Baseball

Cole Lifts Fifth-Ranked Huskers to 6-4 Win over No. 8 Baylor

April 14, 2001

Lincoln -- John Cole went 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Jamie Rodrigue went 7.2 innings to earn his fourth victory of the season, as the fifth-ranked Nebraska baseball team defeated eighth-ranked Baylor, 6-4, Saturday afternoon in front of a Buck Beltzer Stadium record crowd of 4,029.

A junior from Ottawa, Canada, Cole's second four-hit game of the season keyed the Huskers to their second straight win over the Bears and a solid position atop the Big 12 standings. With the win, NU, which has won 12 of its last 13 contests, improved to 29-8 overall and 12-3 in the Big 12, while the Bears fall to 12-5 in the league and 27-13 overall.

Rodrigue pitched a season-high 7.2 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits to improve to 4-3 on the season. The left-hander from St. Clair, Mo., struck out six and walked one in picking up his second straight win. Thom Ott pitched the final 1.1 scoreless innings for his fifth save of the season - all in league play.

"I got off to a slow start, but then I started getting into a groove," Rodrigue said. "Once I started spotting my pitches, I felt a lot better."

"Our pitching has really turned the corner in the last couple weeks," Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. "Today we wiggled out of some innings in the third and the eighth. Our hitting has been timely, but hasn't been great. But we have done enough to win."

Today's crowd of 4,029 broke the stadium record of 3,658 set Friday evening and marked the third time in the last seven days that NU broke its single-game attendance record. In addition to the paid attendance, while nearly 500 fans lined the Avery Avenue fence in left, watching the first top-10 match-up in Buck Beltzer Stadium history.

Cole gave the Huskers a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a one-out RBI single off Baylor starter Josh Scott, who walked a pair and hit another to load the bases before Cole lined a single to right center.

After Baylor cut the margin to 2-1 on Kelly Shoppach's RBI single in the third, the Huskers extended their lead, scoring single runs in the fourth and sixth and a pair of runs in the fifth, providing Nebraska with five-run cushion. In the fourth, Cole lead off with a single, moved to second on Jeff Blevins' sacrifice bunt and later scored on Jed Morris' RBI double to right. In the fifth, consecutive singles by Will Bolt and Matt Hopper put runners on the corners. Dan Johnson's double play grounder scored Bolt, while Blevins' RBI single plated Hopper for the 5-1 lead.

Scott took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits to fall to 4-4 on the season.

The Huskers loaded the bases in the sixth off Baylor reliever Paul Thorp, but Bolt's RBI sacrifice fly to center plated the only run, as Thorp kept the Huskers off the board the rest of the contest.

The Bears finally got to Rodrigue in the eighth, scoring three runs, all with two outs, to cut the Husker lead to 6-4. Matt Williams singled, moved to second on a balk and scored on Ron Zboril's RBI single. Mike Huggins doubled down the line in left, putting runners on second and third. Ott then came in for Rodigue and allowed a two-run single by David Murphy, cutting the Husker lead to two runs. Pinch-hitter Paul Richmond drew a walk before Ott induced a Nolan Weinweber grounder to short to end the Bears' final threat.

Huggins and Murphy had two hits apiece to lead the Baylor offensive attack.

The Huskers and Bears conclude the three-game set on Sunday with a 1p.m. contest that will be shown live on Nebraska Educational Television (Ch. 12/13) and over the internet on net.unl.edu.

Source: University of Nebraska Sports Information