Husker Comeback Falls Short in Loss to Texas

Oklahoma City, Okla. ? Freshman DJ Belfonte went 2-for-4 and scored twice, but Nebraska’s late-inning comeback fell short in a 5-4 loss to fifth-ranked Texas at the Big 12 Championship Saturday afternoon.

The Huskers (30-25) had the tying runner on base in each of the last three innings, but could not capitalize against Longhorn closer Randy Boone, who got UT out of each jam, including a bases-loaded situation after NU pulled to within a run to, earn his 13th save.

Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Boone retired the first two Huskers before Andy Gerch started the rally with a single up the middle. Pinch hitter Nick Sullivan then delivered a single to right, which was misplayed by UT right fielder Kyle Russell to allow Gerch to score from first and make it a one-run game. Jake Mort and Bryce Nimmo both coaxed walks to load the bases, but Jeff Lanning grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.

NU had one last opportunity in the ninth, as Craig Corriston singled with one out, but Boone retired the next two hitters to squelch the Husker rally, preserving the win for reliever Austin Wood, who allowed one hit over 3.2 scoreless innings for his eighth win in nine decisions.

The loss eliminated the Huskers from Big 12 Tournament, as fifth-seeded Texas A&M will take on either Baylor or Oklahoma in Sunday’s title game. Baylor and Oklahoma will square off later Saturday for a spot in the title game.

Jake Opitz drove in pair of runs in a losing effort, while NU got a strong relief performance from right-hander Luke Wertz, who allowed one run over six innings of work. Wertz struck out six Longhorns and kept the Huskers in the game after Texas (44-15) jumped out to a 4-1 lead.

Chance Wheeless led Texas with a 4-for-4 effort and a pair of RBIs while Chase Fuller also had two hits and drove in a run, as Texas was eliminated from an opportunity to play for the tournament title with Texas A&M’s win over Kansas State earlier Saturday.

Texas struck in the top of the first against NU starter Johnny Dorn, getting a one-out RBI single from Wheeless. Jordan Danks singled and stole second before Wheeless’ grounder got past a diving Opitz to put UT on the scoreboard. 

The Huskers came back in the bottom half of the inning, as Andrew Brown’s RBI single knotted the score at one. Belfonte reached on an error to open the frame before Corriston was hit by a pitch to put two on with no outs. Brown then put the Huskers on the board with a single to left to score Belfonte.

Preston Clark got the run back for Texas in the top of the second, as he opened the inning with a long solo homer to left to give UT a 2-1 lead.

Nebraska starter Johnny Dorn ran into more problems in the third, as UT took advantage of a pair of walks to plate two more runs and take a 4-1 lead, as Dorn (9-3) allowed four runs over three innings of work to take the loss. After consecutive walks to Danks and Russell, Wheeless’ second run-scoring single of the afternoon made it a 3-1 game before Bradley Suttle’s sacrifice fly pushed UT’s lead to three runs.

The Huskers got to Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Adrian Alaniz in the bottom of the third, scoring twice to make it a 4-3 game after a two-run single from Opitz. NU opened the frame with consecutive hits from Lanning and Belfonte before a Corriston sacrifice moved both runners into scoring position. Brown walked to load the bases before Opitz sent an 0-2 pitch into left to pull NU within a run.

Alaniz allowed three runs on four hits over three innings of work before giving way to Wood, who retired the first 11 Huskers in order until NU started a two-out rally in the seventh. Lanning reached on a fielding error before Belfonte’s second hit of the day, a single to center, put runners on first and second. UT brought in Boone to get the Longhorns out of the jam, and he induced Corriston to fly out to center to end the threat.

Texas tacked on an insurance run in the top of the eighth, as Chais Fuller’s two-out RBI single scored Wheeless to make it a 5-3 game. It was the first run allowed by Wertz in 11.2 innings against the Longhorns this season.

The Huskers will learn their postseason fate on Monday morning, as the 64-team field will be announced on ESPN beginning at 11:30 a.m. The 16 host sites for NCAA regional will be announced Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNEWS and on NCAAsports.com.

-- Huskers --

           #5 Texas vs Nebraska
             May 26, 2007 at Oklahoma City, OK (Bricktown Ballpark)

Texas 5 (44-15)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
Danks, Jordan lf.........  4  2  2  0   1  1  7  0   0
Russell, Kyle rf.........  4  1  0  0   1  1  2  0   1
Wheeless, Chance 1b......  4  1  4  2   0  0  7  0   0
Suttle, Bradley 3b.......  2  0  0  1   0  0  0  1   1
Moldenhauer, Russell dh..  3  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   1
 Demperio, Michael pr....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Clark, Preston c.........  4  1  1  1   0  1  5  1   0
Peoples, Nick cf.........  3  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   0
Fuller, Chais ss.........  4  0  2  1   0  1  0  2   0
Tucker, Travis 2b........  4  0  1  0   0  0  3  1   1
Alaniz, Adrian p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Wood, Austin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Boone, Randy p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32  5 10  5   3  6 27  6   6

Nebraska 4 (30-25)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
Belfonte, DJ rf..........  5  2  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
Corriston, Craig 3b......  3  0  1  0   0  0  1  3   2
Brown, Andrew 1b.........  4  0  1  1   1  1 10  1   0
Opitz, Jake 2b...........  5  0  1  2   0  1  0  0   1
Gerch, Andy lf...........  4  1  1  0   0  0  6  0   1
Tezak, Jeff dh...........  3  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   2
 Sullivan, Nick ph.......  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
Mort, Jake ss............  3  0  0  0   1  0  1  1   0
Nimmo, Bryce cf..........  3  0  0  0   1  0  1  1   0
Lanning, Jeff c..........  4  1  1  0   0  0  7  1   3
Dorn, Johnny p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Wertz, Luke p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
Totals................... 35  4  8  3   3  4 27  9   9

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
Texas............... 112 000 010 -  5 10  3
Nebraska............ 102 000 010 -  4  8  0

E - Russell, K.(5); Fuller 2(7). DP - Longhorns 1; Huskers 1. LOB -
Longhorns 6; Huskers 9. HR - Clark, P.(8). HBP - Peoples; Corriston, C. SH -
Suttle(3); Corriston, C(7). SF - Suttle(5). SB - Danks(18); Tucker(21). CS -
Wheeless(3).

Texas                  IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
Alaniz, Adrian......  3.0  4  3  2  1  1 12 15  54
Wood, Austin........  3.2  1  0  0  0  1 13 13  46
Boone, Randy........  2.1  3  1  1  2  2 10 12  42

Nebraska               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
Dorn, Johnny........  3.0  4  4  4  2  0 11 14  50
Wertz, Luke.........  6.0  6  1  1  1  6 21 24  82

Win - Wood (8-1).  Loss - Dorn, J. (9-3).  Save - Boone (13).
HBP - by Alaniz (Corriston, C); by Wertz, L. (Peoples). Inherited
runners/scored: Boone 2/0. Pitches/strikes: Alaniz 54/35; Wood 46/28; Boone
42/25; Dorn, J. 50/27; Wertz, L. 82/50.
Umpires -
Start: 2:05p.m.   Time: 2:53   Attendance: 6402