TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — At the end of a series-clinching 6-5 victory against Alabama, Steve Edlefsen’s mentality mirrored that of Nebraska’s trying-to-find-its-groove, nationally ranked baseball team.

Admitting that his ninth-inning pitches lacked blinding beauty, he still found enough to leave the No. 13 Crimson Tide flushed and frustrated.

Having come in from right field to relieve an ineffective Erik Bird and then allowing a one-out RBI double to Alex Avila for Bama’s second run of the inning, Edlefsen proceeded to strike out Kent Matthes and Matt Bentley to record his second save in less than 24 hours.

“I thought to myself as soon as he hit that double, ‘I’m going to strike out the next two guys,’” Edlefsen said. “That was my mentality. I had to.”

A second straight one-run win helped the Huskers put Friday’s lackluster effort (an 8-0 loss) behind them and left NU with an 8-5 record entering Tuesday’s home opener against Wayne State. After that, NU heads to Texas Tech for its opening Big 12 Conference series Thursday through Saturday.

“I’ve had confidence in this team from day one,” Edlefsen said. “You’re supposed to say that, but I really have. We really have talented guys and it’s just a matter of time before guys start gelling. Big 12 starts next weekend and I really like the momentum we have going.”

Nebraska created that momentum not by playing stellar ball Sunday. After all, the Huskers committed two more errors. But what they lacked in crispness, they made up for with hustling plays typified by Andrew Brown’s aggressiveness in the fourth inning.

Running from second base with two outs, Brown didn’t realize that a ball hit up the middle by Craig Corriston had been flagged down on a diving effort by shortstop Greg Paiml. But as Paiml threw too late to get Corriston at first, Brown came chugging around third and beat a throw home to give Corriston a two-run infield single that made it 3-0 NU.

“I really don’t even know if (third-base coach Mike Anderson) had any (sign) up or not,” Brown said. “I just kept running.”

Nebraska increased its lead to 5-0 on an RBI double by Jeff Tezak in the fourth and Corriston’s squeeze bunt in the sixth.

Meanwhile, Johnny Dorn got out of a fifth-inning jam by getting Crimson Tide All-American Emeel Salem to hit his first double-play grounder of the season. Then, after giving up a run in the sixth and leaving with runners at the corners, Dorn watched as Thad Weber allowed only a sacrifice fly. The Huskers went into the seventh leading 5-2.

NU still had a three-run advantage to start the bottom of the ninth, but the player expected to close things out, Bird, allowed a single to Paiml and an RBI double to Salem to have Anderson calling for Edlefsen.

A junior in his second season with the Huskers, but in his first as a pitcher, Edlefsen retired pinch hitter Del Howard on a grounder to shortstop before Avila’s double to left-center made it 6-5 and created the biggest stir of the day in Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

But after Matthes swung at a third strike and Bentley looked at another, the dominant sound came from one brave fan chanting Go Big Red.

After the game, the Huskers hustled out of town without showering, getting a police escort in order to catch their flight in Birmingham.

“It’s just good to see the kids respond that way against a great team,” Anderson said. “If we win games, we’re going to be doing that kind of stuff. I really think it creates a feel for who we are. We may not do it all the time, but it just gives us an impression we bust our tails.”

Sunday’s victory left  Dorn 3-1 on the season and tied for third on NU’s career win list with 24.

“He was good,” said Alabama coach Jim Wells, whose club fell to 13-6. “But I thought we should’ve done more than make a push at the end.”

Added Anderson: “He (Dorn) may win, he may lose, but you’re going to get his best performance on that given day. He’s one of our hardest workers.”

And after Friday’s loss, work ethic is the first thing Anderson wanted the Huskers to start establishing.

“I wanted to cry it was so ugly,” Dorn said of watching Friday’s game while charting pitches from the stands. “He (Anderson) talked to us on Tuesday saying, ‘We’re not playing Husker baseball. We’re soft.’ Me and some other leaders stepped up (after Friday) and did our jobs. And we’ve got to keep improving.”

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