Nesseth Paces Huskers to 8-1 Victory

Huntsville, Texas ? Behind a dominant effort from Mike Nesseth, Nebraska rolled to an 8-1 victory over Sam Houston State Saturday night at the Sam Houston State Baseball Classic

Nesseth (1-1) was outstanding in his second start as a Husker, allowing three singles over six shutout frames to earn his first victory of the year. The sophomore right-hander fanned 12 Bearkats, striking out the side in the second and fifth innings, as he topped his personal best of seven set in his last start. Nesseth, who didn’t allow a ball out of the infield until the fifth, has struck out 19 and allowed just hits over 12 innings in his first two outings.

“I was really happy with our overall performance after a tough loss,” Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said. “I thought the kids we did a good job of bouncing back and scoring some runs early, especially with the way Mike was pitching. He was in command of the zone all night. If we could have played better defense behind him, he could have thrown a complete-game shutout.”

Nesseth was backed by a Husker attack that racked out 15 hits, including four from freshman Cory Burleson and three from junior college transfer Kyle Bubak. Burleson went 4-for-5 with two RBIs, while Bubak collected his first three hits of the season and drove in a pair of runs.

 “That is why he’s playing,” Anderson said of Burleson. “He’s getting an opportunity because he is hitting and doing a really good job.

Freshman Cody Asche had two hits, including a homer, and drove in three RBIs, while Tyler Farst had two hits and scored twice helping Nebraska (5-2-1) bounce back from a 7-5 10-inning loss to St. Mary’s (Calif.) earlier Saturday. Adam Bailey combined with Nesseth on a five-hitter, allowing an unearned run over three innings to collect the save while homering for the third time in four games.

Nebraska struck early against Sam Houston State starter Ryan Tepera, scoring a pair of two-out runs in the second on an RBI single from Burleson and a run-scoring double off the bat of Bubak. After Farst opened the inning with a single, the Bearkat right-hander put down the next two Huskers, but could not get out of the frame unscathed. A wild pitch moved Farst to third before Burleson came through with a single to right to spot NU a 1-0 lead. Bubak, who was hitless in his first 10 at-bats as a Husker, came up with a clutch hit, drilling a 2-1 pitch down the line in right for an RBI double to spot NU a two-run lead.

“Kyle is a good player, but had gotten off to a rough start,” Anderson said. “He needed a couple of base knocks to get himself going and that was good to see tonight.”

The Huskers used the long ball one inning later, getting homers from Bailey and Asche to extend the margin to 6-0. With one out, Bailey launched his team-leading fourth homer over the fence in right. NU continued to rally, as Farst was hit by a pitch before Nick Sullivan executed a perfect hit and run to put runners on the corners. Asche then turned on a 2-2 offering from Tepera, sending it down the line for a three-run round tripper to give NU a six-run lead.

Tepera (0-1) was tagged for six runs on eight hits in just three innings to take the loss.

Nebraska made it 7-0 in the top of the eighth, as Bubak singled, stole second and eventually scored on a ground out by DJ Belfonte, After SHSU (5-2) scored an unearned run in the eighth, Burleson’s fourth hit of the night plated Tyler Rank in the ninth for the final margin.

The Huskers will wrap up tournament action on Sunday morning, as they take on Missouri State. First pitch is set for 10 a.m. and the game will be carried on Huskers.com and on selected Husker Sports Network stations. In addition, the game will be available on HuskersNside.