Gordon hits homer out of park as NU tops Shockers
It took Alex Gordon one mighty swing to show the 4,485 at Haymarket Park - and some in the parking lot beyond right field - how pumped he and the Nebraska baseball team were for Tuesday night's game against 10th-ranked Wichita State.
The first pitch the sophomore third baseman found to his liking from right-handed senior Kyle Banick was rocketed into orbit and landed in rare territory completely out of the park for a two-run homer to light the fuse to the No. 15 Huskers' 7-4 victory.
Tuesday's result represented NU's 14th straight win on its home field against a Top 10 opponent. It came after the Huskers had lost two of three weekend games to Texas Tech to drop their first Big 12 Conference home series in the last 14.
"We weren't going to let him get a good pitch to hit," said Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson. "That kind of backfired in the first inning."
Stephenson ended up watching Gordon go 3-for-4, score twice and break a 2-2 third-inning tie with a two-run double that left him with 49 RBIs on the season.
"We were in the dumps and the only way to fix that was come out and play the way we did," said Gordon, who admitted he didn't see where his home run landed. "If we do that every game, it's going to be hard to beat us."
While Gordon ignited the Huskers' offense, a fiery Quinton Robertson gave them a good enough performance on the mound to keep them from playing from behind.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander gave up three first-inning singles but got out unscathed by picking off Drew Moffitt.
With Nebraska holding a 5-3 lead in the sixth, the Shockers loaded the bases with one out on a single, error and walk. Robertson responded by striking out No. 2 hitter Phil Napolitan, then gave way to left-handed junior Jeremy Becker, who was brought in to face the left-handed hitting Logan Sorensen.
Becker got Sorensen, hitting .439 with runners in scoring position this season, to ground into a close fielder's choice play at second to add to a season-long stretch in which none of the 16 baserunners he's inherited have scored.
"I told him to give 'em hell," said Robertson, who won his third straight decision to improve to 4-4. "I love being in games that mean as much as that game does. We can downplay it, but it's big. To give my teammates a chance to walk out with a win, that was fun."
While Dustin Timm came on to face the minimum number of hitters over the next two innings, the Huskers (25-7) got another two-run homer in the eighth to help send Wichita State (20-6) to its sixth straight non-conference defeat.
This one came from junior first baseman Curtis Ledbetter, who paid back freshman left-hander Derek Roach for a fifth-inning strikeout by sending the first delivery he saw in the eighth to the grass berm beyond left field.
Ledbetter's fourth homer - all of which have come in the past nine games - was a zapper to a club that played with the scrappiness of its coach, who twice argued umpires' calls.
Nebraska was not to be intimidated.
"Our dugout had it going the whole time," Gordon said. "You could feel that urgency. That's a big one for us."
NU coach Mike Anderson agreed, and was quick to praise Gordon and Robertson.
"With all due respect to Wichita State, that is the style they play. They want to jaw and Quinton jawed back," he said.
As for Gordon's performance?
"Special players do special things," Anderson said. "I can't say enough about what that (first-inning home run) did for us. There were a lot of wait-and-see attitudes out there tonight and Alex got us ignited."
Nebraska now heads to a three-game weekend series at Missouri.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@;journalstar.com.
The first pitch the sophomore third baseman found to his liking from right-handed senior Kyle Banick was rocketed into orbit and landed in rare territory completely out of the park for a two-run homer to light the fuse to the No. 15 Huskers' 7-4 victory.
Tuesday's result represented NU's 14th straight win on its home field against a Top 10 opponent. It came after the Huskers had lost two of three weekend games to Texas Tech to drop their first Big 12 Conference home series in the last 14.
"We weren't going to let him get a good pitch to hit," said Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson. "That kind of backfired in the first inning."
Stephenson ended up watching Gordon go 3-for-4, score twice and break a 2-2 third-inning tie with a two-run double that left him with 49 RBIs on the season.
"We were in the dumps and the only way to fix that was come out and play the way we did," said Gordon, who admitted he didn't see where his home run landed. "If we do that every game, it's going to be hard to beat us."
While Gordon ignited the Huskers' offense, a fiery Quinton Robertson gave them a good enough performance on the mound to keep them from playing from behind.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander gave up three first-inning singles but got out unscathed by picking off Drew Moffitt.
With Nebraska holding a 5-3 lead in the sixth, the Shockers loaded the bases with one out on a single, error and walk. Robertson responded by striking out No. 2 hitter Phil Napolitan, then gave way to left-handed junior Jeremy Becker, who was brought in to face the left-handed hitting Logan Sorensen.
Becker got Sorensen, hitting .439 with runners in scoring position this season, to ground into a close fielder's choice play at second to add to a season-long stretch in which none of the 16 baserunners he's inherited have scored.
"I told him to give 'em hell," said Robertson, who won his third straight decision to improve to 4-4. "I love being in games that mean as much as that game does. We can downplay it, but it's big. To give my teammates a chance to walk out with a win, that was fun."
While Dustin Timm came on to face the minimum number of hitters over the next two innings, the Huskers (25-7) got another two-run homer in the eighth to help send Wichita State (20-6) to its sixth straight non-conference defeat.
This one came from junior first baseman Curtis Ledbetter, who paid back freshman left-hander Derek Roach for a fifth-inning strikeout by sending the first delivery he saw in the eighth to the grass berm beyond left field.
Ledbetter's fourth homer - all of which have come in the past nine games - was a zapper to a club that played with the scrappiness of its coach, who twice argued umpires' calls.
Nebraska was not to be intimidated.
"Our dugout had it going the whole time," Gordon said. "You could feel that urgency. That's a big one for us."
NU coach Mike Anderson agreed, and was quick to praise Gordon and Robertson.
"With all due respect to Wichita State, that is the style they play. They want to jaw and Quinton jawed back," he said.
As for Gordon's performance?
"Special players do special things," Anderson said. "I can't say enough about what that (first-inning home run) did for us. There were a lot of wait-and-see attitudes out there tonight and Alex got us ignited."
Nebraska now heads to a three-game weekend series at Missouri.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@;journalstar.com.
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