Huskers Top Jayhawks, 11-7

Lincoln – Boomer Collins had three hits, including a homer, while Michael Mariot pitched into the ninth, as Nebraska posted a 11-7 victory over Kansas Friday night at Hawks Field.

Collins paced Nebraska’s 13-hit attack with his first three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-5 with a homer and three runs scored. The sophomore from Waxahachie, Texas, tied career bests in both hits and runs, as Nebraska scored five in the second and two more in the third off of Kansas ace T.J. Walz.

“Boomer had a great night,” Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said. “(We’re) happy for him. He gives us probably more effort than you can imagine. He is just an incredible kid who is trying to do so much for this team and he had a good night tonight. We’re happy for him. Maybe he can get going,..that might a nice boost for him.”

Cody Asche homered and drove in two runs, while Kale Kiser and Patric Tolentino had two hits apiece, as Nebraska picked up its second straight win to up its mark to 18-16 and 5-8 in Big 12 action.

Trailing 1-0, Nebraska took the lead for good, scoring five times off the Jayhawk right-hander, including a pair of homers, to take a 5-1 lead. Asche tied the score with his seventh homer of the season, while Collins put the Huskers ahead to stay with a solo opposite field shot to right, marking his first homer in over a year. Nebraska continued to apply pressure, as four straight two-out hits, including RBI singles by DJ Belfonte, Kale Kiser and Adam Bailey,  staked the hosts to a four-run lead.

After a rocky first inning where Kansas had hits by three of its first four hitters, Mariot found his groove and held KU off the scoreboard until the eighth. The right-hander, who improved to 4-4 on the season, fanned four and retired 18 of 19 Jayhawks in one stretch, as no runner reached second from the second to the seventh inning.

Nebraska then extended the lead to 7-1 in the third, as Collins ignited another Husker rally. With one out, he doubled off the wall in left before Cade Thompson coaxed a walk. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Bryan Peters’ pushed across one run with a fielder’s choice, as Collins scored on a slow chopper homer before Tolentino’s squeeze scored Thompson with NU’s seventh run.

Walz (5-3) took the loss, allowing seven runs on nine hits in a season-low 4.1 innings.

Nebraska took advantage of a Jayhawk error in the seventh, plating three runs to extend the margin to nine runs. With runners on first and second and no outs, Cade Thompson’s sacrifice bunt was misplayed by Tony Thompson, allowing both runners to score on the play before Cade Thompson eventually scored on Tolentino’s double play.

Kansas finally got to Mariot in the eighth, getting an RBI single by Casey Lytle and a three-run homer from Robby Price to pull within 10-5. Nebraska got one of the runs back on Asche’s RBI single in the eighth before Jimmy Waters’ two-run homer in the ninth resulted in the final margin.

The Huskers will go for the series win Saturday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. Junior right-hander Khris Tate looks for his third win of the season and the game will be on the Husker Sports Network and on Huskers.com.