Huskers Top Red Raiders, 9-3

Lincoln - Michael Mariot turned in another quality start, while Josh Scheffert and Tyler Farst both homered and drove in three runs apiece, lifting Nebraska to a 9-3 victory over Texas Tech Friday night at Hawks Field.

Mariot (6-6) picked up his sixth win of the season, allowed two earned runs on six hits over seven innings, as he pitched into the eighth for the sixth time in nine Big 12 starts. He fanned nine Red Raiders in the victory and was his best down the stretch, going 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in his last three starts, striking out 29 and walking five in that span.

Anderson said that Mariot's development into a staff ace this season has been impressive to see during the second half of the season.

"He's basically worked himself into a Friday night starter and really put himself in a position where his team can rely on him," Anderson said as he turned in his seventh quality start in his last 11 outings. "You know what you are going to get out of him, which has been the greatest growth we've seen out of him. From a personal standpoint, what he's done is put himself in a position to make a livelihood out of this game."

While Mariot's performance boosted the Huskers, Scheffert and Farst came up with the big hits for Nebraska (25-27, 8-17 Big 12). Scheffert's two-run homer in the third off of Red Raider starter Ben Flora gave Nebraska the lead for good, while Farst capped Nebraska's seven-run outburst in the bottom of the seventh with a three-run homer, his fifth of the season.

DJ Belfonte went 2-for-4 and scored twice, while Cory Burleson also had two hits, to help Nebraska to its second straight win.

Texas Tech (27-25, 13-12 Big 12) was the team that got off to a fast start, taking advantage of a Husker miscue to plate its first run, an RBI double off the bat of Joey Kenworthy. Jamodrick McGruder reached on an error before to open the game before Kenworthy lined a pitch off the fence in right to score McGruder.

Texas Tech had a chance to extend the lead in the third, as McGruder singled with one out, stole second and moved to third on an error, but Kenworthy hit a smash back to Mariot, who looked McGruder back to third and fired to first for the second out. The right-hander ended the threat moments later, striking out Barrett Barnes, as Mariot set down 12 straight Red Raiders between the third and seventh innings.

Nebraska took the lead for good in the bottom of the third on Scheffert's fourth homer of the season, a two-run shot to left. With one out, Belfonte singled to left center before Scheffert sent a 2-0 offering from Flora (3-2) over the fence in left for his first homer since March 24.

The game settled into a pitchers' duel until the Huskers used a pair of Texas Tech errors to break open the contest. With one out, Brandon Petite walked Kyle Bubak before Belfonte's double put runners on second and third. Adam Bailey was intentionally walked to load the bases before Scheffert coaxed a bases-loaded walk to extend the margin to 3-1. Cody Asche and Kale Kiser hit into back-to-back fielder's choices which were misplayed, pushing across a trio of runs before Farst sent Pettite's offering into the terrace in right to make it a 9-1 game.

Mariot had kept the Red Raiders off the board after the first when Texas Tech strung together three straight hits, including a two-run double by McGruder, to pull to within 9-3. After a hit batter, Casey Hauptman got Barnes to ground into a fielder's choice before inducing Michael Reed to ground into an inning-ending double play to end the threat. Hauptman tossed two shutout innings to preserve the victory for Mariot.

The Huskers return to action Saturday afternoon, as they take on Texas Tech at 2:05 p.m. The parents of the Husker players will be honored prior to the game and tickets are available at the Hawks Field Ticket Office beginning at 12:30 p.m. Freshman Tom Lemke will look for his sixth victory of the season, as the Huskers look for their first Big 12 series win.