The kids from Omaha left Haymarket Park happy Tuesday night.

Not Creighton, but Husker freshmen Dan Johnston and Ben Kline.

Locked in a 1-1 tie with the Bluejays in the sixth inning, the Papillion-LaVista High product Johnston put eighth-ranked NU ahead by getting hit with a two-out, bases-loaded pitch right before the Omaha Central graduate Kline delivered a two-run single that provided the difference in a 4-3 victory.

“I think we both wanted to get this ‘W,’ obviously,” Johnston said. “It’s a lot of excitement, because we grew up in Omaha and we watched Creighton and Nebraska growing up. They’re always scrappy games, always hard-fought games, and they’re fun to watch — and play in.”

Tuesday’s outcome, witnessed by 5,946, left Nebraska with a 29-7-1 record and Creighton, loser of six of its last eight, at 25-14. The teams go at it again Wednesday night in Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium.

The Huskers, blanked for five innings by left-handed redshirt freshman Greg Hellhake, scored all four of their runs in the sixth after Creighton went to its No. 1 starter, junior lefty Jeremy Hauer.

Statistically, NU’s outburst came at a critical time. Creighton was 18-1 this season when leading after six innings.

Jake Mort started the winning rally by lining a single up the middle after fouling off a 3-2 delivery. With one out, Mort advanced on a wild pitch before scoring on Mitch Abeita’s single to left. Abeita then stole second before the Bluejays gave Craig Corriston a free pass after he worked the count to 3-1 .

When Hauer started DJ Belfonte with two balls out of the strike zone, Creighton called on left-handed sophomore T.J. Roemmich, who then walked Belfonte before hitting Johnston with a 1-0 breaking ball. It was the third time he’d been plunked this season.

“I was just trying to battle and do something for the team, but I ended up getting the slider inside and luckily it hit my foot,” Johnston said.

Creighton went to one-time closer Kevin Dooley, and Kline pulled a 1-0 pitch from the right-handed senior from Papillion-LaVista into left to make it 4-1.

“First pitch was curveball and next pitch fastball in,” Kline said, “and we have our deal, ‘Hunt the fastball early,’ so. …”

Creighton’s Nick Nordgren hit a two-run homer off right-handed sophomore Erik Anderson in the seventh, and the Bluejays had a runner to second in both the eighth and ninth. But right-handed redshirt freshman Mike Nesseth came in to strike out Darin Ruf to end the eighth, then caught Brett Mieras looking at a 3-2 curveball over the inner half of the plate to end the game and earn his third save.

The Bluejays had taken a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Steve Winkelmann’s sacrifice fly, ending Dan Jennings’ streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 301/3. Robbie Knight had drawn a leadoff walk on a 3-2 pitch, moved to second on a sacrifice and to third on Ruf’s single past short. Winkelmann then hit a fly that the right fielder Belfonte caught on a diving effort in foul territory, but he couldn’t recover in time to challenge Knight’s tag from third.

That was far from the only play the Huskers overcame while improving their record at Haymarket this season to 22-2-1.

Nick Sullivan had a home run taken away by the right fielder Nordgren in the fourth. Belfonte was thrown out trying to score from third on Kline’s tap back to the mound in the fifth.

A seventh-inning leadoff double by Mort got wasted when he was thrown out trying to go to third on Jake Opitz’s grounder to shortstop Elliot Soto. NU still loaded the bases with one out but failed to score, and also came up empty after Kline reached third with one out in the eighth.

“We always need to touch up on some things, but I think we played hard throughout the night and they played hard,” Johnston said. “It was a good ‘W’ for us.”

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