Whites Knot Series with 5-0 Victory

Lincoln ? Justin Pekarek fired seven innings of one-hit ball, as the White squad evened the Red/White World Series at one win apiece with a 5-0 win Wednesday afternoon.

Pekarek, a fifth-year senior from Staplehurst, Neb., was dominant in picking up the win, striking out four and allowing only three balls out of the infield in seven strong innings of work. Redshirt freshman Kevin Belcher was the only Red squad member to reach on a hit, as he delivered a third-inning single. It was a far cry from Tuesday's series opener, a 13-2 Red win, while the outing was Pekarek's longest as a Husker, as his previous high was a six-inning start against South Dakota last April.

Redshirt freshman Mike Harmelink preserved the one-hitter with two innings of scoreless relief, as the White team touched up starter Brett Jensen for single runs in each of the first three innings en route to the win.

The Whites enjoyed a balanced attack with nine hits, including two each by Chad Steele, Jake Mullinax and Beau Sullivan, as the trio drove in a run apiece. The Whites also executed well, getting a pair of sacrifices that led to two runs, while also stealing a pair of bases.

In the top of the first, Steele, who went 3-for-4 in Tuesday's opener, continued his torrid hitting, driving in Braden Keith, who doubled and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, with an sacrifice fly to left. The Whites increased the margin to 2-0 one inning later, as Sullivan singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before eventually coming around on a two-base error. Mullinax extended the margin to three runs with an RBI double in the third to score Tyler Vaughn, who singled and stole second.

Jensen took the loss, allowing three runs ? two earned ? on six hits in 5.2 innings. The Reds also struggled defensively, committing four errors in a losing effort. The Whites added to the lead in the late innings of freshman reliever Matt Foust, scoring single run in the eighth and ninth innings for the final margin.

The series continues Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m., as the Whites will throw All-Big 12 right-hander Quinton Robertson (10-2, 4.23 ERA), while the Reds will counter with freshman Brad Furnish.

                              Nebraska Baseball
                          Husker Whites at Husker Reds
                  Oct 08, 2003 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)

Husker Whites 5 (1-1)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Braden Keith cf..........  5  2  1  0   1  0  2  0   1
Tyler Vaughn 3b..........  4  0  0  0   1  1  2  2   1
Chad Steele c............  3  1  2  1   1  0  3  2   3
Jake Mullinax ss.........  5  0  2  1   0  0  4  4   0
Beau Sullivan 1b.........  5  1  2  1   0  0 12  1   3
Darren Hoffart dh........  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   1
Johnny Bowden rf.........  5  1  1  0   0  1  1  0   1
David Moore lf...........  5  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   0
Joe Simokaitis 2b........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  2   0
Justin Pekarek p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  4   0
Mike Harmelink p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 36  5  9  3   3  4 27 15  10

Husker Reds 0 (1-1)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Jesse Boyer cf...........  4  0  0  0   0  1  4  0   0
Brad Furnish cf.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Kevin Belcher rf.........  4  0  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
Alex Gordon 3b...........  3  0  0  0   1  0  1  3   0
John Grose lf............  4  0  0  0   1  3  2  0   3
Colin Shockey 2b.........  3  0  0  0   1  0  5  3   0
Al Smith 1b..............  4  0  0  0   0  1  8  2   0
Andy Lomax c.............  4  0  0  0   0  0  4  2   1
Joe Simokaitis ss........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
Brett Jensen p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
Matt Foust p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Totals................... 26  0  1  0   4  5 27 14   4

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Husker Whites....... 111 000 011 -  5  9  1
Husker Reds......... 000 000 000 -  0  1  4
-------------------------------------------

E - Mullinax; Boyer; Shockey 2; Smith. DP - Whites 1. LOB - Whites 10; Reds
4. 2B - Keith; Sullivan. HBP - Gordon. SH - Vaughn; Hoffart. SF - Steele. SB
- Keith; Steele; Mullinax. CS - Mullinax; Belcher; Shockey.

Husker Whites          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Justin Pekarek......  7.0  1  0  0  3  4 21 24
Mike Harmelink......  2.0  0  0  0  1  1  5  7

Husker Reds            IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Brett Jensen........  5.2  6  3  2  1  3 22 26
Matt Foust..........  3.1  3  2  2  2  1 14 16

Win - Pekarek (1-0).  Loss - Jensen (0-1).  Save - None.
WP - Pekarek; Foust 2. HBP - by Harmelink (Gordon). BK - Foust.