Husker Comeback Falls Short to CCU

 Lincoln ? Nebraska’s late rally fell one hit short, as the Huskers fell to No. 18 Coastal Carolina, 5-4, Saturday afternoon at Hawks Field.

Trailing 5-3, the Huskers (25-20) rallied in bottom of the ninth, scoring one run and getting the tying run to third before Coastal Carolina (38-9) snuffed out the Huskers’ comeback hopes.

After Craig Corriston reached on an error to open the inning, Andrew Brown liner into the gap in left center was snared by CCU left fielder David Supplet, who made a diving stab to prevent extra bases. CCU then tried to double up Corriston, but the errant throw into the dugout allowed him to reach third. Jeff Tezak RBI single to left then pulled NU within 5-4. Two batters later, pinch runner Luke Wertz moved to third on a wild pitch before Nick Sullivan’s walk put runners on the corners. Pete Andrelczyk came in out the bullpen, and got Jake Mort to ground out to third to end the game and collect his first save.

"I loved the intensity, the desire and effort we showed in the comeback," Anderson said. "I thought our kids fought hard, and I liked our effort. We just have to keep plugging. Our team needs one of these ninth-inning come-from-behind wins."

Mort and Mitch Abeita had two hits apiece, as the Nos. 7-9 hitters in the Husker lineup went 5-for-10 to account for half of the Huskers’ 10 hits. Belfonte drove in pair of runs, while Abeita’s second-inning RBI single accounted for Nebraska’s other run.

For Coastal Carolina, which scored the go-ahead run in the seventh on a fielder’s choice by David Sappelt, Tyler Bortnick and Tommy Baldridge drove in two runs apiece, while Baldrige’s two-run homer off of starter Johnny Dorn tied the game at three, as the Chanticleers erased an early 3-0 deficit.

The Huskers struck in the second for a pair of runs off of CCU starter and winner Bobby Gagg, stringing together four hits in the inning. Singles by Andy Gerch, Sullivan and Mort loaded the bases with no outs before Abeita’s blooper to right put the Huskers on the scoreboard. Belfonte was then hit by a pitch, giving the Huskers a two-run lead.

Nebraska extended its lead to 3-0 two innings later, as consecutive one-out singles by Bryce Nimmo and Abeita put runners on the corners before Belftonte lofted a sacrifice fly to center.

Dorn, who allowed three runs on seven hits in a no-decision, took a shutout into the fifth before running into trouble, as doubles by Matt Radmacher and Bortnick accounted for the visitor’s first run.

Coastal Carolina used the long ball one inning later to tie the score, as Baldridge launched a two-run homer to right, straight into the teeth of a gusting 35-mile per hour wind.

"The big hit of the day was the two-run homer," Anderson said. "You can't put fault on Johnny (Dorn) with the wind blowing in like that, 3-1 fastball, and the kid put a great swing on it. That got (Coastal Carolina) over the top."

The Huskers had a golden opportunity to regain the lead in the bottom of the sixth, but Coastal Carolina got a lucky bounce to get out of the inning. With runners on the corners, Gagg’s pitch went to the backstop, but bounced back to catcher Dock Doyle, who fired to Gagg to get Mort at the plate. Gagg (9-2) scattered eight hits and struck out four over six innings to earn the win.

Coastal regained the lead in the seventh against reliever Matt Foust (1-3), as two singles and an error put runners on second and third with one out. Sappelt hit a fielder’s choice to Tezak, who tried to get Doyle at the plate, but the throw home was wide. CCU added another run in the top of the ninth, as Bortnick drove in Doyle, who went 3-for-4 and scored twice, with an RBI double

The two teams will wrap up the series Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. The game will be carried on the Husker Sports Network and on the Internet at Huskers.com.

 

 

-- Huskers --

 

#18 Coastal Carolina at Nebraska

May 05, 2007 at Lincoln, NE (Hawks Field)

Coastal Carolina 5 (38-9)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.

SAPPELT, David lf........ 5 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 3 .398

DUGGAN, Dom cf........... 5 0 1 0 0 3 5 0 1 .335

RABER, Chris 1b.......... 4 1 1 0 0 3 8 0 2 .349

BALDRIDGE, Tommy rf...... 4 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 .379

RADEMACHER, Matt dh...... 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .359

MARTIN, Derek 3b......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 .287

DOYLE, Dock c............ 4 2 3 0 0 0 5 2 0 .290

BORTNICK, Tyler ss....... 2 0 2 2 1 0 0 3 0 .260

VRABLE, Adam 2b.......... 2 0 1 0 1 0 4 3 0 .299

GAGG, Bobby p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -

HAUG, Joey p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

McCULLY, Nick p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -

ANDRELCZYK, Pete p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

Totals................... 33 5 11 5 3 9 27 10 6

Nebraska 4 (25-20)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.

Belfonte, DJ rf.......... 3 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 1 .304

Corriston, Craig ss...... 5 1 1 0 0 1 4 2 0 .314

Brown, Andrew 1b......... 5 0 1 0 0 0 7 2 3 .311

Tezak, Jeff 2b........... 4 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 1 .343

Wertz, Luke pr.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

Gerch, Andy lf........... 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 .282

Sullivan, Nick dh........ 4 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 3 .186

Mort, Jake 3b............ 4 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 .256

Nimmo, Bryce cf.......... 3 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 .291

Abeita, Mitch c.......... 3 0 2 1 1 1 8 3 0 .286

Dorn, Johnny p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -

Foust, Matt p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -

Edlefsen, Steve p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .188

Weber, Thad p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .257

Totals................... 35 4 10 4 5 5 27 11 12

Score by Innings R H E

Coastal Carolina.... 000 012 101 - 5 11 4

Nebraska............ 020 100 001 - 4 10 3

E - SAPPELT, D.(3); RABER, C.(2); VRABLE, A.(8); GAGG, B.(2); Belfonte,

D.(2); Tezak, J.(2); Abeita, M.(6). DP - Huskers 2. LOB - Chants 6; Huskers

12. 2B - RADEMACHER,(7); BORTNICK, T. 2(4); Brown, A.(18). HR - BALDRIDGE,

T(9). HBP - Belfonte, D.. SH - BORTNICK, T.(8); VRABLE, A.(6); Nimmo, B.(5).

SF - Belfonte, D.(3). CS - DUGGAN, D.(5); Abeita, M.(1).

Coastal Carolina IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA

GAGG, Bobby......... 6.0 8 3 3 1 4 24 27 109 2.81

HAUG, Joey.......... 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 9 4.11

McCULLY, Nick....... 2.0 1 1 0 4 1 7 12 57 2.90

ANDRELCZYK, Pete.... 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 2.93

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA

Dorn, Johnny........ 6.0 7 3 3 2 4 22 24 100 4.94

Foust, Matt......... 1.0 2 1 1 0 2 5 6 16 3.56

Edlefsen, Steve..... 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 12 3.48

Weber, Thad......... 1.0 2 1 1 0 2 4 5 18 2.04

Win - GAGG, B. (9-1). Loss - Foust, M. (1-3). Save - ANDRELCZYK, (1).

WP - McCULLY, N. 2(4). HBP - by GAGG, B. (Belfonte, D.). Inherited

runners/scored: McCULLY, N. 1/0; ANDRELCZYK, 2/0. Pitches/strikes: GAGG, B.

109/67; HAUG, J. 9/6; McCULLY, N. 57/26; ANDRELCZYK, 5/2; Dorn, J. 100/59;

Foust, M. 16/11; Edlefsen, S. 12/6; Weber, T. 18/11.

Umpires - HP: Randy Bertram 1B: Bill McGuire 3B: Dave Achewege

Start: 2:06p.m. Time: 3:16 Attendance: 3316

Game: NU45