Huskers Hold Off Mavericks, 5-4

Arlington, Texas ? The seventh-ranked Nebraska baseball team relied on an opportunistic offense and a stout bullpen to hold off UT-Arlington, 5-4, at the UTA Hilton Invitational at Clay Gould Ballpark on Saturday.

The Huskers, who improved to 2-1 on the season, raced to a 4-0 lead and held on as relievers Dan Jennings, Zach Herr and Erik Bird held off a flurry of late-inning comebacks by the Mavericks.

UTA, which dropped to 2-4 on the season, had the tying run in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth, but were unable to plate the tying run against Bird, who picked up his second save in as many days.

“It was a gutsy effort by Bird,” Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson said. “I didn’t think he had his best stuff, but he found a way to get it down. Overall, I thought our pitchers did a good job out there today.”

Bird entered the game in the eighth inning with the tying run on second and the Huskers clinging to a 5-4 lead. After allowing a bloop single to put runners on the corners, the sophomore struck out Lance Nobile and Mitch Putman to end the threat. Bird opened the ninth by walking David McLeod on four pitches before a sacrifice moved the runner into scoring position. Bird then deftly worked out of the jam by getting a ground out and fly ball to collect his second save in as many days.

“After they got the runner to second in the ninth, my focus was to just keep the ball down and out of the wind and put it in play for my defense,” Bird said.

Bird’s performance was one of several highlights by the Husker bullpen, who allowed one run in 3.2 innings of relief. Jennings got starter Charlie Shirek out of a two-on, one-out jam in the sixth by retiring both hitters he faced after UTA scored twice to pull within 5-3. Herr then tossed 1.1 innings of relief before Leo Radkowski’s solo homer made it a 5-4 game.

“Those guys came in and shut the door and made it easy for me,” Bird said. “It was good to see more guys step up in the bullpen this year. It gives us a lot of options and competition is always good.”

Shirek was the beneficiary for the Husker bullpen’s work, as he allowed three runs over 5.1 innings to collect the win. The right-hander fanned two and walked one and took a shutout into the fifth. He was backed by a Husker defense that played near flawlessly while battling winds that ranged between 25 and 35 miles per hour.

While the Husker defense was solid, the Mavericks were porous at times, committing four errors, including a pair in the first inning that helped the Huskers race to an early 3-0 lead.

The Huskers had runners on first and second with one out before Nick Sullivan’s grounder was misplayed by UTA first baseman Ben Burum, loading the bases with one out. Jake Opitz lofted a sacrifice fly to center to score Bryce Nimmo, who opened the game with a single and stole second. Jeff Lanning then made it 2-0 with an RBI single to center before right fielder Matthew Otteman dropped a wind-blown fly ball off the bat of Andy Gerch, allowing Sullivan to score with NU’s third run of the frame.

“I thought we played great fundamental defense today,” Anderson said. “They booted around the ball in the first inning and we were able to get the lead and hold on. We made some correctable mistakes today, but it is a lot nicer to learn when you win.”

Nebraska extended its lead to 4-0 in the third, chasing UTA starter Jeffrey Nollen after just 2.1 innings of work. Lanning opened the frame with an infield single, moved to second on Gerch’s grounder and scored on Thad Weber’s run-scoring single to center.  Weber and Lanning had three hits apiece for NU in the win.

Shirek took a shutout into the fifth when the Mavericks strung together three hits, including an RBI single by Putman, but NU got the run back in the top of the sixth on Ryan Wehrle’s first homer of the season.

UTA continued to rally in the sixth off of Shirek, getting RBI singles from Danny Slinkman and Kyle Rudy to pull within 5-3. The Mavs had runners on the corners, but Jennings came in and got the Huskers out of the jam.

The Huskers conclude tournament play on Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m., as they take on Illinois State. The game can be viewed exclusively on HuskersNside.

Box Score 2007 Nebraska Baseball #7 Nebraska at UT-Arlington Feb 17, 2007 at Arlington, TX (Clay Gould Ballpark)

Nebraska 5 (2-1)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Nimmo, Bryce cf.......... 6 1 1 0 0 1 6 0 2 Corriston, Craig 3b...... 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 Wehrle, Ryan ss.......... 3 2 1 1 2 1 0 3 3 Sullivan, Nick lf........ 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 Edlefsen, Steve pr/lf... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Opitz, Jake 2b........... 4 0 0 1 0 1 2 3 3 Lanning, Jeff c.......... 4 1 3 1 0 0 5 0 0 Gerch, Andy dh........... 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 Weber, Thad 1b........... 4 0 3 1 0 0 10 0 2 Belfonte, DJ rf.......... 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 Shirek, Charlie p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jennings, Dan p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Herr, Zach p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bird, Erik p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 35 5 9 4 5 4 27 10 14

UT-Arlington 4 (2-4)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ McLeod, David lf......... 4 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 Rieder, Daniel 2b........ 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 2 Otteman, Matthew rf...... 5 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 Slinkman, Danny dh....... 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Newby, David ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sample, Travis ph....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Radkowski, Leo 3b........ 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 0 Burum, Ben 1b............ 4 1 4 0 0 0 8 1 0 Rudy,Kyle ss............. 3 0 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 Wilson, Brock cf......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 Nobile, Lance ph/cf..... 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 Cleaveland, John c....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 Putman, Mitch ph/c...... 3 0 1 1 0 1 2 1 4 Nollen, Jeffrey p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sartor, Matthew p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Martin, Ryan p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Long, Nathan p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 37 4 12 4 2 5 27 9 9

Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Nebraska............ 301 001 000 - 5 9 1 UT-Arlington........ 000 012 010 - 4 12 4 -------------------------------------------

E - Wehrle, R.(1); Otteman 2; Burum; Rudy. DP - Huskers 1. LOB - Huskers 14; Mavericks 9. 2B - Burum 2. HR - Wehrle, R.(1); Radkowski. HBP - Corriston, C; Sullivan, N.; Lanning, J.; Belfonte, D.. SH - Weber, T.(1); Rieder. SF - Opitz, J.(1). SB - Nimmo, B.(2); Sullivan, N.; Belfonte, D.(1). CS - Lanning, J.(1).

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Shirek, Charlie..... 5.1 9 3 3 1 2 24 25 86 Jennings, Dan....... 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 6 Herr, Zach.......... 1.1 2 1 1 0 0 6 6 32 Bird, Erik.......... 1.2 1 0 0 1 2 5 7 27

UT-Arlington IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Nollen, Jeffrey..... 2.1 4 4 1 4 1 12 17 69 Sartor, Matthew..... 2.2 1 0 0 0 2 9 12 45 Martin, Ryan........ 2.0 1 1 1 1 1 6 9 26 Long, Nathan........ 2.0 3 0 0 0 0 8 8 29

Win - Shirek, C. (1-0). Loss - Nollen (0-1). Save - Bird, E. (2). WP - Nollen; Sartor. HBP - by Sartor (Belfonte, D.); by Sartor (Corriston, C); by Sartor (Sullivan, N.); by Martin (Lanning, J.). Inherited runners/scored: Jennings, D. 2/0; Bird, E. 1/0; Sartor 1/0. Pitches/strikes: Shirek, C. 86/55; Jennings, D. 6/5; Herr, Z. 32/16; Bird, E. 27/16; Nollen 69/35; Sartor 45/27; Martin 26/13; Long 29/15. Umpires - Start: 3:30p.m. Time: 3:06 Attendance: 696 Game: NU3