 6-5. Shabala moved to third on an errant throw to the plate. With two outs, the Huskers tied the score on Justin Cowan's RBI single. Bailey, who had his first multi-hit game since April 20, singled to right, putting runners at first and second with two down. Freshman John Cole brought both runners with a double into left center to put NU up 8-6

But Mississippi State came right back, sending 10 men to the plate as they tallied seven runs in the top of the fifth inning. Wren opened the inning with a fly ball to the warning track in left field which Cole dropped for a two-base error. MSU then pulled Wiles in favor of Scott Fries. Chapman promptly greeted Fries with a single to left field. After a walk to Rock, Curry hit a single to left, scoring Wren, knocking Fries out of the game. The junior took the loss, falling to 8-7 on the season as he allowed three runs on two hits.

After Fries left the game, the Bulldogs' Jon Knott sent Jarod Bearinger's first pitch off the scoreboard in right center for a grand slam as MSU reclaimed the lead at 11-8. After Bearinger retired Lotterhos and Martin, Wiese stepped up and drilled a two-run homer over the wall in right-center to give MSU a 13-8 advantage.

MSU extended its lead to 16-8 after scoring a pair of runs in the sixth and a single tally in the eighth before the Huskers would rally.

The Huskers finally got to Ginter in the bottom of the eighth, scoring six runs to cut the MSU lead to 16-14. Cowan drew a walk to lead the inning off. After Bailey flied out to left field, Cole, who went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI, hit a single to right field. Ginter then fanned Vlieger, but followed it with a walk to Bolt. Strong stepped up and hit a single off the top of Wrens outstretched glove at first base, scoring Cowan and Cole. Shabala then coaxed Ginter for another walk, bringing Harvey to the plate. After going hitless in his first four plate appearances, Harvey sent a Ginter pitch to the well, clearing the bases to pull NU within 16-13. With that double, Harvey became just the eighth player in school history to have 200 career hits. Pinch-hitter Erik Mumm single to center off Kevin Donovan plated Harvey to get NU within 16-14, but that would be as close as Nebraska got. Nebraska scored 11 of its 14 runs with two outs on the day.

The Bulldogs answered Nebraskas big inning with two of their own in the ninth inning. With one out, Wiese blooped a single into center field. Wren followed with a home run over the left field wall, marking the Bulldogs sixth home run of the game, setting a Bill Davis Stadium record for home runs by a team in one game.

Nebraska put a pair of runners on in the ninth, but Strong's fielder's choice ended the Husker comeback. NU stranded 14 runners and struck out a season-high 11 times against Bulldog pitching. Adam Larson (3-0)picked up the win for MSU, which is looking for its third straight CWS appearance.

Nebraska Postgame Notes
* Nebraska falls to 4-7 in NCAA postseason contests.

* The 14 runs scored today is the most Nebraska has scored in 11 NCAA tournament games. The previous high was 13 against Navy in a 13-4 victory on (5/26/79). It is also the fourth time that NU has scored 10 or more runs in NCAA tournament play.

* John Cole