Huskers Clipped by Owls, 3-2

Houston, Texas ? Aaron Luna’s seventh-inning RBI single broke a 2-all tie, as fourth-ranked Rice edged No. 3 Nebraska, 3-2, Saturday evening at Recking Park.

Luna’s one-out single to center plated Chad Lambeck with the go-ahead run off Husker All-American Joba Chamberlain, as Rice upped its record to 9-2 on the season. 

Lambeck, who scored two of Rice’s three runs, opened the inning by coaxing a walk off Chamberlain, the only free pass issued by Husker pitchers all day, before Jordan Dodson’s sacrifice moved the runner into scoring position. Luna then looped a 2-1 pitch into center, as Lambeck slid home for the game winner just ahead of Bryce Nimmo’s throw from center.

Anderson said that Saturday’s matchup, which was delayed more than three hours because of rain in the Houston area, was more fitting of a late-season encounter than NU’s sixth game of the season.

“That was championship-level baseball by both teams today,” Anderson said. “It was extremely well played by both teams. We were facing one of the best pitchers in the country and it was a No. 1 vs. No 1 matchup. They had a bunch of punch outs and so did we. We played a solid game, but they had one more big hit than we did, and that was the difference today. I’m disappointed that we lost, but not with the effort we gave.”

The matchup between Chamberlain and Rice’s Eddie Degerman lived up to its billing, as the two aces held both offenses in check for most of the evening. Chamberlain, who dropped to 1-1 with the loss, allowed three runs on six hits over 6.2 innings, while fanning 10, marking the fifth time Chamberlain fanned 10 or more in an outing.

Degerman, who improved to 3-0, matched the Husker ace pitch for pitch, holding the Huskers to two runs over seven frames while fanning eight and issuing just one walk.

The Huskers (4-2) put the tying run on base in the eighth on a Brandon Buckman single, but could not plate the equalizer, as Bryce Cox pitched up the save by fanning three over two shutout innings.

The Owls jumped ahead in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Dodson, who went 2-for-2 with two RBIs to pace Rice’s six-hit attack. Lembeck opened the inning with a single before a balk moved him into scoring position. Dodson then singled between third and short and the ball slowed down in the soggy conditions, allowing Lembeck to score from second.

Dodson made it 2-0 in the fourth, as he sent Chamberlain’s 3-1 offering over the fence in left for his second homer of the season.

The Huskers struck in the fifth off of Degerman, who had not allowed an earned run in his first 20 innings of work.  NU strung together four hits in the frame to tie the score, including RBI singles by Nick Sullivan and Nick Jaros. With one out, a single by Jake Opitz and a double by Jeff Christy put runners on second. Sullivan then came off the bench to put the Huskers on the board with an RBI single to left before Jaros knotted the score two batters later with a run-scoring single to right.

“We had some young guys step up and had some freshmen get some big hits for us,” Anderson said “We’re still learning out there. We did some good things, but in order to win a game like this you have to have experienced people to get you over the hump.”

Opitz and Buckman had two hits apiece in the loss to pace NU in the losing effort.

NU had a golden opportunity in the sixth, putting two runners on with one out, but were unable to scratch across a run. Andy Gerch and Luke Gorsett had consecutive one out singles to put runners on first and second. Opitz then grounded into a fielder’s choice before Christy grounded out to short to end the frame.

The Huskers will wrap up tournament play on Sunday afternoon, when they take on St. John’s at Noon (central). Live stats will be available on Huskers.com, while live video streaming will be available for HuskersNside customers.

Nebraska Baseball #3 Nebraska at #4 Rice Feb 25, 2006 at Houston, TX (Reckling Park)

Nebraska 2 (4-2)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Nimmo, Bryce cf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 Jaros, Nick lf........... 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 Wehrle, Ryan ss.......... 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 2 Buckman, Brandon 1b...... 4 0 2 0 0 1 8 0 0 Gorsett, Luke rf......... 4 0 1 0 0 3 2 0 1 Gerch, Andy dh........... 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 Opitz, Jake 2b........... 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 Christy, Jeff c.......... 4 1 1 0 0 0 8 3 2 Edlefsen, Steve 3b....... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 Sullivan, Nick ph....... 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Mort, Jake 3b........... 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 Brown, Andrew ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Chamberlain, Joba p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cranston, Jared p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 35 2 9 2 1 12 24 8 7

Rice 3 (9-2)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Tyler Henley cf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Greg Buchanan 2b......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 Joe Savery 1b............ 4 0 0 0 0 3 9 0 0 Josh Rodriguez dh........ 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 Chad Lembeck rf.......... 2 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 Jordan Dodson lf......... 2 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 Aaron Luna 3b............ 3 0 1 1 0 1 1 4 0 Brian Friday ss.......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 2 0 Travis Reagan c.......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 1 Kenny Ford ph........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Trey Sperring ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Danny Lehmann c......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Eddie Degerman p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Bryce Cox p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 28 3 6 3 1 10 27 10 3

Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Nebraska............ 000 020 000 - 2 9 0 Rice................ 010 100 10X - 3 6 0 -------------------------------------------

DP - Owls 1. LOB - Huskers 7; Owls 3. 2B - Christy, J.(2). HR - Dodson(2). SH - Dodson(2). SB - Buchanan(5). CS - Rodriguez(1).

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Chamberlain, Joba... 6.2 6 3 3 1 10 24 26 105 Cranston, Jared..... 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 12

Rice IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Eddie Degerman...... 7.0 8 2 2 1 9 28 29 111 Bryce Cox........... 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 7 7 26

Win - Degerman (3-0). Loss - Chamberlain (1-1). Save - Cox (1). WP - Chamberlain(1); Degerman(1). BK - Chamberlain(1). PB - Christy, J.(2). Pitches/strikes: Chamberlain 105/65; Cranston, J. 12/7; Degerman 111/79; Cox 26/21. Umpires - HP: Bob Charmo 1B: David Rogers 3B: Greg Oros Start: 5:03p.m. Time: 2:23 Attendance: