Longhorn Comeback Thwarts Huskers, 6-5

Arlington, Texas ? Carson Kainer’s seventh-inning RBI single capped a three-run rally, as No. 1 Texas eliminated Nebraska from the Big 12 Tournament with a 6-5 victory late Friday evening at Ameriquest Field.

The Longhorns (50-12) overcame a pair of three-run deficits to advance to Saturday’s semifinal against Oklahoma State. The Longhorns must beat Oklahoma State, which earlier downed NU, 8-1, Friday morning twice on Saturday to advance to the championship game.

Trailing 5-3, UT used five consecutive hits off relievers Dustin Timm and Brett Jensen to take the lead for good. Back-to-back singles by Seth Johnston and Curtis Thigpen chased Timm before Taylor Teagarden greeted Jensen with a single to load the bases. Ryan Russ then tied the score at five with a two-run infield single that skipped off the glove of a diving Curtis Ledbetter before Kainer gave Texas its first lead of the night with an RBI single to left.

Jensen (1-4) suffered the loss in relief, allowing three hits and not retiring a batter.

The lead was all that Huston Street needed, as the Longhorn All-American closer fanned two and allowed one hit over the final 3.2 innings for his fifth win in six decisions.

The Huskers had their best chance in the eighth off Street, who is 2-0 with three saves without allowing a run in eight career appearances against NU, which dropped to 36-22 with its second loss of the day.

Chad Steele opened the eighth with a double and reached third one batter later on Colin Shockey’s ground out, but the right-hander retired the final two hitters in protecting a one-run lead.

Early on, the Huskers were opportunistic against UT starter Kyle McCulloch, who lasted just 2.2 innings. After a pair of walks to two of the Huskers’ first three hitters, Alex Gordon, who went 1-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and three RBIs, launched a three-run homer - his 18th of the year - to left center to give the Huskers a quick 3-0 lead.

Texas cut the Husker lead to 3-2 in the top of the third on David Maroul’s solo homer and Johnston’s RBI single. Nebraska extended its lead to 5-2 in the bottom half of the inning. After a Joe Simokaitis single and a walk to Gordon, Ledbetter doubled to right, scoring Simokaitis. Gordon then came around to score on the play as the relay was misplayed. Ledbetter had two of the Huskers’ six hits in defeat, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Texas closed to within 5-3 in the fifth off NU starter Phil Shirek, as Johnston doubled down the left field line before scoring on Thigpen’s RBI single one batter later.

Phil Shirek went five-plus innings, but did not factor into the decision. He allowed three runs on nine hits, while striking out five before leaving with one out in the sixth. Timm got the Huskers unscathed in the sixth before running into trouble in the seventh.

 

Box score (NCAA) The Automated ScoreBook #1 Texas at Nebraska May 28, 2004 at Arlington, Texas (Ameriquest Field)

Texas 6 (50-12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg. ------------------------------------------------------------ Stubbs, Drew cf.......... 5 1 3 0 0 1 5 0 0 .303 Johnston, Seth 2b........ 5 2 3 1 0 1 1 2 0 .291 Thigpen, Curtis 1b....... 5 1 3 1 0 0 7 1 0 .363 Teagarden, Taylor c...... 5 1 2 0 0 2 7 0 2 .271 Russ, Ryan rf............ 5 0 1 2 0 2 1 0 0 .265 Peoples, Nick rf........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .130 Kainer, Carson lf........ 4 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 .364 Harris, Hunter dh........ 2 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 .281 Hudson, Robby ss......... 4 0 0 0 0 3 2 2 1 .295 Maroul, David 3b......... 4 1 1 1 0 0 2 2 5 .203 McCulloch, Kyle p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - Yates, Kyle p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - Cody, Buck p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Street, Huston p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Totals................... 39 6 15 6 4 10 27 8 10

Nebraska 5 (36-23)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg. ------------------------------------------------------------ Boyer, Jesse lf.......... 3 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 .302 Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 5 0 .279 Mullinax, Jake 2b........ 4 1 0 0 1 1 4 2 2 .313 Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 3 2 1 3 2 2 0 3 0 .365 Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 4 0 2 1 0 0 6 3 0 .297 Grose, John c............ 4 0 0 0 0 1 10 0 0 .192 Steele, Chad dh.......... 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 .261 Shockey, Colin cf........ 3 0 0 0 1 1 5 0 2 .294 Keith, Braden rf......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .287 Bruce, Daniel rf........ 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .243 Shirek, Phil p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - Timm, Dustin p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Jensen, Brett p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Sillman, Mike p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - Totals................... 33 5 6 4 7 7 27 14 8

Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Texas............... 002 010 300 - 6 15 1 Nebraska............ 302 000 000 - 5 6 0 -------------------------------------------

E - Johnston(6). DP - Huskers 1. LOB - Longhorns 10; Huskers 8. 2B - Johnston(11); Ledbetter, C(16); Steele, C.(11); Bruce, D.(8). 3B - Stubbs(2). HR - Maroul(3); Gordon, A.(18). SB - Stubbs(25); Thigpen(10). CS - Johnston(10).

Texas IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA -------------------------------------------------------- McCulloch, Kyle..... 2.2 3 5 4 5 2 11 16 65 3.37 Yates, Kyle......... 2.0 1 0 0 1 3 7 8 36 2.54 Cody, Buck.......... 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 3 4 21 1.34 Street, Huston...... 3.2 1 0 0 0 2 12 12 41 1.60

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA -------------------------------------------------------- Shirek, Phil........ 5.0 9 3 3 3 5 22 25 102 3.07 Timm, Dustin........ 1.1 2 2 2 0 1 5 5 25 3.89 Jensen, Brett....... 0.0 3 1 1 0 0 3 3 10 5.29 Sillman, Mike....... 2.2 1 0 0 1 4 9 10 34 2.86

Win - Street (5-1). Loss - Jensen, B. (1-4). Save - None. WP - Shirek, P.(4). BK - Shirek, P.(1). Inherited runners/scored: Yates 2/0; Cody 2/0; Street 2/0; Timm, D. 1/0; Jensen, B. 2/2; Sillman, M. 2/0. Pitches/strikes: McCulloch 65/33; Yates 36/27; Cody 21/14; Street 41/29; Shirek, P. 102/59; Timm, D. 25/15; Jensen, B. 10/6; Sillman, M. 34/22. Umpires - HP: Randy Wetzel 1B: Andy Eaves 2B: Doug Williams 3B: Bill Davis Start: 7:35p.m. Time: 3:15 Attendance: 12341 Shirek, P. faced 1 batter in the 6th. Jensen, B. faced 3 batters in the 7th. Game: NU59