Stats & coverage • Box score • Omaha W-H:     1, 2, 3, 4 • Gr. Island Indep.:     1, 2, 3, 4, 5 • Lincoln J-S:     1, 2, 3, 4 • Baseball America • The State:     1, 2, 3, 4 • Col. Mustard • AP/ESPN • AP photos: 1, 2,     3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,     9, 10, 11, 12 • Play-by-play

Nebraska falls to Clemson, 11-10
 
Omaha -- Clemson junior third baseman Jeff Baker ruined the Nebraska baseball team's opening game at the College World Series Friday night when he ripped an RBI single to left-center to secure an 11-10 victory for the Tigers in front of 24,711 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium. Baker's game-winning single was the 10th hit of the night for the hot-hitting Tigers, who scorched the Huskers for two three-run home runs and drew 12 walks.

Nebraska used seven pitchers in the loss, tying a season high. Freshman right-handed pitcher Phil Shirek (4-2) took the loss for NU, allowing one run on no hits while giving up one walk in one-third of an inning. Husker starter Shane Komine lasted 5.1 innings and allowed six earned runs on six hits. Komine struck out seven batters to move into fifth in NCAA history with 510, but gave up a career-high eight walks. Aaron Marsden relieved Komine in the sixth and lasted 1.1 innings, allowing three runs on one hit. NU used five different pitchers in the final three innings.

Matt Henrie (13-4) was the winning pitcher for the Tigers, holding the Huskers hitless in the ninth. Clemson used five pitchers in the game after the Huskers chased starter Steve Reba, who allowed three runs on two hits while walking five Huskers in 1.1 innings of work. The 13 combined pitchers by both teams set a College World Series record.

With the loss, the Huskers fell to 47-20 and will face South Carolina in an elimination game Sunday at noon in a game televised by ESPN. Nebraska, making its second straight College World Series appearance, is 0-3 in CWS play. Clemson (53-15), the top seed in the tournament, will take on Georgia Tech (52-14) at 4:30 p.m.

Trailing 10-8 after Clemson exploded for four runs in the bottom of the seventh, Nebraska evened the score in the top of the eighth. Jeff Blevins smacked a leadoff double to right-center to bring up Justin Seely, who drew a walk from Clemson righthander B.J. LaMura. After Drew Anderson struck out, Will Bolt, who was hitless in his previous four at bats, laced a two-run triple to center field, plating Blevins and Seely, the tying run. Eymann lined out to first, and Simokaitis walked, putting runners on the corners for Liese. But the senior outfielder flied out to center to end the top half of the inning.

The score was still tied after the Huskers went three up, three down in the top of the ninth. Shirek then walked David Slevin, the Tigers' No. 9 hitter, to leadoff the bottom of the ninth. Nebraska relieved Shirek with lefthander Jeremy Becker, who gave up a sacrifice bunt to Clemson leadoff hitter Zane Green. Becker intentionally walked Khalil Greene, who had gone 3-for-5 with a double and a home run on the night. NU Coach Dave Van Horn then brought in Jeff Blaesing to face Clemson's Jeff Baker, who laced an RBI single to left-center to secure the victory.

Leading 1-0 after the first, the Huskers then opened a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. Clemson starter Steve Reba gave up his third walk of the game to Eymann, and then hit Joe Simokaitis with a pitch. Bruce ripped Resa's first offering to the left field fence for a one-out RBI double, plating Eymann for the 2-0 lead. Clemson lefthander Thomas Boozer entered the game in relief of Reba and got Morris to ground out to first, but Simokaitis scored on the play to increase Nebraska's advantage to 3-0.

NU added another run in the top of the third when Eymann produced his first hit of the postseason, a one-out bloop single to right that plated Anderson to make it 4-0, Nebraska.

The Tigers finally answered in the bottom of the third. Komine walked David Slevin, Clemson's No. 9 hitter, and then gave up a double to Zane Green. With runners on second and third and no outs, Khalil Greene smacked a 3-2 pitch to left-center for a two-run double. Komine struck out Jeff Baker and forced Michael Johnson to ground out, but then loaded the bases with back-to-back walks. However, Komine responded, striking out Kyle Frank to get out of the third-inning jam.

Morris produced two more runs for Nebraska in the top of the fourth when he smashed a 2-0 pitch over right-center for a two-run blast. The homer was Morris' 22nd of the season and scored Bruce, who led off the inning with single to left. Blevins doubled, then scored when Seely followed with a double to center to make it 7-2, Nebraska.

Clemson cut the Huskers' lead to four in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI double by Johnson, and then pulled within a run in the bottom of the sixth. Komine put two runners on with back-to-back walks. Green then took the first pitch he saw and ripped a three-run blast over the center field fence, cutting NU's lead to 7-6. Komine struck out Khalil Greene, but then walked Baker. The Huskers pulled Komine for Marsden, who got the next two batters out to end the sixth.

Clinging to a 7-6 lead in the top of the seventh, Nebraska again turned to Morris, who laced a bases-loaded single up the middle to send Eymann home and increased the Huskers' lead to 8-2.

Clemson exploded for four runs in the bottom of the seventh and took its first lead of the game. Jarrod Schmidt reached on a leadoff single, and then scored on a one-out RBI single up the middle by Slevin. Green was then safe at first on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners with two outs. Greene then smacked his 27th home run of the year, a three-run blast high over the left field fence for the 10-8, Clemson advantage.

Postgame notes
• Nebraska, making its second consecutive College World Series appearance, is 0-3 in the CWS. The Huskers went 0-2 in their first appearance in 2001, losing to Cal State Fullerton and Tulane, before losing to Clemson, 11-10 in 2002. All three of NU�s College World Series games have been decided by one run.
• Right-hander Shane Komine, who came into the CWS with a 10-0 record and 1.87 ERA, opened the Huskers� CWS march for the second straight season in 2002. Komine lost last year�s appearance, 5-4, to the Cal State Fullerton Titans after pitching 8.0 innings allowing seven hits and five runs while striking out nine. That loss was Komine�s last defeat.
• Komine continued his assault on the record books, as he moved into fifth all-time on the NCAA career strikeouts list with six against Clemson. Komine now has 510 career strikeouts, moving past Eddie Bane of Arizona State (505 from 1971 to 1973). In two College World Series games, Komine has 16 strikeouts in 13.1 innings. Last weekend, Komine became one of just six pitchers in NCAA history to record at least 40 career wins and 500 career strikeouts.
• Komine allowed a career-high eight walks against Clemson, along with seven strikeouts. Prior to the game against the Tigers, Komine had 21 strikeouts against no walks (zero) in his three NCAA Tournament appearances in 2002. Komine�s pervious career high was six walks which happened on two occasions during his freshman campaign, against Texas A&M and Oklahoma State in back-to-back contests.
• Komine allowed a three-run homer to Tiger leadoff hitter Zane Green in the sixth inning, pulling Clemson within one run, 7-6. It was the third home run allowed by Komine in CWS play over the past two years (2 vs. Cal State Fullerton).
• Center fielder Jeff Leise opened the game with a single past second base. Leise, who went 1-for-6 on the day, entered the game as the Huskers� top hitter in career NCAA Tournament play, posting a .352 career average (19-of-54).
• Left fielder Daniel Bruce was hit in the top of the first inning, increasing his school record to 27 hit-by-pitches this season. The previous record was 24 by Corey Miller in 1996. Bruce now needs just one hit-by-pitch to tie Texas Tech�s Nick Blankenship for this season�s Big 12 lead and the conference record. Bruce�s total coming into the game was the ninth-highest single-season total in NCAA history. As a team, Nebraska has now been hit 98 times this year, after Justin Seely�s hit-by-pitch in the sixth inning.
• Bruce recorded his 17th double of the season in the second inning, scoring Brandon Eymann from second to give NU a 2-0 lead. Bruce now has three extra-base hits in the NCAA Tournament and has five hits in his last nine official at-bats dating back to the Super Regional Game 3.
• Nebraska scored in the first inning for the 39th time this season in 67 games. Jeff Blevins� sacrifice fly in the first inning was the 45th for the team this season, just two off the NU single-season team record set in 1985.
• First baseman Brandon Eymann�s third-inning RBI single to right field was his first hit of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, as he was 0-for-6 coming into the contest. It was Eymann�s second career NCAA Tournament hit, after collecting an RBI single last season against Northern Iowa in the NCAA Regional at Lincoln.
• Jed Morris� two-run homer in the top of the fourth was his 22nd roundtripper of the year. The 22 homers are a team and conference high this season, and rank third in the NU single-season record book. It was also Morris� second career College World Series home run, as he produced a solo shot against Tulane last season.
• Morris� four RBIs improved his team and Big 12 Conference lead to 88 RBIs this year. Morris now sits in second place on the NU single-season RBI chart, trailing only the 90 RBIs by Mike Duncan in 1985. Morris passed Dan Johnson (2001), Ken Harvey (1999) and Paul Meyers (1985), who each had 86, and Matt Hopper (2001) with 85 in the contest.
• Second baseman Will Bolt recorded his first hit of the day with a two-RBI triple in the eighth inning. It was Bolt�s third triple of the season, and 13th of his career. He is now tied for seventh on the NU triples chart with Jeff Leise.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.