Lincoln ? Zach Jackson was nearly perfect for No. 10 Texas A&M, as he tossed a complete-game two-hitter and held off No. 19 Nebraska’s ninth-inning rally in the Aggies’ 4-2 win at Hawks Field Saturday afternoon.
Jackson, who improved to 9-3 on the season, fanned 11 without a walk and retired the first 24 Huskers in order before Nebraska nearly pulled out an improbable comeback, scoring twice in the ninth and sending the tying runner to the plate.
"You've got to give him a lot of credit," Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson. "That's one of the best performances I've seen on this mound, and that includes Shane Komine and everybody else. Fortunately, we got some base hits and made it a game late, but we tip our cap. He did a great job."
Jackson was three outs away from the first perfect game in Texas A&M (34-14, 10-9 Big 12) history when Jesse Boyer’s infield single to open the ninth gave the Huskers their first runner of the day. Tyler Vaughn was hit by Jackson’s next pitch, putting runners on first and second before Joe Simokaitis’ RBI double to right center cut the Aggie lead to 4-1. Colin Shockey brought home NU’s second run with a ground out, but Jackson fanned Daniel Bruce and Alex Gordon to preserve the win. The loss snapped 15-game winning streak against top-10 teams in Lincoln.
Texas A&M jumped to a 4-0 lead, scoring an unearned run in the second and adding three more in the fifth off Husker starter Phil Shirek, who suffered his first loss in six decisions. Shirek (5-1) allowed four runs on eight hits, while Justin Pekarek kept the Huskers in the game with five innings of shutout relief.
The Aggies capitalized on a pair of Husker errors for their first run, as Travis Bartek’s pop-up was misplayed by Jake Mullinax, allowing Jon Infante, who reached on an error and stole second, to score on the play.
In the fifth, Texas A&M struck for five straight hits to extend their lead to 4-0. After a pair of infield singles, Austin Boggs’ RBI double to center and Craig Stinson’s run-scoring single chased Shirek after four innings of work. Infante then put the visitors up 4-0 with a single off Pekarek, one of only two hits allowed by the Husker reliever in five innings of work.
The Huskers and Aggies will conclude the series Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Dustin Timm (2-0, 2.97 ERA) takes the hill for the Huskers, while Kyle Marlatt (3-1, 7.12) will start for Texas A&M.
Nebraska Baseball #10 Texas A&M at #19 Nebraska May 01, 2004 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)
Texas A&M 4 (34-14,10-9 BIG 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Pennington, Cliff ss..... 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 Mavroulis, Coby 1b....... 5 1 1 0 0 1 9 0 0 Patton, Cory rf.......... 5 1 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 Boggs, Austin 3b......... 5 1 2 1 0 0 2 1 2 Stinson, Craig c......... 4 0 1 1 0 0 12 0 2 Infante, John cf......... 4 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 Baldwin, Andrew dh....... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Bowe, Brian ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bartek, Travis lf........ 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 Alexander, Matt 2b....... 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 Jackson, Zach p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals................... 39 4 10 3 1 4 27 7 9
Nebraska 2 (30-13,9-8 BIG 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Shockey, Colin cf........ 4 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 Bruce, Daniel rf......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 3 0 0 0 0 1 9 1 0 Mullinax, Jake 2b........ 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 Grose, John c............ 3 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 Boyer, Jesse lf.......... 3 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 Vaughn, Tyler dh......... 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 Shirek, Phil p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Pekarek, Justin p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals................... 29 2 2 2 0 11 27 9 1
Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Texas A&M........... 010 030 000 - 4 10 1 Nebraska............ 000 000 002 - 2 2 2 -------------------------------------------
E - Jackson, Z(1); Mullinax, J.(5); Simokaitis,(8). LOB - Aggies 9; Huskers 1. 2B - Boggs(8); Simokaitis,(11). HBP - Vaughn, T.. SB - Infante(8); Bartek(3).
Texas A&M IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Jackson, Zach....... 9.0 2 2 2 0 11 29 30 121
Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Shirek, Phil........ 4.0 8 4 3 1 0 22 23 91 Pekarek, Justin..... 5.0 2 0 0 0 4 17 17 50
Win - Jackson, Z (9-3). Loss - Shirek, P. (5-1). Save - None. HBP - by Jackson, Z (Vaughn, T.). Inherited runners/scored: Pekarek, J. 2/1. Pitches/strikes: Jackson, Z 121/87; Shirek, P. 91/54; Pekarek, J. 50/34. Umpires - HP: Patrick Speiler 1B: Chris Coskey 3B: Randy Bruns Start: 2:06p.m. Time: 2:22 Attendance: 5513 Shirek, P. faced 4 batters in the 5th. Game: NU43