Huskers Topple Texas Tech

Oklahoma City - The No. 14 Nebraska baseball team erupted for four runs with two outs in a decisive sixth inning to erase a 3-2 deficit for a 6-4 victory over Texas Tech in the Huskers' second game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark late Thursday night.

With the victory, Nebraska improved to 41-14 overall and 2-0 in pool play at the Big 12 Tournament with the Huskers' fourth victory in their past six games. The NU victory sets up a matchup with the tournament's top seed Texas on Saturday at 1 p.m. in a game that will be televised live nationally by Fox Sports Net. The winner of that game will advance to Sunday's Big 12 Championship Game as the winner of Division I in this year's new tournament format.

Texas remained unbeaten in pool play earlier on Thursday with a 16-8 victory over Baylor, which dropped to 0-2 in the tournament. Texas Tech (31-23-1) also slipped to 0-2 in the tournament as both the Bears and Red Raiders were eliminated from competing in Sunday's Championship Game.

Trailing 3-2 after Texas Tech starter Aaron Odom retired the first two outs of the inning, Luke Gorsett coaxed a full-count walk before Andy Gerch blooped a 3-2 pitch to put runners on the corners. Jake Opitz then lined a bases-clearing double into the gap in left center to give the Huskers a 4-3 lead. Jeff Christy then gave the Huskers a three-run cushion, chasing Odom with a two-run homer to left to make it a 6-3 game.

 “It was a good performance,” Head Coach Mike Anderson said. “It was the best team performance all year. Our guys were into winning and into getting it done.”

Christy, who is 12-for-22 during his current six-game hit streak, was 2-for-2 with a pair of walks while also tossing out a pair of runners. Nick Jaros also had two hits in the victory.

The lead was more than enough for NU starter Joba Chamberlain, who pitched seven solid innings to up his record to 6-4 on the season. The right-hander fanned seven over seven innings of work in picking up his first win since April 13.

“I saw something out of Joba tonight that I hadn’t seen in a while,” Anderson said. “He made it a step closer to where we need for him to be.”

The length of Thursday's UT-BU game pushed Nebraska's scheduled start time of 8 p.m. back more than one hour, but the Huskers used the extra time to warm their bats by scoring a pair of first-inning runs to jump out to a quick 2-0 lead. Jaros opened the game with a single and came home moments later on an RBI double by Ryan Wehrle. Two batters later, Andrew Brown’s grounder to short plated Wehrle with NU’s second run.

However, the Red Raiders also came out swinging, answering with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second on a two-run homer from Patrick Smart before Roger Kieschnick added a solo shot in the third inning to give Texas Tech a 3-2 lead off Chamberlain, who had allowed just three homers all season.

Chamberlain settled down after Texas Tech’s quick start, as he held the Red Raiders off the board until
Tyler Reves led off the seventh with a solo homer that made it a 6-4 game.

Patrick then followed with his second double of the game to put the tying run at the plate with no outs.  Smart advanced to third on a ground out, before Steve Edlefsen caught a screaming line drive at third base for the second out and completed the unassisted double play by stepping on the bag before Smart could get back to end the Red Raider threat.

Christy and Opitz helped the Huskers out of an eighth-inning jam with more defense. After Chamberlain walked the lead-off hitter, Zach Herr came on and recorded the first out before an infield single by Brian Capps first and third with just one out.

Husker closer Brett Jensen came on to put out the Red Raider uprising. Christy threw out Capps at second base as Opitz applied a strong tag after a nice scoop for the second out. Jensen then struck out Joey Callender to end the threat.

Jensen, one the nation's top closers, earned his 12th save of the season by striking out Reves and getting Smart, who had not been retired through the first eight innings, to ground into a game-ending double play.

Notes
*-Nebraska now has 15 come-from-behind wins this season, including both in the Big 12 Tournament
*-Nebraska has scored seven of their nine runs in the Big 12 Tournament in two-out situations.
*- With its two first-inning runs, Nebraska has outscored its opponents 57-19 in the opening frame this season
*- Chamberlain’s five consecutive strikeouts set the Big 12 Tournament record, breaking the
Monty Ward of Texas Tech vs. Baylor in 1998 and Shane Komine vs. Oklahoma State in 2001
*-The three homers allowed by Chamberlain marked only the second time in his career where he has given up more than one home in a game (vs. Seton Hall, 3/18/05). He had only given up three homers all season and one in his last eight starts, spanning 47.2 innings of work (also vs. Texas Tech on April 29).
*-With tonight’s win, Nebraska improves to 22-4 in the Big 12 Tournament at the Bricktown Ballpark and 26-7 all-time at the Big 12 Tournament
*-Jeff Christy extendeds his hit streak to six games, first time in his career that he has homered in consecutive games. He is 12-for-22 with two homers and four RBIs in that stretch
*-With Nebraska’s two runs in the first inning, the Huskers have scored on Texas Tech in the opening frame every time they faced the Red Raiders this year.