Huskers Rally for 11-10 Win over Missouri

Columbia, Mo. ? Missouri overcame a seven-run deficit to take a 9-8 lead, but No. 15 Nebraska struck for three runs in the top of the ninth and held on for an 11-10 win over Missouri Sunday afternoon.

Trailing 9-8, Nebraska (26-9, 7-5 Big 12) put together four straight hits, tying the game on Curtis Ledbetter’s double off Michael Cole before Jake Mullinax sent Mark Alexander’s pitch into the gap for an RBI double, scoring Ledbetter with the go-ahead run. Jesse Boyer, who came in the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth, made it 11-9 with an RBI single to center, giving the Husker a much-needed two-run lead, as the Tigers scored a run in the bottom of the frame and left the tying run stranded at second.

Colin Shockey (1-0) earned his first collegiate win, with 1.1 innings of relief after coming into the game in the eighth, while Cole (0-1), who had kept the Tigers in the game with 2.2 innings of no-hit relief, suffered his first loss in a wacky game that featured an eight-run inning by Nebraska and a frantic Tiger comeback, as the contest took nearly three and a half hours to complete.

John Grose went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, driving all three of his runs in the eight-run Husker fifth, while Alex Gordon and Ledbetter had two hits apiece in the win, as Nebraska snapped a four-game conference losing streak.

MU, which was seeking the series sweep, nearly completed its second comeback of the day, using a pair of walks and an RBI single by Tyler Williams to pull to within 11-10. Shockey, who began the day as NU’s center fielder, then struck out Jeremy Hernandez before pinch hitter John McKee fouled out to Ledbetter for the final out.

The Tigers (24-13-1, 4-8 Big 12) struck first in the bottom of the second, as Ryan Rallo, who went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, doubled with one out and came home on Kyle Johnson’s RBI single to right one batter later.

The Huskers had one hit through four innings, but erupted for eight runs to chase MU starter Garrett Broshuis, as the first eight Huskers reached base in the fifth. Chad Steele opened the inning with a double before John Grose tied the score with a RBI single. The Huskers used a single by Braden Keith and a fielding error by Broshuis to load the bases. Shockey broke the tie with a two-run single to center before back-to-back doubles by Daniel Bruce, a two-run shot to the gap, and Gordon chased the Tiger starter and gave the Huskers a 6-1 lead. Grose drove in his second and third runs of the inning with a two-run single to center off Tiger reliever Dustin Braud, giving the Huskers a seemingly commanding seven-run lead, but Grose’s two-run single would be the Huskers’ last until the ninth.

Trailing 8-1, the Tigers chipped away at the Husker lead, scoring a pair of runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Lee Laskowski and Rallo, as NU starter Dustin Timm went a career-high 5.2 innings, but did not factor into the decision.

Timm, the fourth year junior making his first career Big 12 start, scattered seven hits and struck out a pair of Tigers in his first start in 25 month. Timm left with an 8-2 lead, but the Tigers climbed back in the game by taking advantage of a pair of NU fielding miscues, leading to five unearned runs.

The Tigers made the Huskers pay for a costly fielding error by Jake Mullinax in the seventh, scoring three times, on a Quinton Robertson wild pitch and RBI singles by James Boone and Laskowski to cut the Husker lead to 8-6. One inning later, Alex Gordon’s error to open the frame opened the floodgates, as Hernandez tied the score at eight with an two-run double off Mike Sillman before Zane Taylor’s RBI single to center gave the Tigers a 9-8 lead, setting the stage for a frantic finish in the ninth.

The Huskers return home on Tuesday evening when they play host to Creighton beginning at 6:35 p.m. Tickets for the matchup with the Bluejays are available by calling 800-8-Big Red or at Hawks Field 90 minutes before first pitch.