Huskers Fall to Texas

Lincoln ? Nebraska’s offense was held in check by right-hander Cole Green, as No. 9 Texas posted a 9-2 victory over Nebraska in front of a crowd of 5,219 at Hawks Field Saturday afternoon.

Green (3-0) turned in a strong performance, fanning five and allowing one earned run to earn the first nine-inning complete game of his career and the first one by an opposing pitcher against the Huskers since last April. The sophomore threw 110 pitches and limited Nebraska to just one hit over the first five innings.

“Well it’s certainly not easy,” Anderson said. “Give Texas credit. They did a good job on the pitching side of things throughout the weekend. Until we figure out a way to show up some of the pitching parts, it’s going to be a long road.”

Texas (24-8, 9-6 Big 12) scored all the runs they would need in the first two innings against Husker starter Casey Hauptman, who dropped to 2-3 with the loss.

The Longhorns manufactured a runs in the first, getting two hits and a double steal to put runners at second and third with one out. Russell Moldenhauer made it a 1-0 game, as he grounded out to first to score Travis Tucker, who went 3-for-4 on the day.

One inning later, Conner Rowe put the Huskers in a 3-0 hole, belting a two-out, two-run homer into the berm in left, as Hauptman couldn’t get out of  the second in his shortest start of the year.

“For us, when we’re successful, we’re scoring in the first two innings and getting on top, extending leads and playing one-run games,” Anderson said. “That is kind of the path that we’ve won them. Right now, it seems like it is the opposite.”

Texas added to the lead in the third against Eric Rose, as Brandon Belt tripled to open the frame and scored on Preston Clark’s RBI single. Clark then scored three batters later, as Cameron Rupp hit into a fielder’s choice.

Green had retired the first 10 Huskers he faced until Jeff Tezak reached on Green’s error that gave Nebraska a spark. Cody Asche drew a walk to put runners on first and second before Adam Bailey got the Huskers on the scoreboard with an two-out RBI single to pull NU within 5-1.

Texas continued to plugged away, scoring single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a 7-1 lead before the Huskers had their best opportunity against Green on the afternoon.

Boomer Collins and Tezak opened the inning with consecutive singles to put runners on the corners with no outs. Asche then lofted a sacrifice fly to left to plate Collins, who went 1-for-3 with a walk, to pull Nebraska within 7-2, but Farst, who had reached safely in every game this season before Saturday, grounded into an inning-ending double play.

That would be as close as the Huskers (16-18-1, 4-11 Big 12) would get, as Texas pushed across runs in the seventh and eighth innings for the final margin.

Clark, Rupp and Rowe all drove in two runs apiece for Texas, which recorded its first-ever sweep of the Huskers, as Nebraska has dropped its last nine contests dating back to March 30.

The Huskers will look to rebound on Tuesday night, as they wrap up the eight-game homestand with Iowa. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. and the game will be carried on Huskers.com and selected IMG Husker Sports Network stations.