Huskers Fall to Kansas State, 5-1

Oklahoma City, Okla. ? Kansas State took advantage several costly errors in handing Nebraska a 5-1 setback in the Big 12 Championship Thursday evening at the Bricktown Ballpark.

The Wildcats (34-23) jumped out to a 3-0 lead and relied on a strong performance from starter Brad Hutt, who held Nebraska (30-24) to one run over eight innings for the victory. Hutt (9-4) scattered three hits and walked one, as he held the Huskers scoreless until the sixth.

Andrew Brown drove in NU’s only run with a RBI single, but the Huskers still had an opportunity to send the game into extra innings against KSU closer Daniel Edwards in the ninth, loading the bases after two out singles by Jake Opitz and Jeff Tezak and a walk to Andy Gerch. Unfortunately for the Nebraska, Jake Mort flew out to left to end the Huskers’ rally. Opitz went 2-for-4, while no other Husker had more than one hit.

Even with Thursday’s loss, Nebraska is 1-1 in Division A and can still advance to Sunday’s Big 12 title game with a win over Texas on Saturday afternoon and a Texas A&M win over K-State. All four teams in Division A are 1-1 after two days of action.

Kansas State took advantage of a pair of Husker miscues to jump to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. After a bunt single by Tyler Ruch, a passed ball and a bloop single by Jordan Cruz put runners on first and third with one out. Eli Rumler hit a grounder to Opitz at second, who misplayed the ball, allowing Ruch to score from third. Eddie Vasquez then made it 2-0 game with a safety squeeze to score Cruz.

The Huskers ran into more trouble in the fourth, as Kansas State used two walks and a costly error by Craig Corriston to extend its lead to 3-0. After NU starter Charlie Shirek was forced to leave the game with an injury, reliever Dan Jennings issued consecutive one-out walks, putting runners on first and second. Rob Vaughn then hit a grounder that got past Corriston, allowing Rumler to score.

Shirek (4-7) took the loss, allowing two unearned runs on four hits over two innings of work, as Nebraska committed five errors in seeing its three-game win streak snapped.

After putting two runners on in the first on a Brown walk and a Opitz single, Hutt had retired 13 in a row before the Huskers rallied in the top of the sixth. Mitch Abeita reached on a throwing error before a Corriston single two batters later put runners on first and second. Brown then sent a 1-0 pitch up the middle, scoring Abeita to pull NU within 3-1. The Huskers could not draw closer, as Hutt got Jake Mort to induce an inning-ending double play.

Kansas State tacked on a pair of runs in the eighth, getting RBI singles from Eddie Vasquez, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, and Adam Muenster to make it a 5-1 game.

The Huskers will take on Texas Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in the final game of Division A. The game will be carried across the state on the Husker Sports Network and on Huskers.com. Fans can also watch the action on Big12sports.com.