Belfonte Leads Red Team to Series Split

Lincoln -- DJ Belfonte scored three runs, while Jake Mort’s leaping catch snuffed out a seventh-inning rally, as the Red squad tied the annual Red/White series at one game apiece with a 4-3 victory on Thursday.

Belfonte, a sophomore outfielder, keyed the Red squad, drawing three walks, stealing three bases and scoring the go-ahead run in the fourth inning, knocking the ball away from White starter Sean Yost on a rundown following a wild pitch.

The Red squad was out-hit 11-3, but took advantage of four Yost walks and a game-saving play from Mort at third base in the top of the seventh.

After Mitch Abeita opened the seventh with a single, Clay Cuno lined a Zach Herr offering to left, but Mort snared the liner at the top of his leap and then subsequently fired to first to get Abeita for a crucial double play. Herr then induced Brett Sowers to line out short to deadlock the series and collect the save.

Herr fanned four over three scoreless innings to preserve the win for freshman Casey Hauptman, who overcame a rocky first inning. Hauptman fanned three and allowed two earned runs over four innings of work.

Yost (0-1) allowed one earned run on three hits over 4.1 innings to take the loss. Ryan Christenson came in and retired all five batters he faced to keep the White squad within striking distance.

The top of the White lineup did most of the damage, as the top four spots in the lineup combined to go 8-for-15 and score all three runs. Abeita went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Nimmo and Cotton added had two hits apiece. Freshman Tyler Rank also had a pair of hits in a losing effort.

The Whites jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Hauptman, taking advantage of a throwing error to plate a pair of runs. Nimmo led off the game with a double off the wall in right before Cotton was hit by a pitch, putting two on with no outs. Nimmo attempted to steal third, but the throw from catcher Drew Gray was wide of the bag, allowing Nimmo to score and Cotton to more to third. Nick Sullivan made it a 2-0, scoring Cotton with a grounder to second.

The Reds got both runs back in the bottom of the frame, taking advantage of a White team miscue. After Belfonte coaxed a leadoff walk, Jake Mort grounded to short, but Belfonte hustled to beat the throw at second. Cotton tried to get Mort at first, but his throw sailed wide, moving both runners into scoring position. Craig Corriston plated Belfonte with a sacrifice fly before David Stewart’s run-scoring single to center knotted the game at two.

The Whites regained the lead two innings later, getting an RBI single from Abeita to plate Sullivan, who reached on a one-out double to right.

Belfonte triggered the Reds rally in the bottom of the frame, as they manufactured another run off Yost. Befonte walked to open the frame and moved to second on a ground out before swiping both third and home to make it a 3-3 game, setting the stage for Belfonte’s play one inning later.

Nebraska’s fall drills end on Friday, as the Huskers will host Nebraska-Kearney beginning at 2:30 p.m.

                            The Automated ScoreBook
                        Nebraska Whites at Nebraska Reds
                   Oct 18, 2007 at Lincoln, NE (Hawks Field)Nebraska Whites 3 (1-1)Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
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Nimmo, Bryce cf..........  4  1  2  0   0  0  2  0   1
Cotton, Andy 2b..........  3  1  2  0   0  1  0  1   0
Sullivan, Nick lf........  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   3
Abeita, Mitch c..........  4  0  3  1   0  0  3  2   0
Cuno, Clay rf............  3  0  0  0   1  2  1  0   0
Sowers, Brett 3b.........  4  0  1  0   0  1  2  1   0
Rank, Tyler 1b...........  3  0  2  0   0  0  7  1   2
Kline, Ben ss............  3  0  0  0   0  2  2  7   0
Yost, Sean p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Christenson, Ryan p.....  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Totals................... 28  3 11  2   1  7 18 12   6Nebraska Reds 4 (1-1)Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
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Belfonte, DJ cf..........  1  3  0  0   3  0  0  0   0
Mort, Jake 3b............  3  1  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
Opitz, Jake 2b...........  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   1
Corriston, Craig 1b......  1  0  0  1   1  0  8  0   0
Stewart, David rf........  2  0  1  1   0  0  1  0   0
Gray, Drew c.............  3  0  1  0   0  0  7  4   2
Huwer, Joe lf............  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Johnston, Dan ss.........  3  0  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
Hauptman, Casey p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 Herr, Zach p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 19  4  3  2   4  0 21 10   3Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Nebraska Whites..... 201 000 0 -  3 11  2
Nebraska Reds....... 201 100 X -  4  3  1
-----------------------------------------E - Cotton, A.; Kline, B.; Gray, D.. DP - Whites 1; Reds 2. LOB - Whites 6;
Reds 3. 2B - Nimmo, B.; Cotton, A. 2; Sullivan, N.. HBP - Cotton, A.;
Stewart, D.. SF - Corriston, C. SB - Nimmo, B.; Cotton, A.; Belfonte, D. 3;
Mort, J.; Stewart, D.. CS - Nimmo, B.; Abeita, M.; Johnston, D..Nebraska Whites        IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Yost, Sean..........  4.1  3  4  1  4  0 14 20
Christenson, Ryan...  1.2  0  0  0  0  0  5  5Nebraska Reds          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Hauptman, Casey.....  4.0  8  3  2  1  3 17 19
Herr, Zach..........  3.0  3  0  0  0  4 11 11Win - Hauptman, C. (1-0).  Loss - Yost, S. (0-1).  Save - Herr, Z. (1).
WP - Yost, S.. HBP - by Hauptman, C. (Cotton, A.); by Yost, S. (Stewart, D.).
Umpires -
Start: 2:35   Time: 1:58   Attendance:
Game: RW2