Baseball

April 29, 2001

Texas A&M Stuns No. 1 Nebraska, 5-4

College Station, Texas - Neal Stephenson’s two-out two-run double in the bottom of the ninth lifted Texas A&M to a 5-4 victory over top-ranked Nebraska Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 4,638 at Olsen Field.

Stephenson, who was 2-for-4 on the day, laced a Thom Ott pitch into left center, scoring Ryan Wardinsky and Ben Himes and capping a three-run ninth off Ott, who fell to 3-2 on the season. With one out, Eric Schindewolf singled and moved to second on a two-out bloop single to right by Wardinsky. Hines, who went 2-for-2 after entering the game in the seventh, cut the Husker lead to 4-3 with an RBI single to left before Stephenson’s hit gave the Aggies the series victory.

“Anytime you are up by two runs in the bottom of the ninth, you have to find a way to win, either at home or on the road,” Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. “Thom pitched well, but they got a flare to drop to keep the inning alive before their big hits. Thom’s the guy we want to have on the mound in that situation, but we couldn’t get the win.”

Ott, who was 3-0 with six saves and a 0.84 ERA in 10 conference appearances, allowed five runs in a 3.1 innings, as A&M overcame deficits of 2-0 and 4-2 to improve to 27-22 overall and 12-12 in the league.

The Huskers had seemingly taken the lead for good, scoring a pair of runs off Chris Russ in the top of the eighth in taking a 4-2 lead. John Cole, who went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored, led off the eighth with a double down the line in left. Russ got Dan Johnson to strike out swinging before Matt Hopper singled to left with NU’s third run. Jeff Blevins walked before A&M Coach Mark Johnson brought Kyle Parcus in to face pinch hitter Justin Seely, who lofted a soft single to load the bases. Jed Morris extended the Husker lead to two runs with sacrifice fly to center, scoring Hopper to give NU a 4-2 advantage. Jeff Leise’s reached on a fielder’ choice to load the bases, but Stern ended the inning with a grounder to third.

Hopper went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI, as NU had just seven hits in the losing effort.

Justin Moore picked up his second win in as many days, pitching a scoreless ninth to improve to 7-3 on the year.

The Huskers, who fall to 35-12 overall and 16-6 in the Big 12, received a strong outing from starter Brian Rodaway, who retired the first 13 Aggies in a row before Jason Gremminger single up the middle broke up Rodaway’ no-hit bid in the fifth. Jeff Freeman then laced a liner to left center, but John Cole made a spectacular diving catch, robbing the Aggies of a potential run, and was able to get up and throw to shortstop Will Bolt, whose relay throw beat Gemminger back to first for an inning-ending double play.

After a one-out walk to Will Bolt, Cole drove in the game’s first run in the top of the sixth with a triple off the base of the wall in center, scoring Bolt from first. Two batters later, Hopper extended the NU lead to 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Cole from third.

The Aggies strung together a rally in the bottom of the sixth, as one-out singles to Carlos Sepulveda and Neal Stephenson to put runners on first and second as Van Horn brought Ott in out of the bullpen. The Husker closer allowed a single to Eddie Lang to load the bases, but got pinch hitter Greg Porter to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end inning.

Rodaway, who lasted just 1.1 innings against Kansas in his last start, pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out two. He faced the minimum through the first five and a third inning and left with a 2-0 lead.

“Brian really pitched well today,” Van Horn said. “He gave us five strong innings of shutout ball and gave us a chance to win.”

In the top of the seventh, Tito Rivera drew a one-out walk and replaced by pinch-runner Drew Anderson before Jones’ infield hit pit Huskers at first and second. NU pulled a double steal, to move both runners into scoring position. Adam Stern then lined a shot back up the middle that knocked down Ponder, but the Aggie hurler regrouped and threw out Stern at first with a laser shot while on his back. Chris Russ came in to face Bolt, striking out the Husker shortstop to end the inning without allowing a run.

“The biggest thing about today was we didn’t get the big hit,” Van Horn said. “If Adam’s ball gets past the pitcher, we score a pair of runs and have a four run lead. I was pleased with how we fought and battled all weekend, especially against a team with great pitching in a hostile environment.

The Aggies came right back in the bottom half of the inning, scoring a pair of Ott to tie the score. Ty Garner led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, but the Huskers were hurt by a pair of defensive miscues, leading to both A&M runs. Ott overthrew first on a pickoff, allowing Garner to move to second before Rusty Meyer’s grounder was booted by NU first baseman Dan Johnson, moving runners to the corners. Pinch hitter Eric Scindewolf singled to left, plating Garner to trim the NU lead to 2-1. A&M loaded the bases on Jeff Freeman’s sacrifice bumt, as Ott elected to throw to third but Meyer beat Ott’s throw. Ryan Wardinsky’s two-out single tied the score at two.

The Huskers will have most of next week off for finals before returning to the diamond next Friday to begin a four-game homestand. The Huskers will square off with Oklahoma State Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1p.m.

Source: University of Nebraska Sports Information