Huskers Storm Back for 14-13 Victory

Lincoln ? DJ Belfonte’s two-run triple in the bottom of the eighth capped a four-run rally, as Nebraska overcame a seven-run deficit to stun Northern Colorado, 14-13, Tuesday afternoon at Hawks Field.

The Huskers (15-7-1) overcame deficits of 10-3 and 13-9, scoring five unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth innings to record their ninth come-from-behind win of the season. The seven-run deficit NU overcame was its largest since the 2003 season.
Trailing 13-9 after six and a half innings, the Huskers pushed across a run in the seventh before scoring four times off of the Northern Colorado bullpen in the eighth, all coming with two outs.

With Tyler Farst on third, Nick Sullivan singled off of reliever Scott Forbes to make it a 13-11 contest. Joe Willman came in and walked Boomer Collins to put two on before Kale Kiser’s pinch-hit single pulled the Huskers within a run. Belfonte, who entered the game in the seventh as a pinch hitter, laced a 1-0 pitch into the gap in right center to score Kiser and Collins and give NU its first lead since the third inning. Belfonte tried to stretch the hit into an inside the park homer, but was thrown out at the plate, colliding with Northern Colorado catcher Hunter Nolen to end the eighth.

Farst was one of the catalysts for the Huskers all afternoon with a career-high five RBIs, going 2-for-3 with a grand slam and three runs scored. Boomer Collins went 3-for-4 and scored three times, while Belfonte, Kyle Bubak, and Sullivan drove in two runs apiece, as Nebraska pounded out 16 hits and reached double figures in runs for the ninth time this season. The Huskers pushed across 11 of their 13 runs with two outs.

“We did get a win, there were not a lot of positives for us,” Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said. “I don’t think we pitched well, I don’t think we played well and our intensity level wasn’t very strong. (There are) a lot of valuable lessons to be learned from this day.  I give Northern Colorado a tremendous amount of credit, They played with a lot of heart today and took it to us today.”

Joe Broekemeier (1-0) pitched a perfect top of the eighth for the win, while Mike Nesseth retired the side in order in the ninth for his first save of the year. Willman took the loss to fall to 1-1 on the year.

Nebraska jumped out to a quick lead, scoring three times in the bottom of the first against Northern Colorado starter James Quisenberry, getting an RBI double by Farst and run-scoring singles from Sullivan and Collins.

The lead would not last long, as Northern Colorado took advantage of control problems by Husker pitching, plating single runs in the second and third before taking a 5-3 lead in the fifth by scoring three times, including a two-run double by Nolan.

The Bears (7-15) seemingly broke the game open in the sixth with five runs, highlighted by a grand slam from Phil Santucci to take a commanding 10-3 lead. Santucci, Berge and Nolan, the Nos. 6-8 hitters in the UNC lineup, combined to drive in nine runs on the afternoon.
Nebraska fought right back, scoring six times in bottom of the sixth to pull to within 10-9. NU’s freshmen led the charge, as Collins double and a Cory Burleson single put runners on first and second for Khiry Cooper, who ripped an RBI double to left to score Collins. Bubak drove in a run with a ground out before a single by Jake Mort and a walk to Adam Bailey loaded the bases. Farst then sent Quisenberry’s 2-0 pitch over the fence for a grand slam to get NU within a run.

Northern Colorado came right back, getting an RBI single from Andy Mees and a two-run homer from Kevin Sandberg to push the lead to 13-9. Sandberg went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and scored four times in a losing effort.

The two teams will wrap up the series on Wednesday afternoon at 1:35p.m. The game will be carried on selected Husker Sports Network stations and on Huskers.com.