Tigers Claw Past Huskers, 5-1

Lincoln ? All-American Tony Watson allowed one unearned run over 10 innings, but could not get the win, as Missouri scored four runs in the top of the 11th to earn a 5-1 victory over No. 26 Nebraska Friday afternoon at Hawks Field.

Watson turned in one of the finest performances of his career, scattering three hits over a career-long 10 innings and retiring 14 of the final 15 hitters he faced, but left with the game tied at one. The left-hander struck out a season-high seven Tigers in a 130-pitch gem.

“I thought that Tony was outstanding today,” Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson. “He did everything that we needed him to do to win today. He was extremely competitive out there, and that’s what we need from a Friday night guy.  We had a lot of opportunities and didn’t capitalize on them.”

Missouri, which improved to 19-5 on the year with its 13th straight win, rallied off the Husker bullpen in the 11th, as Trevor Coleman’s two-run bases-loaded single broke the tie.  Coleman played a part in four of the Tigers’ five runs, going 2-for-5 with two RBIs and scored twice in the win.

Gary Arndt opened the inning with a single up the middle off of Zach Herr before Evan Fray’s bunt was misplayed by the Husker pitcher, as his throwing error put runners on second and third with no outs. After a hit batter, Erik Bird came in and nearly got the Huskers out of the jam unscathed, as he retired the next two hitters and was up 1-2 Coleman, who then lined a single just past the reach of first baseman Andrew Brown to put the Tigers up 3-1. Jacob Priday made it 4-1 with a single to center before Aaron Senne gave the Tigers a four-run lead with a run-scoring single.

The offensive outburst was more than enough for Missouri closer Kyle Gibson, who retired the Huskers in order in the bottom of the 11th to improve to 3-2 on the year. Gibson struck out three over three scoreless innings and snuffed out NU’s rallies in the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings

Herr dropped to 1-2 with the loss, allowing three runs without retiring a batter, as Missouri snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Huskers dating back to the 2005 season.

For the first 10 innings, the game was a stalemate, as Watson and Missouri starter Aaron Crow kept both offenses at bay.  The Tigers didn’t get a runner in scoring position until the fifth inning, when Missouri took advantage of a Husker miscue to plate its first run. Coleman opened the fifth with a double before a wild pitch and a subsequent throwing error allowed him to score on the play.

Crow, who allowed one run on four hits and fanned five over eight innings, kept NU off the board until the seventh, when the Huskers strung together three of their five hits. With two outs, Jeff Tezak doubled and scored on Craig Corriston’s RBI single to right ? one of three hits on the day for the Husker third baseman.

Nebraska, which fell to 12-8 on the year and 1-3 in the Big 12, had golden opportunities to win the game in both the ninth and 10th innings against the Tiger closer. Werhle opened the ninth with a walk and eventually got to third base with one out after a Brown sacrifice and a Tiger error, but Gibson struck out Andy Gerch and got Jeff Tezak to ground out to end the inning.
 
Corriston opened the 10th with a single before Mitch Abeita’s grounder moved him into scoring position, but Bryce Nimmo and DJ Belfonte both grounded out to leave Corriston stranded at third.

The two teams will square off on Saturday, as Charlie Shirek (2-2, 4.50 ERA) will be opposed by Rick Zagone (3-0, 3.82 ERA). The game will be carried on the Husker Sports Radio Network and on the Internet at Huskers.com.

-- Huskers --

 

                            Missouri at #26 Nebraska
                   Mar 23, 2007 at Lincoln, NE (Hawks Field)

Missouri 5 (19-5,1-0 Big 12)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB  Avg.
Frey, Evan cf............  4  1  0  0   0  0  4  0   0  .301
Bond, Brock 2b...........  2  1  0  0   2  1  1  3   0  .305
McKee, John 1b...........  5  0  1  0   0  2 14  0   0  .253
Lollis, Ryan rf..........  5  0  0  0   0  3  0  1   2  .348
Coleman, Trevor c........  5  2  2  2   0  1  9  1   0  .333
Priday, Jacob dh.........  5  0  1  1   0  0  0  0   0  .231
Mach, Kyle 3b............  4  0  0  0   1  0  1  2   0  .310
Senne, Aaron lf..........  4  0  2  1   1  0  3  0   1  .265
Arndt, Gary ss...........  5  1  1  0   0  2  1  3   4  .279
Crow, Aaron p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0     -
 Gibson, Kyle p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0     -
Totals................... 39  5  7  4   4  9 33 15   7

Nebraska 1 (12-8,1-3 Big 12)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB  Avg.
Belfonte, DJ rf..........  5  0  0  0   0  1  5  0   2  .295
Wehrle, Ryan ss..........  4  0  0  0   1  0  1  0   0  .183
Brown, Andrew 1b.........  3  0  0  0   0  2 10  1   0  .254
Opitz, Jake 2b...........  5  0  0  0   0  2  2  2   0  .279
Gerch, Andy lf...........  4  0  1  0   0  2  1  0   0  .273
Tezak, Jeff dh...........  3  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   2  .392
Corriston, Craig 3b......  4  0  3  1   0  1  2  3   0  .393
Abeita, Mitch c..........  2  0  0  0   1  0  9  2   0  .259
Nimmo, Bryce cf..........  4  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   2  .211
Watson, Tony p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0     -
 Herr, Zach p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0     -
 Bird, Erik p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0     -
 Jennings, Dan p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0     -
Totals................... 34  1  5  1   2  8 33  8   6

Score by Innings                       R  H  E
Missouri............ 000 010 000 04 -  5  7  1
Nebraska............ 000 000 100 00 -  1  5  4

E - Arndt(6); Wehrle, R. 2(6); Abeita, M.(2); Herr, Z.(2). DP - Tigers 1;
Huskers 1. LOB - Tigers 7; Huskers 6. 2B - Coleman(7); Gerch, A.(4); Tezak,
J.(6). HBP - Bond; Brown, A.; Tezak, J.. SH - Frey(3); Brown, A.(1); Abeita,
M.(3). SB - Priday(2); Senne(3). CS - Frey(2); Senne(1).

Missouri               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP   ERA
Crow, Aaron.........  8.0  4  1  1  1  5 25 28 106  2.15
Gibson, Kyle........  3.0  1  0  0  1  3  9 12  42  2.27

Nebraska               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP   ERA
Watson, Tony........ 10.0  3  1  0  3  7 32 35 130  3.31
Herr, Zach..........  0.0  1  3  0  0  0  1  3   5  2.89
Bird, Erik..........  0.2  2  1  0  1  1  4  5  18  9.00
Jennings, Dan.......  0.1  1  0  0  0  1  2  2   6  3.37

Win - Gibson (2-3).  Loss - Herr, Z. (2-2).  Save - None.
WP - Watson, T.(2). HBP - by Crow, A. (Brown, A.); by Crow, A. (Tezak, J.); by
Herr, Z. (Bond). Inherited runners/scored: Bird, E. 3/3; Jennings, D. 3/1.
Pitches/strikes: Crow, A. 106/69; Gibson 42/28; Watson, T. 130/81; Herr, Z. 5/2;
Bird, E. 18/10; Jennings, D. 6/4.
Umpires - HP: Jeff Henrichs  1B: Dan Novak  3B: Patrick Spieler
Start: 1:36p.m.   Time: 3:00   Attendance: 4589
Game: NU20