Mar. 19, 2011
 
Huskers sweep in double header.
 
Lincoln, Neb. — Jon Keller threw a career-long seven innings and struck out eight in Game 1, while Kurt Farmer hit a seventh inning grand slam in Game 2 to lead Nebraska (13-7) to 6-0 and 10-4 victories over North Dakota (1-13) on Saturday afternoon at Hawks Field.

Cody Asche was a combined 4-for-8 with three doubles and three RBIs in the doubleheader, giving him a team-leading 11 multiple-hit games on the season. Farmer finished with five RBIs on the day, all coming in the second game when he hit NU's third grand slam of the season and also added an RBI single in the eighth.

"Well we got it done, but that's about it," head coach Mike Anderson said. "We had a few mistakes and a few things that didn't exactly go our way, but the one characteristic I like about our team is that we always fight back. That's good to see whether you're playing North Dakota or UCLA. It's good to us fight back."

Tyler Niederklein was the winning pitcher in the second game after he relieved NU starter Tom Lemke and Zach Hirsch in the top of the seventh and through 1 2/3 of scoreless ball before Tyler King closed the final 1 2/3 for the Huskers.

Nebraska used only two pitchers in the first win of the doubleheader as Casey Hauptman no-hit the Fighting Sioux over the final two innings as he struck out five of the six batters he faced and lower his team-best ERA to 0.39.

The Huskers and Fighting Sioux conclude the four-game series Sunday afternoon at Hawks Field at 1:05 p.m.

Game 1 The Huskers used a pair of three-run innings to account for all its offense in the first game of the doubleheader, highlighted by a Bryan Peters 3-RBI single in the fifth inning to break a scoreless tie. On a windy day at Hawks Field, Peters blooped a two-out, bases loaded full-count pitch into center field, which was just out of the reach of a diving Andy Sadler. The runners were off on contact as Chad Christensen, Patric Tolentino and Michael Pritchard all came around to score.

Three runs was more than enough for Keller, a freshman from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who continued to show signs of a bright future on the mound for NU. The right hander tied his career high with eight strikeouts and did not walk any batters for the first time this season. Keller did give up eight hits on the day, including three in the first, when freshman Tanner Krietemeier threw out Ryan Gerber at home plate after a single by Josh Ray. Keller went on to complete seven shutout innings while throwing 102 pitches, the second time he has went over the century pitch count.

Krietemeier was making his first career start, while Pritchard entered the game in the fourth inning and finished the game 1-for-1 with two runs scored.

Asche delivered insurance for the Huskers in the seventh inning with a 3-RBI double to right center field. Nebraska then put Hauptman on the mound and the Omaha native no-hit UND over the final two innings.

Game 2 The Huskers found themselves in another tough battle in the second game, despite taking a 1-0 lead in the first on Kash Kalkowski's RBI triple to right center field. After UND tied the game in the third, the Fighting Sioux took a 4-1 lead in the top of the sixth by scoring three runs on one hit and an error. Lemke left the game after 5 2/3 as he gave up four runs on five hits while striking out six. With the bases loaded, Hirsh walked and hit a batter to bring in two runs before getting Gerber to ground out.

Nebraska loaded the bases in the bottom half of the sixth as well to score two runs and cut the deficit to 4-3, beginning with an Asche leadoff double to left center field. Asche would score on a bases loaded walk by Josh Scheffert, while Khiry Cooper came up with a bases loaded RBI single to bring home Farmer.

With only three at-bats remaining, NU separated itself in the seventh with a six-run inning that included Farmer's first career homer, a grand slam to left field. Cooper followed with an RBI single to left, while Cory Burleson ended the big inning with an RBI double to right center field.

Niederklein and King finished it out for the Huskers to preserve the 10-4 win.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.