Ledbetter Powers No. 4 Huskers Past Iowa

Lincoln ? Curtis Ledbetter went 2-for-3 with a pair of homers, powering fourth-ranked Nebraska to a 6-1 victory over Iowa Wednesday evening at Hawks Field.

Ledbetter recorded his third multi-homer game of the season, hitting a two-run homer in the second and adding a solo blast in the fourth, as the Huskers (26-4) overcame an early 1-0 deficit with six unanswered runs.

The homers were the eighth and ninth of the season for the senior from Lawrence, Kan., who also drove in three runs in the victory, NU’s 16th straight at home without a loss this season.

Ledbetter’s power outburst was more than enough for NU freshman Johnny Dorn, who allowed one run on three hits to earn the victory. Dorn (4-1) allowed a run in the top of the first before settling down, striking out four to earn his fourth straight decision.

Relievers Tony Watson, Ryan Bohanan and Brett Jensen than slammed the door on the Hawkeyes, combining for four innings of shutout relief.

Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson was impressed with the performance of his three Huskers pitchers, as the Huskers also had five freshmen in the lineup and gave several regulars the night off.

"I was impressed with our three freshmen pitchers tonight. It was great to see Johnny Dorn, Tony Watson and Ryan Bohanan shut down a Big Ten opponent," Anderson said. "I think we really saw the future of Nebraska baseball here tonight with five freshmen in the lineup."

Iowa took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, as Nate Yolo’s grounder scored Skylar Moss, who walked and moved to third on Andy Lytle’s double to right.

The Hawkeyes’ lead would be short-lived, as Brandon Fusilier opened the second with a single and came home two batters later, as Ledbetter sent an offering from Iowa starter Travis Sweet over the fence in right center to give the Huskers the lead for good.

Sweet (0-2) took the loss for Iowa, allowing two runs on two hits in three innings of work.

Fusilier, who went 2-for-4 and scored twice, opened the fourth with a triple to center and came home on a Brandon Buckman sacrifice fly that gave NU a two-run lead. Ledbetter then upped the lead to 4-1 with a solo shot to right center.

Nebraska tacked on its final runs in the fifth, using an RBI single by Bryce Nimmo and capitalizing on an Iowa miscue to plate its other run of the night.

Moss and Lytle had two hits apiece for the Hawkeyes, who dropped to 6-14 with the loss.

The Huskers will play host to top-ranked Texas in a three-game series this weekend. Friday’s first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. with afternoon starts slated for Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (1:30 p.m.). The final two times were altered, as ESPN will carry the final two games of the series. Friday’s game will be shown on ESPNU (Ch. 609 on DirecTV) and carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network.

-- Huskers -

 

          2005 Nebraska Baseball
                              Iowa at #4 Nebraska
                     April 6 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)

Iowa 1 (6-14)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Jason White 2b...........  5  0  0  0   0  1  3  2   2
Skylar Moss dh...........  3  1  2  0   1  1  0  0   1
Andy Lytle ss............  4  0  2  0   0  0  0  6   0
Nate Yoho rf.............  4  0  0  1   0  1  3  0   1
Kris Welker c............  2  0  0  0   2  0  6  1   1
Jesse Brownell lf........  3  0  1  0   0  1  2  0   2
Brian Burmester ph......  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Andy Cox 3b..............  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  1   2
Jeff Engel ph...........  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
Dusty Napoleon 1b........  4  0  1  0   0  2  9  0   0
Nate Price cf............  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  0   0
Travis Sweet p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Chris Zinn p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Aaron Reasland p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Tim Gudex p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Kevin Sunderman p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  1  8  1   3  9 24 11   9

Nebraska 6 (26-4)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Nimmo, Bryce cf..........  4  1  1  1   0  1  2  0   0
Bruce, Daniel rf.........  3  0  0  0   1  0  1  0   1
Gordon, Alex 3b..........  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  1   0
Fusilier, Brandon dh.....  4  2  2  0   0  0  0  0   1
Buckman, Brandon 1b......  3  0  0  1   0  1 10  3   0
Ledbetter, Curtis c......  3  2  2  3   0  1  8  1   0
Opitz, Jake 2b...........  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  4   0
Gerch, Andy lf...........  3  1  1  0   0  1  1  0   0
Wehrle, Ryan ss..........  2  0  1  0   0  0  5  5   0
Dorn, Johnny p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Watson, Tony p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Bohanan, Ryan p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Jensen, Brett p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 29  6  7  5   1  6 27 16   2

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Iowa................ 100 000 000 -  1  8  1
Nebraska............ 020 220 00X -  6  7  0
-------------------------------------------

E - Cox(5). LOB - Hawkeyes 9; Huskers 2. 2B - Lytle(3). 3B - Fusilier,
B.(1). HR - Ledbetter, C 2(9). SH - Wehrle, R.(4). SF - Buckman, B.(4). SB -
White(2); Nimmo, B.(3). CS - Lytle(3); Bruce, D.(1).

Iowa                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Travis Sweet........  3.0  2  2  2  1  3 10 11  40
Chris Zinn..........  1.1  4  4  2  0  1  6  8  25
Aaron Reasland......  1.2  0  0  0  0  1  6  6  20
Tim Gudex...........  1.1  1  0  0  0  1  5  5  20
Kevin Sunderman.....  0.2  0  0  0  0  0  2  2   4

Nebraska               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Dorn, Johnny........  5.0  3  1  1  2  4 18 20  62
Watson, Tony........  2.0  2  0  0  1  3  7  8  34
Bohanan, Ryan.......  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  4  4   9
Jensen, Brett.......  1.0  2  0  0  0  2  5  5  19

Win - Dorn, J. (4-1).  Loss - Sweet (0-2).  Save - None.
PB - Welker(10). Inherited runners/scored: Reasland 1/1. Pitches/strikes: Sweet
40/26; Zinn 25/15; Reasland 20/14; Gudex 20/11; Sunderman 4/3; Dorn, J. 62/40;
Watson, T. 34/21; Bohanan, R. 9/7; Jensen, B. 19/14.
Umpires - HP: Tom Svehla  1B: Randy Bertram  3B: Jeff Graver
Start: 6:05p.m.   Time: 2:14   Attendance: 2468
Game: NU30