Rodrigue Tosses One-Hit Shutout in 9-0 Win

Fresno, Calif. - Left-hander Jamie Rodrigue threw a complete-game one-hit shutout, while Matt Hopper went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, as No. 13 Nebraska blanked Fresno State, 9-0, in front of a crowd of 3,354 at Beiden Field Friday evening.

A junior from St. Clair, Mo., Rodriuge threw a 112-pitch masterpiece, allowing one hit, an infield single to Chris Patrick in the third, before retiring 20 of the final 21 batters he faced en route to his fifth career shutout. He broke NU's career record for shutouts that he shared with Ryan Kurosaki, who had four shutouts from 1971 to 1973. Rodrigue, who improved to 2-0 on the season, struck out five Bulldogs and has allowed one run in his last two starts.

"I just wanted to go out there and throw strikes and keep the ball down," Rodrigue said. "I tried to keep them off-speed with my change up and my fastball. I'm not worried about my velocity, I'm only concerned with the end result and that was a win tonight."

"Jaime went out there and filled the zone with strikes," Van Horn said. "He was always 0-1, 0-2 and kept them off balance and we made some great plays behind him in the field."

Nebraska, which improved to 5-3 on the season, give the crafty left-hander all the runs he would need in the first, scoring a pair of runs off Fresno State starter Ben Fritz, who fell to 2-2 on the season. With two outs, Jed Morris walked and came home on Hopper's RBI double to the wall in right center, giving NU a 1-0 lead. The Huskers added a second run one batter later, as Bulldog second baseman Carl Lipsey booted Justin Seely's grounder, allowing Hopper to score from second.

"We knew it was working well for us when we scored two runs with two outs in the first inning," Van Horn said. "They walked Jed and went 2-0 on Matt when we gave him the green light, and he hit a fastball into the alley for a double. We got some key hits with two outs, and I am very happy with the way we played tonight."

The Husker bats got untracked in the fourth, scoring three runs to take a 5-0 lead. Hopper and Justin Seely opened the inning with back-to-back home runs off Fritz, who allowed five runs on four hits before being pulled in the fifth. The back-to-back homers were the first since April 18, 2001, when Justin Seely and John Cole accomplished the feat against UTSA.

After committing five errors in last night's 7-1 win, the Huskers sparkled in the field, playing error-free ball and providing some highlight reel plays. Fresno's only scoring chance came in the second with two outs and a runner on first when Christian Hallian roped a shot down the line in left, but Seely raced over and made a running one-handed grab to end the inning. In the sixth, Hopper, who extended his hit streak to seven games, backhanded Lipsay's grounder down the first base line and flipped to Rodrigue to beat the runner at first.

Even on Fresno's lone hit, Jeff Blevins made a diving stab, but couldn't gain control to throw out Patrick at first base.

"Jeff made a nice diving stop and could have made the play, but he didn't get the ball on the first grab, Van Horn said. "Who would have known then that it would be the only hit Jamie would allow. We really played outstanding defensive tonight, which was good to see after the bad night last night.

The Huskers added their final runs in the ninth, as freshman Daniel Bruce hit a grand slam, his first career round tripper, off Bulldog reliever Mike Hernandez to give NU a sizable cushion for Rodrigue, whose nine-inning complete game was his first since a three-hit shutpout on April 24, 2000.

The teams will conclude the three-game series Saturday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. (CST) at Beiden Field. Freshman right-hander Phil Shirek (0-1, 4.32 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Huskers and will be opposed by right-hander Zach Minor (2-1, 4.67 ERA).