Lincoln - Alex Gordon went 3-for-4 and drove in four RBIs, as No. 15 Nebraska
snapped a two-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory over No. 10 Wichita State
Tuesday evening at Hawks Field.
The sophomore third baseman jump started Nebraska's
offense with his 12th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the
first, before adding a two-run double in the Huskers' three-run fourth, as
Nebraska (25-7) posted their 14th straight win over a top-10 team in
Lincoln dating back to 1998.
"I think Gordon
ignited us," Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said. "The team needed energy, and
then after that, the crowd ignited, and it gave us a lot of positive
energy."
"We were in the dumps and the only way to fix that
was to win," Gordon said. "We played well tonight, and if we do that every
night, we'll be a tough team to beat. I think we came out with intensity and
urgency."
The Huskers used homers by Gordon and Curtis Ledbetter, who added a two-run shot in the eighth, to pick up their first win
over Wichita State since the 2001 season.
NU starter Quinton Robertson (4-4) earned the win, scattering eight hits over 5.2 innings of work
for his third straight victory, while WSU starter Kyle Banick (1-2) suffered the
loss, allowing five runs over four innings.
The Huskers got out of the gate against Banick in the
first, as Daniel Bruce singled to left with one out before coming home on
Gordon's two-run homer that landed in the parking lot beyond the fence in
right.
The Shockers (20-6) chipped away at Robertson,
scoring single runs in the second and third innings off the Husker right-hander.
Nick McCoola's put WSU on the board with solo homer to left in the second and
Drew Moffitt's RBI groundout scored Phil Napolitan, who reached on a walk and
moved to third on Logan Sorensen's single, in the third.
The Huskers stretched the lead to 5-2 in the bottom
of the frame on Gordon's two-run double and an RBI single by freshman left
fielder Braden Keith. With one out, singles by Colin Shockey and Daniel Bruce,
who had two hits and scored twice, put runners on first and second for Gordon,
who ripped a 1-2 pitch into the gap in left center. After an error extended the
inning, Keith gave the Huskers a three-run cushion, scoring Gordon with a single
to right.
After Wichita State closed to within 5-3 on Nick
Blasi's RBI double in the fourth, the Shockers loaded the bases off Robertson
with one out in the sixth, but could not capitalize. The Husker right-hander
stuck out Napolitan for the second out before Jeremy Becker came in out of the
bullpen and induced Nick Sorensen to ground into an inning-ending fielder's
choice, ending WSU's best late inning threat.
Ledbetter provided the Huskers with some breathing
room in the eighth with a two-run homer, his fourth of the year, off Derek
Roach, to extend the lead to 7-3. WSU added a final run in the ninth as
Sorensen, who had went 3-for-5, added an RBI single off Mike Sillman.
The Huskers return to Big 12 action this
weekend when they travel to Missouri beginning Friday evening at 6:30 p.m.
-- Huskers --
#10 Wichita State at #15 Nebraska
Apr 13, 2004 at Lincoln, Neb. (Hawks Field)
Wichita State 4 (20-6)
Player
AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
Blasi cf................. 3 1
1 1 2 0 0 0 0 .342
Napolitan lf............. 4 1
1 0 1 1 1 0 2 .279
Sorensen 1b.............. 5 0
3 1 0 0 12 0 3 .382
Moffitt rf............... 5 0
1 1 0 1 4 0 0 .337
Johnson, M. dh........... 5 0
1 0 0 1 0 0 2 .356
Green 3b................. 4 0
1 0 0 1 0 2 1 .354
McCoola ss............... 3 2
1 1 1 0 1 3 0 .348
Muich c.................. 3 0
1 0 0 1 5 1 0 .341
Smarsh 2b................ 3 0
0 0 0 0 1 4 0 .319
Banick p................. 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1
0 -
Roach
p................. 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 -
Foster p................ 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
-
Totals................... 35 4
10 4 4 5 24 11 10
Nebraska 7 (25-7)
Player
AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
Shockey, Colin cf........ 5 1
2 0 0 1 1 1 2 .343
Bruce, Daniel rf......... 4 2
2 0 0 1 2 0 0 .270
Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 4 2
3 4 0 0 2 3 1 .385
Mullinax, Jake 2b........ 4 1
1 0 0 0 1 4 0 .374
Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 4 1
1 2 0 1 12 0 1 .295
Keith, Braden lf......... 4 0
2 1 0 1 1 0 0 .348
Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 4 0
1 0 0 1 3 3 2 .309
Grose, John c............ 3 0
0 0 0 1 5 0 0 .184
Boyer, Jesse dh.......... 4 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .310
Robertson, Quinton p..... 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1
0 -
Becker,
Jeremy p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 -
Timm, Dustin p.......... 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
-
Sillman, Mike p.........
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 -
Totals................... 36 7 12 7
0 6 27 13 6
Score by
Innings
R H E
-------------------------------------------
Wichita State....... 011 100 001 - 4 10 1
Nebraska............ 203 000 02X - 7 12
1
-------------------------------------------
E - McCoola(7); Gordon, A.(7). LOB -
Shockers 10; Huskers 6. 2B - Blasi(9);
Sorensen(13); Green(10); Gordon, A.(13). HR - McCoola(4);
Gordon, A.(12);
Ledbetter, C(4). HBP -
Smarsh. SH - Muich(1); Grose, J.(2).
Wichita
State IP H R
ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
Banick.............. 4.0 6
5 4 0 1 19 19 66 5.50
Roach............... 3.0 6 2 2
0 5 15 15 49 1.12
Foster.............. 1.0 0 0 0
0 0 2 3 7 4.58
Nebraska
IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
Robertson, Quinton.. 5.2 8
3 3 3 3 24 29 100 4.66
Becker, Jeremy...... 0.1 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 5 1.04
Timm, Dustin........ 2.0 1 0 0
0 1 6 6 23 2.29
Sillman, Mike....... 1.0 1 1 1
1 1 4 5 19 3.77
Win - Robertson, Q (4-4). Loss -
Banick (1-2). Save - None.
WP -
Sillman, M. 2(3). HBP - by Robertson, Q (Smarsh). BK - Roach(2).
Inherited
runners/scored: Foster 2/0;
Becker, J. 3/0. Pitches/strikes: Banick 66/46; Roach
49/35; Foster 7/5; Robertson, Q 100/58; Becker, J. 5/3; Timm,
D. 23/15; Sillman,
M. 19/11.
Umpires - HP: Patrick Speiler 1B: Bill
McGuire 3B: Joe Wells
Start:
6:38p.m. Time: 2:35 Attendance: 4485
Roach faced 4 batters in the 8th.