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Huskers clinch series against
Fla. Gulf Coast with 8-2 win
 Lubach |  Miller |  Kubat |
Senior Kyle Kubat went 7.0 innings in the win and improved to 3-0 on the year. It was Kubat's third start this season of at least 7.0 innings this season, and the lefty was efficient in his work as he needed only 10 pitches in an inning four times during the game to retire the Eagles.
Offensively, sophomore Ben Miller led the way with a 3-for-4 performance, while Tanner Lubach was 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Ryan Boldt also notched a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3, after recording three hits in the series opener.
A reminder that Sunday's series finale between the Huskers (11-6, 0-0 Big Ten) and the Eagles (8-11-1, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) has been rescheduled to 12:05 p.m. It was originally set to start at 1:05 p.m.
With total attendance of 12,285 through two games, the series already ranks fourth among nonconference series crowds at Hawks Field. NU's series with Alabama in 2006 ranks first with a three-day attendance of 14,885. The Huskers need 2,601 fans Sunday to break the mark.
For the fifth straight game the Huskers scored in the first inning, taking a 3-0 lead on Lubach's three-run home run, his second of the season. Jake Schleppenbach started the frame with an infield single and after a sacrifice bunt by Luis Alvarado, Boldt worked a four-pitch walk. Lubach then put the Huskers on the board when he launched a 2-2 offering from FGCU starter Devin Smeltzer off the left-field foul pole.
With Kubat in control on the mound, NU's offense pushed across another run in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Boldt led off the inning with a single, but Smeltzer cleared the bases with a 6-4-3 double play. Blake Headley and Miller started a two-out rally with a pair of singles, and then Headley scored when Smeltzer uncorked a wild pitch with Scott Schreiber at the plate. It proved even more costly three pitches later when Schreiber popped out to end the inning.
The Huskers plated three more runs in the fifth on three hits, increasing NU's lead to 7-0 for Kubat. Miller notched his third hit of the game with an RBI single, and Schreiber also recorded an RBI with a sacrifice fly.
After being shut out for the first five innings, the Eagles got on the board in the top of the sixth. FGCU loaded the bases with no out on three straight singles and were poised for a big inning, but Kubat limited the damage to two runs. NU's offense got one of the runs back in the bottom of the frame when Boldt delivered a two-out RBI single that scored Wes Edrington from second base, who led off the inning with a single.
Kubat tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning, while Jeff Chesnut pitched a perfect eighth inning and freshman Nate Fisher finished off the game with a shutout ninth inning of relief.
R H E ------------------------------------------- Fla. Gulf Coast .... 000 002 000 - 2 9 2 Nebraska ........... 301 031 00x - 8 12 2 -------------------------------------------