Baseball

April 27, 2001

Komine Leads Huskers to 6-4 Win Over Texas A&M

College Station, Texas - All-America right-hander Shane Komine threw a complete-game 10-hitter, as top-ranked Nebraska won in College Station for the first time in school history, downing Texas A&M, 6-4, in front 5,575 at Olsen Field Friday evening.

Nebraska, which improves to 35-10 overall and 16-4 in the Big 12, used a six-run fourth inning to break open a contest that was not decided until Jeff Freeman's hard shot was snared by NU second baseman Josh Hesse, who threw to first for the game's final out after the Aggies scored three in the ninth.

The win was Nebraska's first in eight attempts over the Aggies (25-22 overall and 10-12 in the Big 12) in College Station, dating back to 1989. NU has now won five in a row over Texas A&M

"I came out and threw a lot of fastball early, and they were on them," Komine said. "They are a good hitting team, and we wanted to keep them off balance. We did a good job of it until the ninth."

Komine, who improved to 10-1 on the season, won his 10th straight decision, striking out nine Aggies en route to his fifth complete game and 13th of his career. With his nine strikeouts, the 5-10, 175-pound junior became the first Husker pitcher top the 100-strikeout mark in consecutive season.

Texas A&M jumped out in the bottom of the first off Komine, as the Aggies strung together three consecutive singles for their first run, an RBI single to left by Jeff Freeman. Eric Reed and Erik Schindewolf led off the frame with back-to-base singles, putting runners at the corners before Freeman's single gave the homestanding Aggies a 1-0 lead. After Reed's RBI single, Komine settled down and retired the next three batters to get out of the inning with no further damage.

"It was big for us to get out of the first allowing only one run," NU coach Dave Van Horn said. "It was not looking good early on after they got a couple of hits in the first, and some hard hit liners early on. Shane did a good job of keeping his composure in a hostile environment."

The Huskers took the lead for good in the top of the fourth, scoring six runs on seven hits to chase the A&M starter Matt Farnum, who had allowed just one hit through the first three innings, who fell to 4-5 on the season with the loss.

Dan Johnson led off with a single to left and moved to third on a double to the wall in center by Justin Seely, putting runners on second and third. Johnson then scored on a wild pitch by the Aggie hurler before John Cole drove in Seely with a single to left, giving NU a 2-1 lead. Jed Morris then singled, putting runners on first and third. With one out, Blevins increased the Husker lead to 3-1 with an RBI single to left, before Bolt chased Farnum with a double down the line in left, scoring Morris with the fourth run of the inning. After Jeff Leise's grounder to second plated another run, Adam Stern capped the inning with an RBI single to left off A&M reliever Kyle Parcus, marking the 46th time this season that the Huskers scored four or more runs in an inning.

"The big inning has been our calling card all season long," Van Horn said. "Baseball is a game of momentum, and it helped us in the fourth. I thought Dan did a good job of getting us started, taking a two-strike pitch the other way for a hit and it built from there. Once we got a couple of hits, it began to snowball."

Only an outstanding relief performance from Parcus, who threw 5.2 innings of scoreless ball, kept the Aggies in the game.

Johnson, Blevins and Morris had two hits apiece in the win, snapping the Huskers' season-long two-game losing streak.

The Aggies, who had just three runners in scoring position after the first inning through the eighth, rallied to cut the Husker lead to 6-4 with one out in the ninth. Greg Porter led off the inning with a single Komine's glove and Rusty Meyer's double down the line in lift put a pair of Aggies in scoring position. David Evans' RBI double off Justin Seely's glove trimmed the lead to 6-2 with runners on second and third. A wild pitch scored Meyer before Evans scored on Ben Himes sacrifice fly, cutting the lead to two before Komine, who threw 139 pitches, retired the final two batters for his 10th win of the year.

The Huskers and Aggies continue the weekend series Saturday evening at 7 p.m., as sophomore Jamie Rodrigue (5-3, 5.62 ERA) will take the hill for the Huskers, while Chris French (2-0, 1.93 ERA) will start for Texas A&M.

Notes:
*- With his strikeout of Neal Stephenson in the bottom of the third, Komine became the first Husker pitcher to record consecutive 100-strikeout seasons. The right-hander from Honolulu, Hawaii, now has a Big 12-leading 107 Ks this season and 345 in his career. His 13th career complete game moved him into seventh on Husker career charts, while he is just 0.1 innings away from tying Jeff Anderson's school record for innings pitched in a career (292.2 from 1981-84). Komine, who has a 27-7 career record, has now thrown 292.1 innings in his career and is 2-1 with a save in four appearances against Texas A&M.

*- Bolt's RBI double in the fourth moved him into sole possession of 10th place on Nebraska's all-time hits list, passing Kurt Eubanks, who had 187 hits from 1981 to 1985. Bolt, one of three Huskers from Texas in tonight's starting lineup, now also needs one double to tie for 10th on that list as well.

*- John Cole extended his hit streak to 10 games with his RBI single in the fourth. He becomes the fourth Husker to hit safely in 10-or-more games this season, joining Adam Stern (19), Jeff Leise (18) and Matt Hopper (11).

Source: University of Nebraska Sports Information