Bulldogs End Huskers' Season

Columbus, Ohio - Nebraska's postseason run came to an end Saturday evening as the Huskers fell to Mississippi State, 13-7, at the NCAA Regional in Columbus, Ohio. Nebraska finished the season with a 42-18 record, advancing to the NCAA Regional for the fourth time in the program's history. The 42 wins in 1999 were the eighth-most in the program's 111-year history.

With the win, MSU improves to 42-20 and will play Ohio State Sunday afternoon at 12:05 (CDT). If the Bulldogs, who lost to OSU 6-3 earlier Saturday, defeat the Buckeyes, the two teams will square off at 3:05 p.m with the winner advancing to the NCAA Super Regional.

After spotting MSU an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second, the Huskers responded by scoring a pair in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-1 lead. Jeff Hedman' led off the inning with an infield single before third baseman Jim Bailey touched Bulldog starter Tanner Brock for a two-run homer to left, his fourth homer of the season and second of the NCAA Regional, to give Nebraska a 2-1 lead.

Mississippi State, which beat Nebraska 18-14 in the first round, touch Nebraska starter Scott Fries (8-7) for a pair of runs in the third on RBI singles by Brian Wiese and Cliff Wren to regain the lead at 3-2.

MSU broke the contest open, scoring five runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by a Wiese grand slam, the first of two homers on the day, to take an 8-2 lead.

Nebraska would continue to chip away at the Bulldog lead, scoring a pair of runs on RBI singles by John Cole and Brandt Vlieger after Jeff Hedman and Justin Cowan drew back-to-back walks to start the inning.

Trailing 10-4, the Huskers tallied a pair of runs in the fifth and another score in the seventh to draw to within 10-7. In the fifth, Adam Shabala's one-out triple put a runner in scoring position. All-American Ken Harvey was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and third. Shabala then scored on a wild pitch, moving Harvey to second. Cowan, who had four RBI in the win over Bowling Green earlier Saturday, drove Harvey home with a double to cut the margin to 10-6.

In the seventh, singles by Jamal Strong and Ken Harvey put runners at first and second before Brian Johnson brought Strong home with an RBI single to left. Harvey, who extended his hit streak to 15 games, finished with a 1-for-3 performance and ended the season with a .478 average, 23 homers and 86 RBI. His 107 hits were two away from tying Francis Collins' school record of 109, while his 193 total bases were one short of Darin Erstad's school record of 104 set in 1995.

It would be as close as Nebraska got as the Bulldogs tacked three runs off NU relievers Dave Schneider and Shane Komine. The two runs spoiled an otherwise solid performance as the freshman from Omaha pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits after Fries gave up 10 runs and nine hits in four innings of work.

Wiese, who has 19 homers this season, led the eighth-inning outburst with a solo homer to start the inning. SIngles by Wren and Travis Chapman put runners on first and second before Jame Rock's two-run double extended the Bulldog lead to 13-7.

Kevin Donovan (3-1) pitched two innings of four-hit, one-run ball to pick up the win for MSU pounded out 17 hits off Husker pitching and hit eight homers in two tournament games against NU.

Notes
* Jim Bailey's two-run home run was his second of the regional tournament. His first was against Mississippi State in the first game of the tournament.

* Jamal Strong extended his career-long hitting streak to 14 games with a seventh-inning single.

* Ken Harvey extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an infield single in the seventh. He finished the year with a .478 average, 107 hits (second in school history), 23 home runs (first in school history), 86 RBI (tied for second) and an .862 slugging percentage (second). He reached base in 55 of 57 games and hit safely in 52 of those games.

* The 10 runs Scott Fries allowed tied his season-high for runs allowed in a game. Fries became the sixth Nebraska pitcher to throw 100 innings in a season.

* Nebraska is now 3-4 in elimination games of the NCAA Tournament.

* The earned runs by Shane Komine in the eighth were his first in 23 innings of relief.

* Nebraskas 42 wins are the eighth most in school history and their 39 wins against Division I teams are the most in school history.

Quotes - Nebraska
Coach Dave Van Horn
"The grand slam broke our backs. We had a good game plan, but you cant get behind to a team like that."
"They did a good job early getting their bats on the ball. They kept our pitchers off balance."

Jeff Hedman
"We thought we could come back. We have come back from bigger deficits before."

Ken Harvey
"I am disappointed the season is over, but I told my teammates we had a great year."
"We win and lose as a team. Our entire team, not just the pitchers, has to take credit for the loss."