No. 17 Baylor Sneaks Past Huskers, 3-2

Waco, Texas-Nebraska jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning over No. 17 Baylor, but the Bears scratched their way back scoring one run in each of the first three innings and held on to sneak past the Huskers, 3-2, at the Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas, Saturday night.

Baylor scored two of its runs on a balk and a wild pitch after the Huskers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first.

"This is a tough loss to take," Head Coach Dave Van Horn said. "R.D. (Spiehs) gave us every chance to compete in the game. He was outstanding out of the bullpen, but we just couldn't come up with the big hits to help him out."

The Bears led off the inning with a pair of singles off freshman Jamie Rodrigue. After the Jaime Bubela and Tim Hartshorn were sacrificed to third and second base, respectively, Bubela scored on a balk by Rodrigue to give Baylor its first run.

Baylor led off the second inning with a single from Matt Williams and a double from Chris Durbin. Preston Underdown loaded the bases with no outs by drawing a walk.

After a pop out, Bubela lined to left field in front left fielder Adam Stern, but Stern threw out Durbin at third base after Durbin held up on the play for the potential flyout. However, Williams scored on the play to tie the game, 2-2.

The Bears went ahead in the third inning when Jace Brewer scored on a Rodrigue wild pitch. Brewer scored after he reached on a single and advanced to third on a single from Kelly Shoppach.

Nebraska's 2-0 lead came after the Huskers jumped on top of the undefeated Kyle Evans early in the first inning as Adam Stern singled and Justin Cowan followed with his Big 12 leading 16th double to score Stern. Nebraska got its second run when Dan Johnson hit a chopper that was headed foul, but Evans charged off the mound and tagged out Johnson, allowing Cowan to score from third after he advanced on a wild pitch.

Rodrigue was charged with the loss in his shortest outing of the season after giving up five hits and three runs through two innings. The Huskers got an outstanding performance from sophomore R.D. Spiehs out of the bullpen, who scattered four hits through the next six scoreless innings. Spiehs did not allow a Baylor baserunner past second base.

Nebraska managed just five hits in the game after collecting just three hits in the first hit of the series. Cowan, who had his 19-game hitting streak snapped on Friday, bounced back for two of NU's hits. Brandt Vlieger went 2-for-3 and Stern managed the only other hit in the game. Evans improved to 7-0 on the year for Baylor.

The loss was Nebraska's third straight in conference play, which fell to 18-10 overall and 7-7 in the Big 12. Baylor improved to 23-10 overall and 9-5 in the Big 12. The two teams began the series tied for third in the conference standings.