NUfreshmanlearning ropes

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BY CURT McKEEVER

Pitcher Klausing has efficient outing as Huskers win 5-2.

His chore of sweeping the home dugout after practices and games gives Jon Klausing a daily reminder that he's a freshman on the Nebraska baseball team.

When he's on the mound, though, the 6-foot-7 left-hander is feeling less and less like a rookie.

"I don't use that excuse any more. I've pitched enough," Klausing said Wednesday after throwing six effective innings in NU's 5-2 win against Northern Iowa to earn his first victory as a Husker.

In his second-longest outing of the season, the Arvada, Colo., native allowed five hits and struck out five to help 23rd-ranked Nebraska get through a lackluster offensive showing at Haymarket Park.

While the Huskers managed just five hits, Northern Iowa had a more difficult time solving Klausing, who had no decisions in his first eight appearances.

"It's more of a confidence thing for him. Coming out and playing Division I baseball, it's been an adjustment," Nebraska pitching coach Rob Childress said. "But he's finding his niche as a competitor. He's kind of come out of his shell, and it's been fun to see."

Klausing set down the first six Panthers before Nebraska turned two of its hits into a pair of second-inning runs.

After Jake Mullinax was hit by a pitch, John Grose doubled to left. UNI starter Bill Zenk then threw a wild pitch that allowed Mullinax to score, and Colin Shockey followed with a single to shallow right-center that scored Grose.

Alex Gordon's 16th homer of the year, with two out in the third, made it 3-0.

The Panthers pulled to 3-1 in the fourth, when Sean LaCoste blooped a two-out single to right, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Ryan Norman's single to center.

After NU scored a sixth-inning run on Grose's bases-loaded groundout that followed two walks and a hit batter, Norman also hit his first homer of the season to lead off the seventh.

But Quinton Robertson, Jeremy Becker and Mike Sillman blanked the Panthers the rest of the way, and Mullinax hit his eighth homer of the season, an opposite-field shot to right in the eighth, to account for the final score.

Klausing, who weighs around 210 after adding about 35 pounds since coming to Nebraska last fall, said he expects to become more of a power pitcher with continued weight gain. For now, he's concentrating on locating his three-pitch combination of fastballs, changeups and curveballs.

"In high school, my strikeout was all on fastballs," he said. "Here, I've got to hit the outside corners, hit the inside corners and get some off-speed strikes."

Senior co-captain Grose said Klausing reminds him of the typical young hurler who comes into the Nebraska program.

"Coach Childress brings in guys who are great throwers, and turns them into pitchers," he said.

While NU coach Mike Anderson wasn't impressed with how his club swung the bats Wednesday, Grose noted that Zenk had recently thrown a complete-game two-hitter with 11 strikeouts to beat Creighton.

Zenk lasted five innings Wednesday, allowing four runs on three hits, three walks and a hit batter.

"Even though we had just five hits today, you could tell we had quality at-bats," Grose said.

Nebraska, now 33-16, returns to action with a key three-game series at Baylor Friday through Sunday. The Huskers are 10-11 and in seventh place in the Big 12 Conference, while the Bears are sixth at 10-9.

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