LINCOLN, Neb. -- Senior All-American
Shane Komine struck out 14 Aggies in eight innings, as the No. 11 Nebraska
baseball team improved to 9-5 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12 with a 6-4 win
over No. 13 Texas A&M in front of a crowd of 2,107 at Hawks Field Friday
afternoon.
The Honolulu native upped his season record
to 4-0, scattering three hits and allowing one unearned run in a 134-pitch
performance. The senior has now won 15 consecutive decisions dating back
to March of 2002, while NU has won 17 straight conference openers with
the senior right-hander on the hill. His 14 strikeouts tied a season high
set at McNeese State last month, marking the 20th time in his career he
has struck out 10 or more hitters in a game.
"Shane did a great job today," Nebraska
Coach Dave Van Horn. "His pitches were breaking all over the placeand
he did a good job of keeping their hitters off balance."
After his performance, Komine, who is 17-0
at home in his four years at NU, saw his season ERA drop to 1.22, while
holding opponents to a .131 average in five starts. He has struck out
49 hitters in 37 innings this season.
"I'm pleased with the whole team's effort
today," Komine said. "I threw a lot of curveballs today and tried to mix
it up a bit. It's up to the pitchers to go out first and put a zero on
the board."
While Komine kept the Aggies, who dropped
to 17-6 and 5-2 in conference play, at bay, junior Jed Morris and senior
Jeff Blevins provided the offensive support. Morris, a native of Seabrook,
Texas, went 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored, while
Blevins was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs in the win.
Aggie starter Justin Moore suffered the
loss, allowing six runs on 11 hits in 6.2 innings to dip to 2-1 on the
season.
Nebraska jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead
in the bottom of the first as Morris crushed an RBI double off the center
field wall to score Drew Anderson from first. Jeff Blevins knocked in
NU's second run of the frame with an RBI single to left.
The Aggies cut the Husker advantage to one
in the top of the third, as Tim Petru scored on an Erik Schindewolf grounder
to first. Petru, who walked to lead off the inning, stole second and advanced
to third on a throwing error by Morris before scoring to trim the NU lead
to 2-1.
Morris then atoned for his mistake, hitting
a solo homer, his fourth of the season, to right center in the third,
extending NU's lead to 3-1.
The Aggies had their best chance off Komine
in the sixth, loading the bases, but could not capitalize. Neal Stephenson,
who had two of A&M's six hits, led off the inning with a double down
the first-base line. Walks to Coby Mavroulis and Ty Garner loaded the
bases with two outs, but Komine picked off Mavroulis at second to end
the threat.
The Huskers broke open the contest with
a three-run seventh off Moore. Jeff Leise's RBI single plated Daniel Bruce
before two-out RBI singles by Matt Hopper and Jeff Blevins pushed the
margin to 6-1.
Texas A&M cut the Husker lead to 6-4
in the ninth, scoring three times off NU relievers Jason Burch on RBI
fielder's choice by Eric Schindewolf and a two-out, two-run single by
Matt Alexander. Waylon Byers then struck out Neal Stephenson to end the
game, earning his first career save.
"I could have cared less (about the three
runs in the ninth)," Coach Dave Van Horn said. "We played a great game.
We played a whole game. We hit the ball hard and we had outstanding pitching
and defense today.
The two teams continue the three-game set
Saturday afternoon at Hawks Field at 2 p.m. Junior left-hander Jamie Rodrigue
(2-0, 1.35 ERA) will take to the mound for the Huskers and will be opposed
by A&M right-hander Khalid Ballouli (3-0, 3.25 ERA).
Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.
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