Grose Powers Reds to 13-2 Win

Lincoln ? John Grose went 2-for-5 with five RBIs, as the Red squad opened the Red/White Series with a 13-2 victory over the White team Tuesday afternoon at Hawks Field.

Grose and redshirt freshman Kevin Belcher belted homers in a seven-run ninth inning, as the Red squad broke open a 6-2 contest in jumping to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Grose, who went 2-for-6 with a pair of runs scored, belted a towering ninth inning grand slam, while Belcher added a two-run homer later in the inning off reliever B.J. Wierzbicki.

The offensive outburst was more than enough for sophomore Zach Kroenke, who went a solid 5.1 innings for the win. The left-hander struck out six and allowed four hits, as four Red pitchers held the White team to six hits and combined for 11 strikeouts, while issuing just one walk.

Junior right-hander Phil Shirek struggled with control, allowing five runs ? one earned ? on just two hits in taking the loss. The right-hander walked five and threw three wild pitches, as the White team struggled with control and fielding, walking 10 batters and committing seven errors that led to five unearned runs.

Outfielder Chad Steele supplied most of the offensive highlights for the White team, going 3-for-4 in a losing effort.

The series continues Wednesday afternoon at Hawks Field, as the Red squad sends sophomore Brett Jensen to the mound, while senior left-hander Justin Pekarek looks to even the series for the Whites.

                              Husker Reds at Husker Whites
                                   Unknown at Unknown

Husker Reds 13 (1-0)                          Husker Whites 2 (0-1)

Player                      AB  R  H BI       Player                      AB  R  H BI
---------------------------------------       ---------------------------------------
Jesse Boyer cf.............  4  2  1  0       Braden Keith cf............  5  0  1  0
Colin Shockey 2b...........  5  3  1  0       Tyler Vaughn 3b............  4  0  1  0
Alex Gordon 3b.............  4  1  1  0       Chad Steele lf.............  4  0  3  0
John Grose c...............  6  2  2  5       Jake Mullinax 2b...........  4  0  1  0
Al Smith 1b................  5  2  1  1       Beau Sullivan 1b...........  4  1  0  0
Andy Lomax dh..............  7  1  1  2       Darren Hoffart dh..........  3  1  0  0
Kevin Belcher rf...........  7  2  2  2       Johnny Bowden c............  2  0  0  1
Brad Furnish lf............  0  0  0  0       David Moore rf.............  4  0  0  0
Joe Simokaitis ss..........  0  0  0  0       Joe Simokaitis ss..........  0  0  0  0
Zach Kroenke p.............  0  0  0  0       Phil Shirek p..............  0  0  0  0
Tim Schoeninger p.........  0  0  0  0        Jared Hertzel p...........  0  0  0  0
Jeremy Becker p...........  0  0  0  0        Jon Klausing p............  0  0  0  0
Phil Zander p.............  0  0  0  0        B.J. Wierzbicki p.........  0  0  0  0
Totals..................... 38 13  9 10       Totals..................... 30  2  6  1

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Husker Reds......... 005 000 017 - 13  9  1
Husker Whites....... 020 000 000 -  2  6  7
-------------------------------------------

E - Kroenke; Vaughn 4; Sullivan; Simokaitis 2. DP - Reds 1. LOB - Reds 11; Whites 8.
2B - Grose; Smith; Steele. HR - Grose; Belcher. HBP - Grose; Vaughn; Steele;
Mullinax; Bowden. SH - Boyer; Hoffart. SF - Smith; Bowden. SB - Shockey; Gordon;
Lomax. CS - Boyer; Mullinax.

Husker Reds                    IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zach Kroenke  W,1-0........   5.1  4  2  0  1  6   1  0  1  0   17 21   4  4
Tim Schoeninger ...........   1.2  0  0  0  0  2   0  0  2  0    5  7   1  2
Jeremy Becker .............   1.0  0  0  0  0  1   0  0  0  0    3  3   0  2
Phil Zander ...............   1.0  2  0  0  0  2   0  0  1  0    5  6   0  1

Husker Whites                  IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phil Shirek  L,0-1.........   4.0  2  5  1  5  2   3  0  1  0   17 23   3  7
Jared Hertzel .............   2.2  2  0  0  2  2   2  0  0  1   10 13   2  4
Jon Klausing ..............   0.1  0  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0    1  2   0  0
B.J. Wierzbicki ...........   2.0  5  7  7  2  2   0  0  0  1   10 13   3  1

WP - Kroenke; Shirek 3; Hertzel 2. HBP - by Kroenke (Vaughn); by Shirek (Shockey); by
Schoeninger (Sullivan); by Schoeninger (Simokaitis); by Zander (Simokaitis). PB -
Bowden.

Strikeouts - Shockey; Grose 3; Smith; Belcher; Keith; Vaughn 2; Steele; Mullinax;
Sullivan; Hoffart 2; Moore 3. Walks - Boyer 3; Shockey 3; Gordon 3; Smith; Sullivan.

Umpires -
Start:   Time: 3:09   Attendance:

Game notes:
Game 1
Klausing faced 2 batters in the 8th.