Chamberlain Shuts Down No. 19 N.C. State

Charleston, S.C. ? All-American Joba Chamberlain fanned seven over 7.1 scoreless innings, leading third-ranked Nebraska to a 4-3 victory over No. 19 North Carolina State at the Homewood Suites Shootout Friday afternoon.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-hander was dominant in his first outing of the year, holding the Wolfpack without a hit until the fifth inning and striking out seven N.C. State hitters to improve to 1-0 on the season. Chamberlain, who went 10-2 in 2005, stymied a Wolfpack offense that averaged over 17 runs a game through its first six contests, holding them to just four hits, including two over the first eight frames.

“This outing exceeded my expectations of Joba for today,” Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson said. “A lot of those guys (North Carolina State) were in the regional last year, and I thought Joba was great.”

The Huskers (2-0) scored a pair of runs in both the third and sixth innings to build a 4-0 before holding off a furious Wolfpack rally, as North Carolina State (6-1) scored three times in the ninth.

“With our young team, the trepidation I had (going into today) is that they were a veteran club and our team is young and inexperienced,” Anderson said. “To have our kids perform the way they did is pretty exciting. That is the one thing I will take away from today, that we faced a veteran club and did very well in some tight situations.’

Jake Opitz and Luke Gorsett both enjoyed 2-for-3 afternoons, while Nick Jaros broke the game open with a two-run double off N.C. State right-hander Eryk McConnell, who had allowed just three hits in his first two starts. McConnell allowed all four runs over five-plus innings to dip to 2-1 on the season

“I was our offense was outstanding against a very good pitcher,” Anderson said. “He wasn’t overpowering, but was a strike thrower and he knew how to pitch We didn’t try to do anything special, and tried to get some line drives and they fell our way today.”

The Huskers broke the scoreless deadlock in the third, getting run-scoring hits from sophomores Bryce Nimmo and Ryan Wehrle.  Opitz started the rally with a one-out single to right and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Nimmo plated Opitz with a triple into the left field corner before Wehrle made it 2-0 one batter later with a double to left, driving in his team-high sixth RBI of the season.

North Carolina State was held hitless until the fifth, when consecutive one-out singles by Matt Mangini and Caleb Magnum put runners on first and second with one out. A grounder by Jonathan Diaz moved both runners into scoring position, but Chamberlain got Matt Camp to ground out to first to end the threat.

The Huskers then chased McConnell in the sixth, as the right-hander hit Andy Gerch to open the frame before walking Brandon Buckman to put runners on first and second with no outs.  Gorsett laid down a sacrifice bunt that was misplayed by N.C. State first baseman Aaron Bates to load the bases before Jaros laced a 1-1 pitch into left for a two-run double, staking the Huskers a four-run cushion.

Chamberlain and reliever Jared Cranston took a shutout into the ninth when Brett Jensen issued a one-out walk to Aaron Cone. Jeremy Synan then came off the bench to hit a two-run homer, pulling the Wolfpack within 4-2. Two batters later, Mangini’s solo homer made it a one-run game before Jensen retired pinch-hitter Jon Still to preserve the Huskers’ one-run win.

Mangini went 2-for-3 with a homer and a walk to pace the Wolfpack offense.

The Huskers will continue tournament play Saturday afternoon, as they take on The Citadel beginning at 1:30 p.m. (central).  Live stats will be available on Huskers.com.

                    #3 Nebraska vs #19 North Carolina State
            Feb 17, 2006 at Charleston, S.C. (Joseph P. Roley Park)

Nebraska 4 (2-0)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Nimmo, Bryce cf..........  5  1  1  1   0  2  0  0   1
Wehrle, Ryan ss..........  4  0  1  1   0  1  1  2   1
Gerch, Andy dh...........  3  1  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
Buckman, Brandon 1b......  3  1  0  0   1  0 13  1   0
Gorsett, Luke rf.........  3  0  2  0   0  0  1  0   0
Jaros, Nick lf...........  4  0  1  2   0  0  1  0   0
Christy, Jeff c..........  4  0  1  0   0  2  8  2   1
Opitz, Jake 2b...........  3  1  2  0   0  0  1  1   0
Edlefsen, Steve 3b.......  4  0  0  0   0  0  1  6   2
Chamberlain, Joba p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Cranston, Jared p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Jensen, Brett p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 33  4  8  4   1  6 27 12   6

North Carolina State 3 (6-1)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Matt Camp cf.............  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   2
Brian Aragon rf..........  4  0  0  0   0  2  2  0   1
Aaron Bates 1b...........  2  0  0  0   2  1  9  2   0
Aaron Cone dh............  3  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   1
Ryan Pond lf.............  2  0  0  0   1  2  0  0   0
Jeremy Synan ph.........  1  1  1  2   0  0  0  0   0
Ramon Corona 2b..........  4  0  0  0   0  1  3  5   0
Matt Mangini 3b..........  3  1  2  1   1  0  2  2   0
Caleb Mangum c...........  3  0  1  0   0  1  6  0   1
Jon Still ph............  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Jonathan Diaz ss.........  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  1   0
Eryk McConnell p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
Sam Walls p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
Chris Engle p/pr........  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 30  3  4  3   5 10 27 12   5

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Nebraska............ 002 002 000 -  4  8  1
North Carolina State 000 000 003 -  3  4  1
-------------------------------------------

E - Opitz, J.(1); Bates. DP - Huskers 2; Wolfpack 1. LOB - Huskers 6;
Wolfpack 5. 2B - Wehrle, R.(1); Gorsett, L.(1); Jaros, N.(1); Christy,
J.(1); Opitz, J.(1). 3B - Nimmo. HR - Synan; Mangini. HBP - Gerch, A.. SH -
Gorsett, L.; Opitz, J..

Nebraska               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Chamberlain, Joba...  7.1  2  0  0  4  7 23 27
Cranston, Jared.....  0.2  0  0  0  0  2  2  2
Jensen, Brett.......  1.0  2  3  3  1  1  5  6

North Carolina State   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Eryk McConnell......  5.0  6  4  4  1  2 21 24
Sam Walls...........  3.0  1  0  0  0  3  9  9
Chris Engle.........  1.0  1  0  0  0  1  3  4

Win - Chamberlain (1-0).  Loss - McConnell (2-1).  Save - None.
WP - McConnell. HBP - by McConnell (Gerch, A.). Inherited runners/scored: Walls
2/0.
Umpires -
Start: 12:05p.m   Time: 2:22   Attendance: 315
McConnell faced 4 batters in the 6th.
Game: NU2