Baseball 2001

Komine Breaks Strikeout Record; Huskers Split with Tigers

March 24, 2001

Lincoln -On an afternoon highlighted by a record-setting performance from Nebraska All-American Shane Komine, the Huskers and Tigers split a doubleheader at Buck Beltzer Stadium in front of a crowd of 1,687 Saturday afternoon. The Huskers, ranked fourth by Baseball America, fifth by Collegiate Baseball and eighth by Baseball Weekly/ESPN, won the opener, 14-4, in seven innings before the Tigers took advantage of four Husker errors to win the nightcap, 6-2. With the split, NU moves to 17-6 overall and 5-1 in the Big 12, while the Tigers improve to 14-11-1 and 3-7 in conference play.

Komine, a right-hander from Honolulu, became the Huskers’ all-time career strikeout leader with his five strikeouts in the opener, passing Mike Zajeski’s mark of 289 set between 1988 and 1992. He struck out Felipe Tetelboin to end the second inning, receiving a standing ovation from the Beltzer Stadium crowd.

“It’s a good feeling and it is something that is special to me,” Komine said. “The records are there until someone else breaks them. I hadn’t even thought of it much this week. I do know that I will remember this for a long time.”

Komine, who also moved into third place on NU’s career victory chart, allowed seven hits and four runs to pick up his sixth straight win. He now has 293 strikeouts in his three-year career.

“He is a great pitcher and for him to do what he has done here speaks for itself,” Van Horn said. “It was just an average performance, primarily because it was so cold, but he was getting stronger and his breaker was working well late.

While Komine handled the Tiger offense, the Huskers provided early support, scoring two runs in each of the first four frames to take an 8-1 lead after four frames.

In the first, Dan Johnson put the Huskers ahead with a two-run homer to right for his eighth round tripper of the season. In the second, a Jeff Blevins single and a walk to Jed Morris put runners at first and second before shortstop Brandon Eymann sacrificed the runners into scoring position. Blevins scored on a Will Bolt grounder before Morris came home on Jeff Leise’s two-out single up the middle. In the third, Blevins, who went 2-for-3 in the opener, drove in a pair of runs with an RBI single, while NU increased the lead to 8-1 in the fourth on a fielder’s choice by Adam Stern and a bases loaded walk to John Cole.

After MU pulled to within 8-4 in the top of the seventh, the Huskers ended the contest with a six spot in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by Adam Stern’s fourth homer of the season, a three-run shot to right. The junior from London, Ontario, also extended his hit streak to 18 games after today’s doubleheader. RBI singles by Josh Hesse and Morris added to the final tally, as NU pounded out 12 hits, including two by Jeff Leise, Matt Hopper and Blevins. In addition, Johnson went 1-for-1 and drew four walks in the victory.

Drew Endicott took the loss for MU, allowing eight runs in three innings to fall to 2-4 on the season.

In the nightcap, Missouri took advantage of a pair of Husker fielding miscues, jumping to a 4-0 advantage after one and a half innings. In the first, NU starter Jamie Rodrigue walked the first two hitters before Lee Laskowski’s two-out RBI single gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. In the second, Wes Fewell led off the frame with a double before Luke Cassis walked with one out, putting runners on first and second. Jayce Tingler’s

RBI single pushed the margin to 2-0. Cassis then stole third and scored on Tito Rivera’s throwing error, while Tingler scored the Tigers’ fourth run on a throwing error by NU second baseman Josh Hesse.

“They took it too us early and we put ourselves in a hole by walking people and not playing well defensively,” Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. “We never gave ourselves a chance and we didn’t do a good job at the plate.”

Rodrigue (2-3) took the loss, allowing four runs - three earned - in 1.1 innings, as the sophomore from St. Clair, Mo., walked three and struck out three.

The Huskers cut the MU lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the inning, as John Cole led off with a single, stole second and scored on a two-out RBI single by Josh Hesse. The Huskers would struggle offensively, managing only nine hits, including a pair by Hesse, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and by Matt Hopper, who also went 2-for-4, driving in NU’s second run on a double in the eighth.

In the fifth, the Tigers upped the lead to 5-1, as Nick Weiss walked and later scored on a bases-loaded walk to Kurt Probst and tacked on a final unearned run in the ninth, as Lee Lasowski, who went 4-for-5, singled and later scored on a Fewell RBI single.

Mitch Kiler picked up the win, allowing one run and scattering seven hits to improve to 1-1 on the season.

The Huskers and Tigers conclude the three-game series on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Pinnacle Sports Network.

Source: University of Nebraska Sports Information