Huskers Fall to Aggies, 8-5

College Station, Texas ? Jake Opitz went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs, but the Nebraska baseball team could not overcome Texas A&M’s six-run second inning, falling to the Aggies, 8-5, Saturday afternoon at Olsen Field.

Opitz and Andy Gerch had two hits apiece for the Huskers (16-10, 3-5 Big 12), who jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Aggies took the lead for good with six runs off of Nebraska starter Charlie Shirek.

Parker Dalton was the hero for the Aggies (24-6, 4-4 Big 12), going 2-for-3 with four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the eighth after Nebraska pulled to within a run. Blake Stouffer also had two hits with a homer and two RBIs, as his homer capped the six-run outburst in the second.

Matt Ueckert earned the victory for the Aggies, as the left-hander allowed two unearned runs over five innings of work in relief of Kyle Thebeau, who couldn’t get out of the top of the first. Ueckert, making just his third appearance of the year, scattered seven hits and fanned two without a walk, while Kyle Nicholson struck out four over three innings of one-hit relief for his third save.

"Their lefty did a good job of settling things down, and Nicholson was outstanding," Anderson said. "Early on, it looked like there were going to be a lot of runs scored, and that inning cost us. I thought Charlie needed to get us to the fourth or fifth, but they took advantage."

Shriek (2-3) suffered the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits over 1.2 innings, but the Huskers were able to stay in the game with a strong performance from reliever Matt Foust. The right-hander tied or set career bests in both innings (5.2) and strikeouts (five) and kept Texas A&M scoreless until the eighth.

"Foust was outstanding," Anderson said. "That is a role we need someone to do out of the pen and throw some zeros on the board. He did what we needed him to do and that allowed us to get back into the game. Without his performance, that does not happen."

Nebraska struck early against the Aggies, taking advantage of a pair of walks and some wildness from Thebeau. With one out, Ryan Wehrle and Andrew Brown both walked before a wild pitch advanced both into scoring position. Opitz then singled off Thebeau to plate Wehrle for NU’s first run before Craig Corriston made it 2-0, as he reached on a fielding error that scored Brown. Ueckert came out of the bullpen to get Jeff Tezak to ground into a fielder’s choice for the second out, but Gerch ripped an RBI double to left to make it a 3-0 game.

Unfortunately for the Huskers, the lead would not last, as the Aggies put up six runs in the bottom of the second to knock out Shirek. After two straight hits put runners on second and third, Josh Stinson put the Aggies on the board with an RBI single to left. Dalton tied the game two batters later with a two-run double before Brandon Hicks gave the Aggies the lead for good with a run-scoring single. Two batters later, Blake Stouffer chased the Husker starter with his third homer of the year, a two-run shot to right.

The Huskers threatened a couple of times against Ueckert before finally breaking through in the sixth with a pair of unearned runs. One-out singles by Mitch Abeita and DJ Belfonte started the rally before an Aggie fielding error loaded the bases. Brown made it a 6-4 game with a fielder’s choice before Optiz pulled the Huskers to within a run with his second RBI single of the day.

That would be as close as the Huskers got, as Dalton’s two-run homer in the eighth off Steve Edlefsen provided the final margin, evening the weekend series at one game apiece.

The teams will wrap up the three-game series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., as junior Johnny Dorn (4-1, 4.58 ERA) takes the hill for Nebraska against Scott Migl (4-1, 2.78 ERA). The game will be carried across the state on the Husker Sports Radio Network and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com.