Boyer?s Blast Give No. 5 Huskers 6-5 Win in 11 Innings

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln ? Jesse Boyer’s first career homer in the bottom of the 11th inning broke a 5-all deadlock, as fifth-ranked Nebraska took the rubber match of the three-game series with No. 17 Missouri, 6-5, in front of a crowd of 5,849 at Hawks Field.

With one out, Boyer sent Andrew Johnston’s first pitch into the berm in left, capping a closely-fought series where the three games were decided a total of four runs. The homer, the first in 276 career at-bats for Boyer, lifted Nebraska to 39-10 overall and 14-7 in the Big 12, one game behind idle Baylor. The homer also was the first hit by Nebraska in seven games, as NU went 67 innings before Boyer’s game winner.

"I'm walking on cloud right now," Boyer, who went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs, said. "We got the win, and that's the most important thing. Keeping series alive and winning series, that's the most important thing. It's just a great feeling for this team right now."

"That smile on Jesse Boyer's face as he came around second after that home run and seeing our kids waiting for him at home plate -- what a great moment that was," Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said. "What a great memory and what a great ballgame. I'm not saying it was a well-played ballgame, but there was a lot of heart on both teams."

Johnston (2-3) pitched well in losing effort, allowing one run on four hits, while pitching the Tigers out of jams in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. In all, Johnson and Taylor Parker combined to keep Nebraska off the scoreboard after NU took a 5-1 lead off starter Doug Mathis.

Brett Jensen, the fifth Husker pitcher of the day, earned the victory by tossing the final 1.1 innings of shutout relief to improve to 2-2 on the season. NU’s bullpen now has gone 34.2 innings over the last nine games without allowing an earned run.

Boyer’s heroics were needed, as Missouri (32-16, 12-9 Big 12) turned a pair of Husker fielding miscues into a four-run rally in the seventh, as the Tigers overcame a four-run deficit to get the game into extra innings.

Husker starter Johnny Dorn took a 5-1 lead into the seventh, but could not pick up the win. Dorn, who allowed one earned run on six hits while striking out eight, left with one out and runners on the corners. Tony Watson then induced Trevor Helms into a grounder, which was misplayed by Ryan Wehrle to pull MU within 5-2. After a sacrifice fly, Ryan Bohanan uncorked a wild pitch before a fielding miscue by Alex Gordon on Jacob Priday grounder tied the game.

The Huskers got off to a quick start, as Boyer opened the game with a leadoff single before scoring on Gordon’s RBI double two batters later. Gordon, who advanced to third on a Tiger error, then scored moments later on Curtis Ledbetter’s grounder to second.

Jeff Christy extended the Husker lead to 3-0 one inning later, as his RBI single scored Daniel Bruce, who opened the inning with a single and eventually got to third before Christy’s RBI single past third.

The Tigers finally got on the board in the top of the fourth on Derek Chambers’ RBI single set up by a Husker error ? one of four on the day, but Nebraska would respond in the bottom of the inning, scoring twice and chasing MU starter Doug Mathis after 3.1 innings.

After a Ryan Wehrle single and a one-out walk to Christy chased the Tiger starter, Parker came in and fired a wild pitch to move both runners into scoring position. Boyer then scored Wehrle, who went 2-for-5, with a grounder to short before Simokaitis, who went 3-for-4, drove in Christy with an RBI single to give NU a four-run cushion.

The Huskers will look for their 40th win of the season on Tuesday, as they take on Creighton at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium. Over 11,000 tickets have been sold for the rubber match between the Huskers and Bluejays.

Missouri vs Nebraska (May 08, 2005)

• Box score (NCAA)
• Play-by-Play

Box score (NCAA) 2005 Nebraska Baseball #17 Missouri at #5 Nebraska May 08, 2005 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)

Missouri 5 (32-16,12-9 Big 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg. ------------------------------------------------------------ Helms, Trevor 2b......... 5 1 0 1 1 2 2 3 2 .271 Williams, Tyler lf....... 3 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 2 .250 Mense, Hunter cf......... 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 .349 Priday, Jacob rf......... 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 .296 Chambers, Derek 1b....... 5 0 3 1 0 0 16 0 1 .299 McKee, John 3b........... 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 5 3 .259 O'Neill, Greg 3b........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .306 Taylor, Zane dh.......... 5 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 .319 Field, J.C. c............ 5 0 0 0 0 2 8 0 0 .175 Arndt, Gary ss........... 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 5 0 .272 Mathis, Doug p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - Parker, Taylor p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - Johnston, Andrew p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 - Totals................... 43 5 9 3 2 12 31 17 8

Nebraska 6 (39-10,14-7 Big 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg. ------------------------------------------------------------ Boyer, Jesse lf.......... 5 2 2 2 0 1 1 0 1 .308 Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 4 0 3 1 0 0 0 5 0 .293 Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 4 1 2 1 1 0 2 1 1 .404 Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 3 0 1 1 1 0 9 1 0 .316 Gerch, Andy rf........... 5 0 0 0 0 2 3 1 2 .333 Bruce, Daniel cf......... 5 1 1 0 0 1 3 0 5 .311 Wehrle, Ryan 2b.......... 5 1 2 0 0 1 3 1 0 .287 Opitz, Jake dh........... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .265 Nimmo, Bryce ph......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .243 Christy, Jeff c.......... 4 1 1 1 1 0 11 2 0 .227 Dorn, Johnny p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Watson, Tony p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Bohanan, Ryan p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 .125 Duensing, Brian p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Jensen, Brett p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - Totals................... 40 6 12 6 3 6 33 13 9

Score by Innings R H E ---------------------------------------------- Missouri............ 000 100 400 00 - 5 9 1 Nebraska............ 210 200 000 01 - 6 12 4 ----------------------------------------------

Note: 1 out, 0 runners LOB when the game ended.

E - Mense(3); Simokaitis(6); Gordon, A.(11); Bruce, D.(2); Wehrle, R.(6). DP - Tigers 1. LOB - Tigers 8; Huskers 9. 2B - Chambers(7); Taylor(8); Arndt(8); Gordon, A.(15). HR - Boyer, J.(1). HBP - Boyer, J.; Ledbetter, C. SH - Simokaitis(10). SF - Williams(2). SB - Simokaitis 2(14); Gordon, A.(19); Ledbetter, C(2).

Missouri IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA -------------------------------------------------------- Mathis, Doug........ 3.1 6 5 4 1 1 16 18 70 3.54 Parker, Taylor...... 3.0 2 0 0 1 2 10 13 56 1.44 Johnston, Andrew.... 4.0 4 1 1 1 3 14 15 47 2.72

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA -------------------------------------------------------- Dorn, Johnny........ 6.1 6 3 1 2 8 25 27 105 1.85 Watson, Tony........ 0.1 1 2 0 0 0 2 3 7 2.12 Bohanan, Ryan....... 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 7 7 24 0.47 Duensing, Brian..... 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 4 4 14 3.09 Jensen, Brett....... 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 5 5 14 1.86

Win - Jensen, B. (2-2). Loss - Johnston (2-3). Save - None. WP - Parker(2); Bohanan, R.(1). HBP - by Mathis (Ledbetter, C); by Parker (Boyer, J.). Inherited runners/scored: Parker 2/2; Johnston 3/0; Watson, T. 2/2; Bohanan, R. 2/2; Jensen, B. 1/0. Pitches/strikes: Mathis 70/45; Parker 56/32; Johnston 47/38; Dorn, J. 105/66; Watson, T. 7/5; Bohanan, R. 24/13; Duensing, B. 14/9; Jensen, B. 14/9. Umpires - HP: Doug Williams 1B: Randy Bruns 3B: Chris Coskey Start: 1:05p.m. Time: 3:22 Attendance: 5849 Game: NU49