Shockey saves day for NU

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BY CURT McKEEVER

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Nebraska's bullpen extended to center field at Missouri's Taylor Stadium on Sunday.

Needing to stop some serious bleeding that left them trailing 9-8 in the eighth inning of a game they once led 8-1, the 15th-ranked Huskers called on center fielder Colin Shockey to take the mound.

The right-handed junior, pitching for just the third time as a Husker, induced Missouri's No. 3 hitter Lee Laskowski to hit an inning-ending grounder with two runners on. And after the Huskers produced a three-run ninth, he worked out of a runners-at-first-and-second situation by striking out Jeremy Herandez and getting pinch hitter John McKee to foul out to cap Nebraska's wild 11-10 victory over the Tigers.

"I'm kind of a last resort kind of guy," said Shockey, who earned his first victory.

In doing so, he became the first regular-position player since 1995 first-round major-league draft pick Alvie Shepherd to win a game for the Huskers. Shepherd, though, was drafted on the merits of his pitching.

As for Shockey - who had thrown only in non-pressure situations against New Mexico on April 6 and Boston College on March 19?

"We wouldn't put him in if he hadn't told us, 'I'm ready whenever you need me,'" NU coach Mike Anderson said.

Shockey's gritty performance, combined with the ninth-inning rally, helped the Huskers avoid losing five straight Big 12 games since they dropped 10 in a row in 1997, John Sanders' final season as coach. NU is now 26-9 overall and 7-5 in the league.

"Every team is different," said Anderson, who's in his 10th season in the Nebraska program, "and for this team, right now, that's our biggest win of the year."

Nebraska had dropped four of its last five games, and after building its huge lead Sunday courtesy of a seven-hit, eight-run outburst in the fifth, watched Missouri relievers keep it hitless until the ninth.

Meanwhile, the Tigers scored twice in the sixth and added three unearned runs in the seventh thanks to an error by second baseman Jake Mullinax. In the eighth, they regained the lead thanks in part to a throwing error by third baseman Alex Gordon that led to two more unearned runs.

Zane Taylor's single off of Mike Sillman that caromed off the second-base bag drove in Hernandez to make it 9-8 Missouri. After Sillman walked James Boone, Shockey, who had made only a few tosses near the NU dugout during the top of the eighth, trotted in from center field to pitch.

"Shockey's one of our guys," Gordon said. "We were kind of low, but we knew we could go to him."

After he got Laskowski to hit a check-swing tapper back to him, Shockey then watched Gordon help start the Huskers' rally with a one-out single that fell in shallow center only because the Tigers were playing him deep.

Gordon would advance to second on a wild pitch by Michael Cole before Curtis Ledbetter lined a 1-1 pitch over third base for an RBI double. It was Ledbetter's eighth hit of the three-game series.

Missouri then called on its closer, right-handed senior Mark Alexander, but Mullinax ripped a 1-2 delivery to the gap in right-center for an RBI double that made it 10-9. Jesse Boyer, who had entered the game in the eighth to replace Shockey in center, followed by driving a 1-1 pitch past second for a single that scored Mullinax.

"I felt like it was a pop fly with an out, but they were playing so deep," Gordon said of his single. "That's the game - sometimes you get lucky."

The Tigers (24-13-1, 4-8) looked like they might take their turn in the bottom half. After Boyer made a diving catch in right to rob Cody Ehlers of a leadoff hit, Shockey walked Mike Rallo and Kyle Johnson. Tyler Williams, who pinch hit in the eighth and remained in the game at catcher, then singled to center to make it 11-10. But Shockey fanned Hernandez on a pitch in the dirt before the first baseman Ledbetter recorded the final out by making a catch leaning against a concrete wall the extended beyond the Nebraska dugout.

"That was probably the best play we've seen him make," Mullinax said of Boyer. And with Ledbetter, "I didn't think he was going to get that ball. When he did, I was like 'Whew! I'm glad that's over.'"

So were his teammates, who had suffered through a 3-2 loss Friday night, in part because Mullinax was called out for not touching third base on a play that he would have scored, and followed that up with a five-error performance that led to a 16-11 setback on Saturday.

"It's obviously a confidence boost to win a game," Anderson said. "We've had a week where we didn't play good baseball. This is still a very good team. The coaching staff and I haven't lost confidence in them.

"(Missouri) got back in the game because of our lack of confidence. When this team starts to believe as much as I do, we're going to be a lot better off."

On Sunday, it was fortunate for the Huskers that they believed in their last resort.

"We did what we needed to," Shockey said, "fought and scratched."

n Sunday's game marked only the second time in 11 opportunities that the Nebraska bullpen had blown a save opportunity past the sixth inning. Both times, the Huskers ended up getting a win.

n The Huskers' eight-run fourth matched their most-productive inning of the season (done first against Northwestern in the season opener).

n With two hits in the fourth, Grose became the first Husker to have two in an inning since Jeff Leise did it against Texas-Pan American in 2002.

n Nebraska plays host to Creighton at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday, then heads to top-ranked Texas for a three-game weekend series against the Longhorns.

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@;journalstar.com.