Baseball
Cole Lifts Fifth-Ranked
Huskers to 6-4 Win over No. 8 Baylor
April 14, 2001
Lincoln -- John
Cole went 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Jamie Rodrigue
went 7.2 innings to earn his fourth victory of the season, as the
fifth-ranked Nebraska baseball team defeated eighth-ranked Baylor,
6-4, Saturday afternoon in front of a Buck Beltzer Stadium record
crowd of 4,029.
A junior from Ottawa, Canada, Cole's second four-hit game of the season
keyed the Huskers to their second straight win over the Bears and
a solid position atop the Big 12 standings. With the win, NU, which
has won 12 of its last 13 contests, improved to 29-8 overall and 12-3
in the Big 12, while the Bears fall to 12-5 in the league and 27-13
overall.
Rodrigue pitched a season-high
7.2 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits to improve to 4-3 on
the season. The left-hander from St. Clair, Mo., struck out six and
walked one in picking up his second straight win. Thom Ott pitched
the final 1.1 scoreless innings for his fifth save of the season -
all in league play.
"I got off to a slow
start, but then I started getting into a groove," Rodrigue said.
"Once I started spotting my pitches, I felt a lot better."
"Our pitching has
really turned the corner in the last couple weeks," Nebraska
Coach Dave Van Horn said. "Today we wiggled out of some innings
in the third and the eighth. Our hitting has been timely, but hasn't
been great. But we have done enough to win."
Today's crowd of 4,029
broke the stadium record of 3,658 set Friday evening and marked the
third time in the last seven days that NU broke its single-game attendance
record. In addition to the paid attendance, while nearly 500 fans
lined the Avery Avenue fence in left, watching the first top-10 match-up
in Buck Beltzer Stadium history.
Cole gave the Huskers a
quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a one-out RBI single
off Baylor starter Josh Scott, who walked a pair and hit another to
load the bases before Cole lined a single to right center.
After Baylor cut the margin
to 2-1 on Kelly Shoppach's RBI single in the third, the Huskers extended
their lead, scoring single runs in the fourth and sixth and a pair
of runs in the fifth, providing Nebraska with five-run cushion. In
the fourth, Cole lead off with a single, moved to second on Jeff Blevins'
sacrifice bunt and later scored on Jed Morris' RBI double to right.
In the fifth, consecutive singles by Will Bolt and Matt Hopper put
runners on the corners. Dan Johnson's double play grounder scored
Bolt, while Blevins' RBI single plated Hopper for the 5-1 lead.
Scott took the loss, allowing
five runs on seven hits to fall to 4-4 on the season.
The Huskers loaded the
bases in the sixth off Baylor reliever Paul Thorp, but Bolt's RBI
sacrifice fly to center plated the only run, as Thorp kept the Huskers
off the board the rest of the contest.
The Bears finally got to
Rodrigue in the eighth, scoring three runs, all with two outs, to
cut the Husker lead to 6-4. Matt Williams singled, moved to second
on a balk and scored on Ron Zboril's RBI single. Mike Huggins doubled
down the line in left, putting runners on second and third. Ott then
came in for Rodigue and allowed a two-run single by David Murphy,
cutting the Husker lead to two runs. Pinch-hitter Paul Richmond drew
a walk before Ott induced a Nolan Weinweber grounder to short to end
the Bears' final threat.
Huggins and Murphy had
two hits apiece to lead the Baylor offensive attack.
The Huskers and Bears conclude
the three-game set on Sunday with a 1p.m. contest that will be shown
live on Nebraska Educational Television (Ch. 12/13) and over the internet
on net.unl.edu.
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