April 12, 2011
 
Clutch pitching and a home run lead to win
 
Wichita, Kan — Nebraska ended its four-game road trip on a winning note, as it scored four runs in the first two innings and earned a 5-4 victory at Wichita State on Tuesday night.

The night concluded a four-game, six-day road swing for the Huskers.

Kash Kalkowski hit a two-run homer to left field in the top of the first to open the scoring, while Tyler Niederklein improved to 5-1 by giving up three runs in 6.0 innings before Casey Hauptman earned his fourth save of the season.

"I'm really proud of the kids," head coach Mike Anderson said. "I thought we did a great job of putting the pitching staff together. Tyler Niederklein got us to where we wanted to be, then Dylan Vogt did a great job coming in and Casey Hauptman shut the door. It was a tight ballgame all the way around but we scored runs early."

Niederklein gave up his three runs on seven hits and left with a 4-3 lead before Vogt threw 1.1 innings of no-hit relief. Hauptman came on in the eighth and allowed one run on two hits in 1.2 innings. The Shockers scored one run in the ninth and had the tying run in scoring position before Hauptman struck out Preston Springer to end the game.

Three Huskers finished with multiple-hit games as Kalkowski (2-for-5), Kale Kiser (2-for-4) and Patric Tolentino (2-for-3) combined for six of NU's 11 base hits. Nebraska put the leadoff runner on base five times, including each of the first two innings when it scored four of its five runs. That led to a 4-0 lead as the Husker bats were hot early on, beginning with Kiser's leadoff single through the right side of the infield. After Bryan Peters sacrificed him to second, Kalkowski ripped his fifth home run of the season onto 21st Street beyond left field.

Nebraska had a solid start to the second inning as well when Chad Christensen laid down a nearly perfect bunt down the third base line. WSU starting pitcher Zach Beringer fielded the ball but did not make a throw to first as Christensen reached easily. Tolentino, who was starting his first game since March 30, then blooped an RBI double into short right field

With a 4-0 lead, Niederklein gave up a solo home run to Johnny Coy in the bottom of the second to make it 4-1, while the Shockers added a pair of runs on three hits in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3. Niederklein got back on track with a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth that was aided by a superb diving catch in short center field by Peters and went two more clean innings before he was relieved by Vogt.

After being held scoreless from the third to seventh, NU picked up a fifth run in the eighth inning after Michael Pritchard led off with a single up the middle. Krietemeier sacrificed Pritchard to second, and then advanced to third on Tolentino's grounder to short as Tyler Grimes elected to go to third and hit Pritchard in the back. Kiser then sent a fly ball to left center to drive in Pritchard for the run.

Wichita State entered the night with 67 stolen bases on the season, but had just one against the Huskers. Tolentino made a critical play in the seventh inning by throwing out pinch runner Walker Davidson as he attempted to steal second after a leadoff hit.

Nebraska produced 11 hits against four WSU pitchers as eight starters registered at least one hit.

The Huskers will return home this weekend as it hosts Kansas State at Hawks Field. The three-game series begins Friday at 6:35 p.m.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.