Huskers Rally for 4-3 Win

Joe Simokaitis’ two-run single culminated Nebraska’s ninth-inning comeback, as the No. 19 Huskers rallied for a 4-3 victory over Northern Colorado Tuesday evening at Hawks Field.

Trailing 3-1, Nebraska (28-12) scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth off UNC starter Craig Ayers, who pitched valiantly, taking a two-hitter into the ninth. Ayers (8-2) held Nebraska to four hits and struck out three in a 143-pitch performance, as he saw his six-game winning streak snapped.

Curtis Ledbetter walked to open the ninth before Jake Mullinax, who had two of Nebraska’s four hits, singled, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Braden Keith’s sacrifice moved both runners into scoring position before Colin Shockey’s fly ball was misplayed by UNC left fielder Jon Dyson, allowing Ledbetter to score. Pinch hitter John Grose was intentionally walked to load the bases for Simokaitis, who sent Ayers’ first pitch into right center, scoring both Mullinax and Shockey.

The game winner was the first of the season for Simokaitis, a career .480 hitter with the bases loaded, and gave NU’s its fourth last at-bat win this season.

Dustin Timm (2-1) earned the victory with two innings of shutout relief, getting out of jams in both the eighth, when UNC loaded the bases, and the ninth innings. Freshman Jon Klausing went the first seven frames for the Huskers, allowing three runs on seven hits in his longest start of the season.

Northern Colorado (25-16) opened the scoring in the third on Shane Roberts’ solo homer off the Husker starter. The Huskers then tied the scoring the fourth, using a pair of hits and a hit batter to load the bases before Keith’s sacrifice fly to left knotted the score at one. It would be the Huskers’ only hits until the ninth.

The Bears then regained the lead in the fifth on Jon Dyson’s RBI and added an apparent insurance run in the eighth on a run-scoring single by Ryan Symons, giving UNC a 3-1 lead.

The Bears had an opportunity to break the game open with runners on runners on second and third and one out in the eighth. Trevor Allen’s hard hit grounder was snared by a leaping Alex Gordon, who fired to first for the second out. After an intentional walk, Timm got Brad Baker to pop out to end the threat, giving the Huskers an opportunity for late-inning heroics.

The teams will conclude the series Wednesday afternoon at 2:05 p.m., as Brad Furnish (1-0, 3.27 ERA) takes on Pat O’Neil (6-1, 4.37 ERA).

                       Northern Colorado at #19 Nebraska
                  Apr 27, 2004 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)

Northern Colorado 3 (25-16)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB  Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
Shane Roberts cf.........  4  1  1  1   1  1  0  0   3  .324
Ryan Symons 1b...........  4  0  1  1   0  1 13  0   0  .295
Trevor Allen rf..........  4  0  0  0   0  0  3  0   0  .393
Patrick Perry c..........  3  0  1  0   1  0  3  1   0  .427
Brad Baker 2b............  4  0  0  0   0  0  2  1   3  .384
John Ray dh..............  4  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0  .299
Craig Troxell ss.........  3  0  1  0   0  0  2  2   1  .348
Brennan Garr 3b..........  3  0  2  0   0  0  0  4   0  .329
Brad Beaman pr..........  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0  .312
Chad Clark 3b...........  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  1   0  .242
Jon Dyson lf.............  3  0  1  1   0  1  2  0   0  .252
Craig Ayers p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0     -
Totals................... 33  3  9  3   2  3 25 12   7




Nebraska 4 (28-12)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB  Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
Boyer, Jesse lf..........  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0  .308
Bruce, Daniel cf.........  4  0  0  0   0  1  5  0   1  .252
Gordon, Alex 3b..........  4  1  1  0   0  1  0  3   1  .385
Ledbetter, Curtis 1b.....  1  1  0  0   2  0 11  1   0  .311
Mullinax, Jake 2b........  4  1  2  0   0  0  3  3   0  .367
Keith, Braden rf.........  2  0  0  1   0  0  3  0   0  .309
Smith, Al dh.............  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1  .280
Shockey, Colin ph.......  2  1  0  1   0  0  0  0   0  .324
Steele, Chad c...........  3  0  0  0   0  0  3  0   2  .235
Grose, John ph..........  0  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0  .185
Simokaitis, Joe ss.......  3  0  1  2   1  0  1  2   0  .304
Klausing, Jon p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0     -
Timm, Dustin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0     -
Totals................... 28  4  4  4   4  3 27 11   7

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Northern Colorado... 001 010 010 -  3  9  2
Nebraska............ 000 100 003 -  4  4  0
-------------------------------------------

Note: 1 out, 2 runners LOB when the game ended.

E - Troxell(11); Dyson(2). DP - Huskers 2. LOB - Bears 7; Huskers 7. 2B - P.
Perry(20). HR - Roberts(7). HBP - Troxell; Boyer, J.; Ledbetter, C. SH -
Dyson(9); Keith, B.(6). SF - Keith, B.(1). CS - Simokaitis,(3).

Northern Colorado      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP   ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
Craig Ayers.........  8.1  4  4  3  4  3 28 36 143  3.82

Nebraska               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP   ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
Klausing, Jon.......  7.0  7  3  3  0  1 26 26  97  5.06
Timm, Dustin........  2.0  2  0  0  2  2  7 11  30  2.97

Win - Timm, D. (2-2).  Loss - Ayers (8-2).  Save - None.
WP - Ayers(11). HBP - by Ayers (Boyer, J.); by Ayers (Ledbetter, C); by Timm, D.
(Troxell). Inherited runners/scored: Timm, D. 1/1. Pitches/strikes: Ayers
143/81; Klausing, J. 97/62; Timm, D. 30/16.
Umpires - HP: Tom Svehla  1B: Todd Dorothy  3B: Bill Goa
Start: 6:40p.m.   Time: 2:24   Attendance: 3694
Klausing, J. faced 1 batter in the 8th.
Game: NU40