Omaha, Neb. - The third-ranked Nebraska baseball team ended the most successful season in the history of its program Sunday afternoon with a 6-5 loss to Tulane in a College World Series elimination game at Rosenblatt Stadium.

With NU trailing by a run after a scoreless eighth inning, NU reliever Tom Ott gave up back-to-back singles to lead off the top of the ninth. Ott, who allowed one run on five hits while striking out two in 3.0 innings of work, was then replaced with Brandon Penas, who walked Jake Gautreau to load the bases. NU Head Coach Dave Van Horn then brought in Steve Hale to face the next batter, James Jurries, who ripped a grounder to third. Jeff Blevins snagged the shot, touched third for the force, and threw home as backup catcher Tito Rivera tagged Jon Kaplan for the double play. Van Horn sent Waylon Byers to the mound to face Michael Aubrey, who flew out to right to end the inning for Tulane.

The Huskers had a final opportunity in the bottom of the ninth, but Aubrey retired the side as Adam Stern grounded out to second, Matt Hopper struck out and Dan Johnson grounded out to second.

Aubrey picked up the save, his first of the year, while Beau Richardson (8-1) took the win for the Green Wave, allowing five runs on seven hits. Richardson also struck out four and walked four in 7.0 innings of work.

"It gave us a lift to get out of the bases-loaded jam with no outs in the top of the ninth, but we just couldn't get anything going," Stern said. "We couldn't get the big hit when we needed it."

The loss closed a season in which the Huskers achieved marked success. Nebraska (50-14) went 20-8 in Big 12 Conference play and won the regular-season and league tournament titles en route to earning the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament and playing host to a regional and a super regional. Nebraska went 5-0 in the regional and super regional tournaments, including a sweep ninth-seeded Rice, to land a spot in the College World Series.

The Huskers went 0-2 in their first-ever CWS, falling 5-4 to top-seeded Cal State Fullerton Friday. The losses were Nebraska's first back-to-back one-run defeats since the 1999 season.

"I told the team that they don't have anything to hang there heads about," Van Horn said "We didn't play our best ball here over the past few days. I give credit to the other teams for that. But we accomplished a lot this year. We won the conference championship and the conference tournament. I'm really proud of these guys. They were an overachieving team this year. We were a little thin on the mound and in a couple of other positions, but we found a way to win games.

"Today, things could have gotten out of hand pretty quick, but we found a way to hang in there. It was a good experience for us, but it was disappointing."

Tulane started the day quickly, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Andy Cannizaro followed Jon Kaplan's leadoff double with a single to right center. With runners on the corners, Jake Gautreau smacked a sacrifice fly to deep right field to score Kaplan for the 1-0 lead.

The Green Wave threatened again in the top of the second. Matt Groff led off with a double to right, and Spiehs hit Jay Heintz with a pitch to put runners on first and second. Anthony Giarratano tapped a sacrifice bunt and reached on an error when NU catcher Jed Morris nearly overthrew first. But with the bases loaded, the Huskers got out of the inning safely as the defense came through. R.D. Spiehs caught Groff stealing, and Tulane's Anthony Giarratano grounded into a double play to end the first half of the inning.

Nebraska tied it up in the bottom of the second when Jeff Leise plated Morris with a two-out, RBI single to right. John Cole then became just the fifth Husker to post 100 or more hits in a season with a single that advanced Leise to second. Stern slugged in the go-ahead run with a triple to center, plating Leise and Cole for the 3-1 advantage.

After two scoreless innings, Tulane struck again in the top of the fifth. Giarratano and Madden reached on back-to-back singles, and then advanced a base on a wild pitch from Spiehs. Kaplan plated Giarratano on a ground out to short, cutting the Huskers' lead to 3-2.

The Green Wave took the lead in the sixth as the Husker bullpen gave up four runs - three earned - on four hits. Van Horn sent Justin Pekarek to the mound at the top of the inning to replace Spiehs, who allowed two runs off five hits while striking out one in five innings of work. Pekarek, who had not pitched since Feb. 18 because of an elbow injury, gave up a solo homer to Jake Gautreau, the first batter he faced. James Jurries walked and then scored on a RBI single to deep center from Aubrey, prompting another pitching switch as Ott took the mound for Pekarek. But mental errors continued to plague the Huskers as Jeff Blevins overthrew first on what would have been a ground out by Groff. Aubrey scored on the error to make it 6-3, as Groff reached third when Giarratano ripped a single to left center. Madden singled to put runners at the corners for Tulane, but Kaplan popped up to Will Bolt, and Cannizaro flew out to left to end the inning.

Nebraska bounced back in the bottom of the sixth. Morris, the only Husker with a multiple-hit day, smacked a 2-2 pitch over the right field fence for a one-out solo home run, cutting Tulane's lead to two. The Huskers retired the side in the top of the seventh and continued to chip away at Tulane's lead in the bottom of the inning. After Matt Hopper had a near-home run snagged by the center fielder, Dan Johnson ripped a two-out solo shot to the same spot for his first home run of the NCAA Tournament. With Nebraska trailing by one, Blevins flied out to deep left center to end the inning.

Pekarek (0-1) took the loss for Nebraska, allowing three runs on two hits in 0.0 innings. The redshirt freshman from Staplehurst had allowed just one hit in his two previous appearances, covering seven innings of work.

2001 College World Series