Baseball

April 18, 2001

Huskers Win Seventh Straight With 16-6 Victory Over UTSA

Lincoln -- John Cole went 4-for-5 with a homer and two RBI, while Dan Johnson added a pair of homers and four RBI, as the third-ranked Nebraska baseball team improved to 32-8 on the season with a 16-6 victory over Texas-San Antonio in front of a crowd of 986 at Buck Beltzer Stadium Wednesday afternoon.

Cole's second four-hit day in a four-game span led a 22-hit attack in a game that was called after seven innings because of the 10-run rule. The Ottawa, Ontario, native homered as part of an eight-run inning in the third and added an RBI single in the fifth, helping Nebraska to its seventh straight win and 15th win in the last 16 contests dating back to March 28.

The Huskers broke the scoreless tie, scoring three in the second inning off UTSA starter Mike Srp and extended the lead to 11-0 after three frames. In the second with one out and runners on first and third, Jed Morris singled to center, scoring NU's first run before Jeff Blevins gave the Huskers a 3-0 lead with a two-run single off Srp, who allowed three runs on five hits in two innings of work to take the loss.

The Huskers put the game out of reach in the third, scoring eight runs to take a commanding 11-0 lead. With one out, Justin Seely and John Cole hit back-to-back homers off Salomon Alverado. The damage would continue later in the inning as Bolt would add an RBI double and Matt Hopper chased Alverado with a two-run single up the middle. Johnson would greet Kevin Carrejo with a three-run homer, his 15th of the season, to deep center to end the outburst.

In the fourth, the Roadrunners would finally get on the scoreboard, as Mark Schramek began the fourth with a solo homer to left off NU reliever Steve Hale before Brette Parrish's two-out, two-run single cut the NU lead to 11-3.

The Huskers would add a pair in the fifth on Seely's RBI groundout and an run-scoring single by John Cole. In the seventh, UTSA closed to 16-6, but the Huskers ended the game with three runs, including Johnson's second homer of the game before ending the contest on Willie Jones' RBI single.

Hale picked up the win in relief for the Big Red, while eight different players had two or more hits in the season-high offensive output. The two-homer performance was Johnson's fourth of the season and third in the last 11 games.

Nebraska returns to conference play this weekend, when the Huskers travel to Lawrence, Kan., for a three-game series against the Jayhawks. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m., and all three games will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network.

Source: University of Nebraska Sports Information