Baseball
April 20, 2001
Komine Leads Huskers to 9-0 Win Over Kansas
Lawrence, Kan.
- All-America right-hander Shane Komine struck out 10 batters in eight
innings of work, as Nebraska improved to 33-8 on the season with a
9-0 victory over Kansas in front of a crowd of 1,251 at Hoglund Ballpark
Friday evening.
Komine, a 5-10, 175-pounder from Honolulu, scattered seven hits and
walked only one to improve to 9-1 on the season. He did not allow
a fly ball out, getting 11 ground ball outs, as he improved to 5-0
in league play. Komine's 10 strikeouts against the Jayhawks marked
the fourth consecutive outing, and sixth time this season, he struck
out 10 or more batters in a game.
"The main thing was
to get a good start and pitch the way I can pitch." Komine said.
"Their main focus was to get a lot of line drives and grounders
and that was what I was able to do tonight."
"Shane threw a lot
of strike and we fielded well behind him tonight," Nebraska Coach
Dave Van Horn said of the Husker defense, which turned a pair of double
plays to thwart Jayhawk rallies in the fourth and fifth innings, as
KU dropped to 16-25 overall and 4-18 in the league.
The Huskers, who improved
to 33-8 on the season and 14-3 in the Big 12, jumped on Kansas early,
scoring five runs in the first three innings of KU starter Justin
Wilcher, who allowed five runs on eight hits in two innings to fall
to 1-8 on the year.
In the first, the Huskers
used two-out RBI singles by John Cole and Jeff Blevins to jump to
a 2-0 lead. With two outs and Will Bolt on first, Dan Johnson reached
on a hit by pitch, putting runners on first and second. Cole, who
has been hitting .475 over the last 14 games, took an 0-2 pitch and
drove the pitch into right center, scoring Bolt with the Huskers'
first run. Blevins added to the margin one pitch later with a single
to right for NU's second tally of the inning.
Nebraska scored another
two-out run in the second on Adam Stern's RBI bunt single. Jeff Leise
tripled to right center and scored on Stern's slow roller down the
third base line. Stern stole both second and third, but could not
score as Matt Hopper flew out to right to end the threat.
In the third, the Huskers
knocked Wilcher out of the game, as the first four Huskers all reach
base. Consecutive hits by Johnson and Cole put runners on first and
third before back-to-back walks to Blevins and Jed Morris plated the
Huskers fourth run and chased the Jayhawk starter after two innings.
The Huskers tacked on another run later in the inning on Bolt's sacrifice
fly to left, scoring Cole from third.
Komine battled early on,
as the Jayhawks had runners in scoring position in four of the first
six innings. In the fourth, KU had runners on first and third, but
Matt Tribble grounded to short and KU baserunner Matt Klockstein interfered
with NU second baseman John Cole, erasing a potential Jayhawk run.
In the fifth, KU had runners on first and second with one out, but
Komine induced Casey Spanish into an inning-ending double play.
The Huskers added additional
runs in the sixth and seventh innings to extend the lead to 7-0 off
KU reliever Sam Gish. In the sixth, Stern singled, moved to second
on Bolt's sacrifice, stole third and scored on Hopper's sacrifice
fly to left. Jeff Leise increased the Husker lead to 7-0 with an RBI
single scoring Jeff Blevins. NU added a pair of runs in the eighth
for the final margin, as Jeff Blaesing pitched a scoreless ninth to
preserve NU's third shutout of the season.
The Huskers and Jayhawks
continue the three-game series on Saturday with the first pitch scheduled
for 2 p.m. Sophomore left-hander Jamie Rodrigue (4-3, 6.00 ERA) will
take the hill for the Huskers and will opposed by Doug Lantz (2-4,
4.76 ERA).
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