Huskers Walk Past Northwest Missouri State

Lincoln -- Nebraska hit three home runs, including a second-inning grand slam from senior Brandt Vlieger, to hand Northwest Missouri State an 18-6 loss in front of 592 fans at Buck Beltzer Stadium Tuesday night.

"We got exactly what we wanted out of this game," Head Coach Dave Van Horn said. "It gave us a chance to rest some of our starters and give some of our pitchers time on the mound. It's games like these that give you confidence to put pitchers into big games. I thought Brandon Penas and Andy Bent both threw really well."

Penas, a junior left-hander from Grand Island, earned the win after striking out five batters and allowing just two hits in 2.2 scoreless innings. Bent allowed two hits in the final two innings after making just his fifth appearance of the season.

Northwest Missouri State's Adam Bailey hit a two-run home run off Dave Schneider in the first inning to give the Bearcats an early 2-0 lead in the first, but freshman Matt Hopper answered with a two-run home run on a 3-0 pitch to cap a four-run first inning.

The Huskers then drew six of their 16 walks in the second inning as starter Brett Jones walked the bases loaded and then walked in the next two runs. Vlieger then belted his fifth home run of the season to give the Huskers their first grand slam of the season and a 10-2 lead. NU's 16 walks was three shy of tying a school record also set against Northwest Missouri State on March 4, 1987.

The Huskers, who sent 10 batters to the plate in the second and 10th innings, scored their first 10 runs on just four hits. Junior first baseman Dan Johnson hit his eighth home run of the season to account for NU's two runs in the third.

Northwest Missouri State (13-20) made a charge in the fifth inning, scoring four runs after Waylon Byers walked four batters and allowed two hits, including a bases-loaded double to Bailey. But the Huskers added five runs in the eighth after Adam Stern led off the inning with a double. Josh Hesse, starting at second base for the Huskers, hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Stern three batters later. NU plated a pair of runs off a fielder's choice and an RBI single from Dan Wright. Hopper then hit a pop fly with the bases loaded, but NWMSU pitcher Matt Goodman lost the ball in the lights, allowing the ball two drops and the Huskers to tack on a pair of unearned runs.

Vlieger finished with three hits and four RBI, while Hopper went 1-for-4 with five RBI. Jamal Strong extended his streak of reaching base to 79 games as a starter by drawing three walks. Jim Bailey also drew three walks for Nebraska.

The 18 runs scored by the Huskers was the most since NU scored 21 against Kansas State in the final Big 12 series last season. Nebraska improved to 21-0 all-time against the Bearcats and 19-11 this season. Nebraska will host the Kansas Jayhawks this weekend at Buck Beltzer Stadium. Friday's game begins at 6:30 p.m.