Huskers Remain in Big 12 Title Contention with 10-6 Win

Lincoln ? Alex Gordon’s three-run triple highlighted a six-run fifth inning, as No. 5 Nebraska took a 7-0 lead and held on for a 10-6 victory over Kansas State Saturday afternoon at Hawks Field.

Nebraska (45-12, 18-8 in the Big 12) remained in contention for the Big 12 regular-season title, as Saturday’s win, coupled with Missouri’s 7-3 victory over Baylor, puts the Huskers one game behind the Bears heading into Sunday’s regular season finale.

“For our kids’ sake, I hope Baylor gets beat today just so we can prepare like we’re playing for a championship tomorrow; so that we get to walk in here and say we get a chance to win a championship,” Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said prior to the conclusion of the BU-MU game. “The only thing we can control is if we win or lose. We can’t control what they do. We’re already in a great position and have set ourselves up well.”

Gordon’s three RBIs and a two-hit performance from freshman Ryan Wehrle highlighted Nebraska’s offensive attack, as NU also turned a pair of Kansas State (30-24, 8-18 Big 12) errors into four unearned runs, including two in the eighth after KSU pulled to within 7-6.

Freshman Johnny Dorn picked his ninth win of the season, allowing four runs on six hits over 6.2 innings to improve to 9-1 on the season. The right-hander, who took a 7-1 lead into the seventh, has now won his last nine decisions and matched Jamie Rodrigue’s school freshman mark for wins set in 2000.

Brett Jensen, who came in the eighth with NU holding a 7-6 lead and the tying runner at first, got out of the frame unscathed and allowed one hit in a scoreless 1.1 innings for his 11th save, matching Thom Ott’s single-season mark set in 2001.

The Huskers took a 1-0 lead in the second on Brandon Fusilier’s solo homer ? his 12th of the year, while neither team scored until the fifth, when Nebraska chased KSU starter Brad Hutt with six runs. With two outs and the bases loaded, Joe Simokaitis drew a walk to give NU a 2-0 lead. Left-hander Chase Bayuk came into to face Gordon, who ripped a 2-1 pitch into the gap in right center for a bases-clearing triple to give the Huskers a five-run lead. Bayuk then walked Curtis Ledbetter to put runners on the corners before Fusilier’s fly ball to deep right center was dropped by Josh Dent, allowing both runners to score on the play.

Hutt, the first of four KSU pitchers, took the loss, allowing five runs on three hits in 4.2 innings to drop to 2-1 on the year.

Dorn took a shutout into the sixth before Jared Goedert’s solo homer put the visitors on the board. On inning later, KSU chased the freshman right-hander, as he left with a 7-1 lead with two outs and the bases loaded. Tony Watson then came in, but walked the next two hitters to pull KSU within 7-3. Dustin Timm then surrendered an RBI single to Barrett Rice, while Trey Adams’s subsequent error in right allowed a second runner to score, pulling the Wildcats within 7-5.

Kansas State took advantage of a Husker miscue in the eight to cut the deficit to 7-6 and had the tying runner on first, but Jensen got Nebraska out of the jam.

The Huskers tacked on a trio of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. With two outs and runners on second and third, Daniel Bruce hit a grounder to Rice at third, who attempted to tag out Trey Adams before firing to first. The mistake proved costly, as Bruce beat out the grounder for an RBI single to give NU an 8-6 lead. Joe Simokaitis then hit a grounder back to the mound which KSU reliever Bryan Peterson threw into right field, allowing Nebraska’s final two runs to score on the play.

The Huskers will go for the series sweep and a share of the Big 12 title Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Zach Kroenke (5-2, 3.09 ERA) will take the mound for Nebraska, while KSU will go with right-hander Adam Cowart (7-3, 3.94 ERA).

2005 Nebraska Baseball Kansas State at #5 Nebraska May 21, 2005 at Lincoln, Neb (Hawks Field)

Kansas State 6 (30-24,8-18 Big 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg. ------------------------------------------------------------ Blunt, Terry lf.......... 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 .343 Dent, Josh cf............ 3 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 .280 Goedert, Jared 2b........ 4 2 2 2 1 0 1 3 2 .337 Murphy, Steve rf......... 4 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 .333 Rice, Barrett 3b......... 5 0 2 1 0 1 0 2 2 .355 Tapia, Cris 1b........... 4 0 0 0 1 0 13 0 3 .326 Roundy, Joe dh........... 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 .289 Eymann, Eric ss.......... 4 2 3 0 0 0 1 4 0 .308 Baker, David c........... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .320 Hutt, Brad p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - Bayuk, Chase p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Rollins, Eric p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Peterson, Bryan p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Totals................... 37 6 9 4 5 2 24 10 10

Nebraska 10 (45-12,18-8 Big 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg. ------------------------------------------------------------ Boyer, Jesse rf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .291 Bruce, Daniel cf........ 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .308 Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 4 1 0 1 1 0 0 5 1 .287 Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 4 1 1 3 1 0 0 2 0 .394 Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 4 1 0 0 1 1 11 0 2 .320 Fusilier, Brandon lf..... 4 1 1 1 0 0 5 0 0 .291 Bohanan, Ryan dh......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .263 Gerch, Andy ph/dh....... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .320 Wehrle, Ryan 2b.......... 3 1 2 0 0 1 1 3 2 .298 Opitz, Jake 2b.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .250 Adams, Trey cf/rf........ 3 2 1 0 1 0 5 0 1 .266 Christy, Jeff c.......... 3 1 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 .224 Dorn, Johnny p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Watson, Tony p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Timm, Dustin p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - Jensen, Brett p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Totals................... 33 10 7 6 5 2 27 11 6

Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Kansas State........ 000 001 410 - 6 9 2 Nebraska............ 010 060 03X - 10 7 3 -------------------------------------------

E - Dent, Josh(3); Peterson, Br(1); Opitz, J.(5); Adams, T.(2); Jensen, B.(2). LOB - Wildcats 10; Huskers 6. 3B - Gordon, A.(2). HR - Goedert, Jar(4); Fusilier, B.(12). HBP - Dent, Josh; Gerch, A. 2. SB - Bruce, D.(7); Gerch, A.(2).

Kansas State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA -------------------------------------------------------- Hutt, Brad.......... 4.2 3 5 5 3 1 17 20 69 3.16 Bayuk, Chase........ 0.0 1 2 0 1 0 2 3 14 6.48 Rollins, Eric....... 3.0 2 2 1 0 1 11 13 41 4.28 Peterson, Bryan..... 0.1 1 1 0 1 0 3 4 13 2.57

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA -------------------------------------------------------- Dorn, Johnny........ 6.2 6 4 4 2 1 26 29 102 1.96 Watson, Tony........ 0.0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 13 2.15 Timm, Dustin........ 1.0 2 1 0 0 0 6 6 30 2.13 Jensen, Brett....... 1.1 1 0 0 1 1 5 6 32 1.89

Win - Dorn, J. (9-1). Loss - Hutt, Brad (2-1). Save - Jensen, B. (11). HBP - by Dorn, J. (Dent, Josh); by Rollins, Eri (Gerch, A.); by Rollins, Eri (Gerch, A.). Pitches/strikes: Hutt, Brad 69/37; Bayuk, Chase 14/6; Rollins, Eri 41/25; Peterson, Br 13/8; Dorn, J. 102/61; Watson, T. 13/5; Timm, D. 30/20; Jensen, B. 32/19. Umpires - HP: Mike Droll 1B: Chris Coskey 3B: Bob Homolka Start: 2:08p.m. Time: 2:55 Attendance: 6056 Bayuk, Chase faced 3 batters in the 5th. Watson, T. faced 2 batters in the 7th. Game: NU57