Seventh-Ranked Huskers Post Second Straight Shutout of OSU

Lincoln ? Brian Duensing scatted three hits in a complete-game shutout, while Jesse Boyer went 2-for-5 with a career-high four RBIs, pacing seventh-ranked Nebraska to a 10-0 victory over No. 29 Oklahoma State Sunday afternoon.

Duensing delighted the 5,638 fans in attendance, matching his season high with six strikeouts en route to his second complete-game shutout of his career. With the win, he improved to 5-0 on the season, while lowering his ERA to 1.72.

Duensing’s shutout, the second straight by Nebraska’s pitching staff following Saturday’s 6-0 victory, marked the first time that Oklahoma State (21-11, 4-5 Big 12) had been shutout out in consecutive games since April 9, 1976, when Oklahoma turned the trick against the Cowboys.

"Duensing was outstanding today," Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson said. "Back-to-back three-hit shutouts in the Big 12 is incredible. Brian got in a little trouble early in the game, but settled down and starting throwing his off-speed pitches for strikes."

Boyer led Nebraska’s 10-hit performance by driving in NU’s final four runs, including a three-run double in the sixth, as the game was shortened to seven innings. Sunday’s contest marked the second straight game that Boyer has either tied or set a career high in RBIs, as he also drove in three runs in Tuesday’s win over Creighton.

The Huskers, who improved to 25-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big 12, would score all the runs they needed in the first inning on Brandon Fusilier’s two-run homer to right off OSU starter Scott Richmond. After retiring the first two hitters, Alex Gordon drew a walk before coming home on Fusilier’s 10th homer of the season.

Nebraska took advantage of a pair of Cowboys errors in the second to plate a pair of runs, highlighted by Joe Simokaitis’ RBI single that gave the hosts a 4-0 lead.

"The kicker was the fact that we scored some runs early," Anderson said. "By doing that, we put pressure on them early to get some things going, and they couldn't make it happen. I was very pleased with our offense today."

The Huskers blew the game open in the sixth, scoring four runs to chase Richmond, who entered the game with a 2-1 record and a 1.25 ERA. After an infield single and a pair of walks loaded the bases, Boyer cleared the bases by slicing Richmond’s pitch into the right field corner, giving NU a 7-0 lead. Gordon then plated Boyer with a two-out RBI single off reliever Adam Daniels to make it 8-0

Richmond allowed eight runs ? six earned ? on five hits to drop to 2-2 on the season.

NU closed out the game in the seventh, using RBI singles by pinch hitter Ryan Wehrle and Boyer to give NU its 11th straight win over Oklahoma State in Lincoln.

The Huskers will return to action Tuesday night when they take on the Creighton Bluejays in Omaha at Rosenblatt Stadium. Tickets are still available for the 6:30 p.m. game, and can be obtained by contacting Ticketmaster over the phone in Lincoln at 475-1212 and in Omaha at (402)422-1212 or on the Internet at www.ticketmaster.com.

 

Box score (NCAA) 2005 Nebraska Baseball #29 Oklahoma State at #7 Nebraska Apr 03, 2005 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)

Oklahoma State 0 (21-11,4-5 Big 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Gutierrez, Chris ss...... 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 Brown, Corey cf.......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 Ptak, Steve ph/cf....... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Hernandez, Mike rf....... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 Parrish, Jeff c.......... 2 0 0 0 1 0 5 1 1 Rivas, Rick pr.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Clarkson, Matt c........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wright, Ty lf............ 3 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 0 Carr, Adam 1b............ 3 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 0 Ryal, Rusty 3b........... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 1 Merrell, Cody dh......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Colbert, Justin 2b....... 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 Richmond, Scott p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Daniels, Adam p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 23 0 3 0 2 6 20 8 4

Nebraska 10 (25-3,5-1 Big 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Boyer, Jesse rf.......... 5 1 2 4 0 0 3 0 1 Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 Fusilier, Brandon lf..... 4 1 1 2 0 1 3 0 1 Buckman, Brandon dh...... 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 Gerch, Andy ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 3 2 1 0 1 0 5 1 0 Bruce, Daniel cf......... 2 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 Christy, Jeff c.......... 3 3 0 1 1 0 6 0 0 Opitz, Jake 2b........... 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Wehrle, Ryan 2b......... 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Duensing, Brian p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 31 10 8 10 4 4 21 5 7

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Oklahoma State...... 000 000 0 - 0 3 3 Nebraska............ 220 004 2 - 10 8 0 -----------------------------------------

Note: 2 outs, 2 runners LOB when the game ended.

E - Gutierrez(8); Brown(2); Carr(4). LOB - Cowboys 4; Huskers 7. 2B - Gutierrez(7); Boyer, J.(5). HR - Fusilier, B.(10). HBP - Gordon, A.; Bruce, D.. SB - Colbert(8); Gordon, A.(15); Ledbetter, C(1). CS - Wright, T.(1).

Oklahoma State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Richmond, Scott..... 5.2 5 8 6 3 3 25 29 Daniels, Adam....... 1.0 3 2 2 1 1 6 8

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Duensing, Brian..... 7.0 3 0 0 2 6 23 25

Win - Duensing, B. (5-0). Loss - Richmond (2-2). Save - None. WP - Richmond(3). HBP - by Richmond (Gordon, A.); by Daniels (Bruce, D.). PB - Parrish(7). Umpires - HP: Doug Williams 1B: Bob Homolkla 3B: Tim Norman Start: 1:05p.m. Time: 2:05 Attendance: 5638 Game: NU28