Baseball

Komine Leads Fifth-Ranked Nebraska to 6-2 Win over No. 8 Baylor

April 13, 2001

Lincoln -- Behind a complete-game nine-hitter by All-America right-hander Shane Komine, fifth-ranked Nebraska moved into the lead in the Big 12 standings with a 6-2 win over Baylor in front of a record crowd of 3,658 at Buck Beltzer Stadium in Lincoln Friday evening.

Komine, a junior from Honolulu, Hawaii, struck out 11 and scattered nine hits in tossing his fourth complete game of the season - all in Big 12 play - to improve to 8-1 on the season. Komine, who has won his last eight decisions, allowed only a two-run homer to Matt Williams in the second, but cruised, as only one runner reached third during the final seven innings. Komine’s 11 strikeouts marked the fifth time this season, and 15th time in his career that the 5-9, 175-pound junior struck out 10 or more batters in a game.

"This was one of my better performances of the year," Komine said. "I haven't been pitching well at home, so I just wanted to go out there and get guys out for the team. When we started scoring those runs, it really got me settled down.

With the win, Nebraska, which has won 11 of its last 12 games, improves to 28-8 overall and 11-3 in the league standings, percentage points ahead of the Bears’ 12-4 conference mark. Baylor falls to 27-12 overall with the setback. The overflow crowd of 3,658 broke the facility record of 3,621 set against Texas last Saturday, while the win was NU’s first in a regular-season game since 1977, snapping a 10-game regular-season losing streak to the Bears.

"We feel fortunate to win with only six hits," Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. "I'm really proud of our guys for not panicking after getting down 2-0. We are going to have to play a lot better tomorrow to beat them."

Trailing 2-0, the Huskers took the lead in the third, scoring three times off Baylor ace Steven White, including a two-run single by Justin Seely, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI.. With one out and runners on first and second, Dan Johnson’s grounder was booted by Bear first baseman Ron Zboril, allowing Adam Stern to score from second. Seely then gave the Huskers the lead for good with a soft single to right center.

White, who entered the contest with an 8-0 mark and a league-low 1.53 ERA, took the loss, allowing six runs - three earned - and six hits in six innings of work. White also walked seven Huskers, tying a season high.

Nebraska continued to extend its lead, tallying single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings of White. In the fourth, Brandon Eymann reached on an error, moved to second on Will Bolt’s sacrifice and eventually scored on a RBI double by sophomore Jeff Leise, who extended his hit streak to 13 games. In the fifth, Seely doubled with one out and came home on an RBI double by Jed Morris to right, which hit a divot and squirted bast BU outfielder David Murphy. NU added its final run in the sixth on Leise, who went 2-for-5, doubled and scored on Dan Johnson’s ground out.

The two teams continue the series with a 3 p.m. contest on Saturday.

Source: University of Nebraska Sports Information