Columbia, Mo. - Sophomore Aaron Marsden scattered six hits over eight innings, as No. 10 Nebraska evened the weekend series with a 6-3 victory over Missouri in front of a crowd of 1,508 at Simmons Field Saturday afternoon.

The 6-6, 220-pound left-hander from Grand Forks, N.D., moved to 3-1 on the season, allowing two runs and striking out five Tigers in a 134-pitch performance, as the Huskers improved to 23-12 overall and 10-7 in the Big 12. Marsden, who leads the Big 12 with a 1.52 ERA, has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his five starts this season.

"He did a great job today," Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. "Aaron goes out there and throws strike. It was strike one every time."

Missouri, who dropped to 15-18 and 4-10 in the league, scored an unearned run in the ninth to cut the NU lead to 6-3 but could not duplicate last night's eighth-inning rally, as redshirt freshman Jeremy Becker retired the final three hitters he faced for his first career save.

While three Husker pitchers limited the Tigers to six hits, juniors Jeff Leise and Jed Morris sparked Nebraska's 11-hit performance. Leise went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, while Morris added two hits and finished with three RBI, including a two-run single in the seventh, as the Huskers broke open a 2-1 contest with four runs.

Nebraska jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, stringing together three hits off Missouri starter Justin James. Leise led off the game with a single to center and moved into scoring position on a groundout before Morris flared an RBI single to left, plating Leise for NU's first run.

The Huskers took advantage of an error and three wild pitches to extend the lead to 2-0 in the top of the third. With one out, Leise picked up his second hit of the day and advanced to second on a throwing error by MU third baseman Luke Cassis. James then uncorked a pair of wild pitches to score Leise with Nebraska's second run. The Huskers eventually loaded the bases on two-out walks to Jeff Blevins, who also had two hits in the win, and Justin Seely, but James got Drew Anderson to ground out to second to escape further damage, ending NU's best offensive threat until the seventh.

Missouri came back to cut the Husker advantage to 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning, as Bo Davis' sacrifice fly plated Tony Vitello, who was hit by a pitch and moved to third on Jayce Tingler's single to center.

The Huskers, who managed one off James after the first, finally got to the Tiger starter in the seventh, scoring four times to take a 6-1 lead. John Grose, who went 2-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to eight games, opened the inning with a bloop double down the line in right and advanced to third as Joe Simokaitis laced a single to center. MU brought in left-hander Aaron Paterson, and Leise greeted the Tiger reliever with an RBI single to center, giving the Huskers a 3-1 lead. Daniel Bruce's sacrifice moved both runners into scoring position before Morris brought both runners home with a single to left. Adam Riddle extended the Husker lead to five runs with a two-out, pinch-hit RBI single to center off Matt Hobbs, scoring Morris from second.

"He (Paterson) pitched last night and threw a lot of breaking balls, but he threw a lot of fastballs today," Morris said. "He left one outside and I was able to punch it into left."

James pitched well in defeat, allowed four runs on six hits as he pitched into the seventh. The freshman right-hander struck out three, but threw three wild pitches in falling to 1-2 on the year.

The Tigers had opportunities to get back in the game in both the seventh and eighth innings, but could manage only one run off the NU left-hander. In the seventh, the Tigers loaded the bases and scored a run on Tingler's sacrifice fly, but Marsden got out of the jam, getting Vitello to ground into a fielder's choice. In the eighth, MU, which left nine runners on base, had runners on the corners with two outs, but the Husker left-hander struck out Cassis with his final pitch of the afternoon to end the eighth.

The Huskers and Tigers conclude the series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., as freshman left-hander Brian Duensing (1-1, 4.61 ERA) will take the hill for the Huskers against MU right-hander Newton Abel (3-3, 7.14 ERA).

Notes: Leise's three hits marked his team-leading 21st multiple-hit game this season