Baseball
Huskers Rally for Weekend
Sweep Over No. 8 Baylor
April 15, 2001
Lincoln -- Matt
Hopper's grand slap capped a seven-run eighth inning, as fifth-ranked
Nebraska concluded a series sweep of No. 8 Baylor, winning 10-4 in
front of 1,355 fans at Buck Beltzer Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Hopper, who went 2-for-2 off the bench, helped the Huskers overcome
a 4-3 deficit to improve to 30-8 on the season and 13-3 in the Big
12 standings. Baylor, which had entered the weekend in first place
in the league, falls to 27-14 overall and 12-6 in the conference,
dropping into third place behind Texas, which defeated Missouri, 13-0,
on Sunday.
With one out in the eighth
and Baylor clinging to a 4-3 lead, Jeff Blevins' tripled and Brandon
Eymann walked to put runners on the corners before Will Bolt's single
to left off Baylor reliever Derek Brehm scored Blevins to tie the
score at four. Jeff Leise then walked to load the bases before back-to-back
RBI singles by Adam Stern and Dan Johnson, who led NU with a 3-for-5
performance, gave the Huskers a two-run advantage and chased Brehm.
Hopper then put the game out of reach with a grand slam, the first
of the season by a Husker, to right off Kyle Edens' first pitch for
his fourth round tripper of the season and first since March 6.
"It was just one of
those things," Hopper said. "I wanted to drive the ball
out of the infield. Coach just looked for me to get a hit. It (the
HR) is one of the better things that I have accomplished here at Nebraska.
All of the frustration that I had built up came out."
Brehm took the loss, allowing
six runs on five hits to drop to 0-2 on the season, while Husker reliever
Thom Ott, who allowed a run in the top of the eighth, improved to
3-0 with the win. The earned run, which scored on a wild pitch, was
the first earned run the Milton, Fla., native allowed in relief since
March 4.
"I am really proud
of the way that we battled, given the mistakes that we made early,"
Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. "We were able to hang in there
and get it done. (Adam) Stern came through with a 2-0 single and then
Dan's hit fell in, then Matt got in there and hit the first pitch
over the fence."
"I felt that we played
the first two games just well enough to win. Today, we didn't let
them have a big inning and we kept in there and found a way to win."
The Huskers jumped to a
2-0 lead in the second, as John Cole tripled to center and came around
on Jed Morris' fifth homer of the season off Baylor starter Justin
Taylor.
Husker starter Brian Rodaway
cruised through the first five innings, holding the Bears off the
scoreboard until the sixth. Consecutive singles by Trevor Mote and
Chris Durbin moved runners to first and second before Kelly Shoppach
gave Baylor its first lead of the game on a three-run homer to deep
right, the first homer Rodaway has allowed all season. A senior from
Lincoln, Rodaway allowed three runs on nine hits in six innings and
struck out a career-high six Bears, but was not involved in the decision.
The Huskers tied the score
at 3-all in the bottom of the frame, as Taylor, who allowed three
runs on five hits, walked Brandon Eymann with the bases loaded, scoring
Justin Seely, who had singled earlier in the inning, for the Huskers'
third run.
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