Huskers fall to Texas
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BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Nebraska baseball team exited Bricktown Ballpark on Saturday naturally disappointed it hadn’t made a couple more plays against fifth-ranked Texas in the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
At the same time, the Huskers came away from their 5-4 loss believing they’ve created some momentum for a NCAA regional despite missing a chance to play in today’s tournament final.
Yes, even with a 1-2 showing here.
“Texas is a great ballclub and we battled them the entire day. Coming out with a loss, obviously, isn’t what you want, but when you play a team that good the way we did, that’s all you can ask,” first baseman Andrew Brown said. “We’re playing good baseball.”
NU’s loss to the league regular-season champion Longhorns allowed Texas A&M, led by former NU pitching coach Rob Childress, to claim one spot in today’s championship. The Aggies will play the winner of Saturday night’s late game between Baylor and Oklahoma.
In Saturday’s first game, the Aggies beat Kansas State to improve to 2-1 in round-robin play. Since A&M had beaten Texas on Thursday, the Longhorns, 1-1 before playing Nebraska, took the field having no shot of advancing.
The Huskers, who beat A&M on Wednesday and lost to K-State on Thursday, would have moved on with a win Saturday. But Texas got to Johnny Dorn early, scoring four runs in the first three innings to jump to a 4-1 lead.
After scoring twice in the bottom of the third against Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Adrian Alaniz, NU turned to Luke Wertz.
He proceeded to blank the Longhorns for 42/3 innings, extending his scoreless streak against them to 112/3. But Texas’ Austin Wood was equally dominating, retiring 11 straight Huskers after relieving Alaniz to start the fourth.
Then, after NU’s Jeff Lanning reached on an error and DJ Belfonte singled with two outs in the seventh, Longhorns closer Randy Boone came in to get Craig Corriston on a fly out to center field.
Texas’ offense responded by producing the decisive run in the eighth on Chais Fuller’s bases-loaded, two-out single to center field. Bryce Nimmo prevented further damage by throwing out Michael Demperio trying to score from second on the play.
Andy Gerch also helped the Huskers answer in the bottom half of the inning, singling with two outs before Nick Sullivan followed with a pinch-hit single to right. When Texas’ Kyle Russell bobbled the ball for an error, Gerch scored and Sullivan raced to second.
Nebraska then loaded the bases when Jake Mort and Nimmo drew walks, but Lanning ticked a ball just in front of the plate that catcher Preston Clark grabbed before tagging him out to end the threat.
Corriston gave NU one last hope in the ninth, when he singled to left with one out. But Boone notched his 13th save by striking out Brown, the Huskers’ top home run threat, and getting Jake Opitz to hit a floater to second baseman Travis Tucker for the final out.
“He went up in the eighth and then stayed down in the bottom of the zone in the ninth,” Brown said of Boone. “They were good spots. They were hittable pitches. I just couldn’t pull the trigger.”
With a 30-25 overall record, Nebraska could have some anxiety about whether it will be included in the NCAA Tournament field, which will be announced at 11:30 a.m. Monday. But given the Huskers’ fourth-place league finish and No. 25 RPI, NU coach Mike Anderson expects that his team will get the opportunity to continue its season.
“There’s probably a question mark in the minds of a lot of people, but I think this is a (NCAA) regional team,” he said. “I think it can do well in a regional.”
Yes, even after going 1-2 in its first postseason go-around this season.
“We fought, and we fought hard against good pitching,” Anderson said. “We stumbled the first five innings against K-State. We did that to ourselves, defensively (making four early errors that led to three unearned runs in a 5-1 loss). Without that, we go into this game with a chance to be 3-0.
“I keep saying it, but (there’s) a sense of ownership. There’s a sense of team.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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