Huskers Battle No. 2 Rice to the end, fall 5-3

Houston, Texas -- The Nebraska baseball team pushed No. 2 Rice to the limit before losing 5-3 in front of a crowd of 1,547 at Cameron Field in the Marriott West Loop Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

Junior Scott Fries (2-1) pitched the first complete game of his NU career in a losing effort. Fries held the high-powered Owls to just nine hits and only four earned runs. Rice was averaging more than nine runs a game and 12 hits a game, but had problems with Fries all afternoon.

The Huskers had their opportunities against three Rice pitchers.

In the sixth inning off Rice starter Jeff Nichols (5-0), Nebraska picked up a run on an RBI single by Jeff Hedman. With runners at first and second, Jim Bailey grounded out to first to end the threat with NU trailing 4-3.

In the seventh inning, Nebraska had runners at first and third with two outs, but Rice reliever Jesse Kurtz-Nicholl struck out pinch hitter John Cole to keep the Huskers behind 5-3.

In the eighth, Ken Harvey singled with two outs and moved to second on a wild pitch, but Danny Kimura grounded out to short to end the threat. On the play, Harvey injured his left hamstring, the same hamstring which caused hampered him the final month of the 1998 season. He is doubtful for Sunday's game against Jacksonville State.

In the ninth inning, shortstop Brandt Vlieger earned a lead-off walk off Rice closer Stephen Bess. With two outs, junior Jamal Strong hit a ball that appeared to land inside the right-field line, but first base umpire Rick Nagy ruled the ball foul. Following the play, NU assistant coach Mike Anderson was ejected from the game for arguing the call. Strong walked, but with runners at first and second and two outs, Bess struck out Cole to end the game.

"We battled one of the top teams in the country to the end, but we fell short and the kids are hurt," NU Coach Dave Van Horn said. "We had opportunities again and another close lose leaves an empty feeling."

With the defeat, Nebraska drops to 4-5 on the year, four losses have been by fewer than four runs. Rice, ranked second by Collegiate Baseball, third by Baseball America and fourth in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll improved to 12-2.

The game began well for the Huskers in the first inning when Strong tripled and scored on a ground out by Adam Shabala. Rice scored twice in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Behind 3-1, Harvey ripped his fifth home run of the year to close the gap to 3-2 in the fourth inning. Rice took a two-run advantage in the sixth when All-American Damon Thames singled with two outs and scored on a double by first baseman Jacob Baker.

Nebraska answered back with an RBI single by Jeff Hedman to cut the lead to 4-3, before Rice scored in the bottom of the sixth to take a 5-3 advantage.

The Huskers finish up the Marriott West Loop Invitational on Sunday at noon with a game against Jacksonville State. The game is the final contest on NU's 10-game road trip before the home opener, Feb. 27 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.