Brandon�s homer, his third of the season, off NU reliever Jeremy Becker erased a 5-2 Husker lead, as the Bulldogs improved to 4-3 on the season with the victory heading into Saturday�s nightcap (scheduled for 6:45 p.m.)

The loss overcame a strong debut by first baseman Matt Hopper, who supplied much of the Husker offense. The fifth-year senior from Golden, Colo., went 3-for-3 with a pair of homers and three RBIs. Hopper, who was making his first appearance since suffering a season-ending hand injury at last season Super Regional against Richmond, recorded his fourth career multi-homer game and first since his freshman season in 2000.

Redshirt freshman Chase Odenreider also drove in a pair of runs in the loss, going 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs.

Trailing 5-2, the Bulldogs loaded the bases on a pair of singles and walk with two outs before Becker came out of the Husker bullpen to face Brandon with two outs. The 5-11, 180-pound outfielder took the left-hander�s 1-2 pitch beyond the 325 sign in right to give the Bulldogs the lead for good.

Adam Kirkendall was the beneficiary of Brandon�s heroics, as the left-hander went the first seven innings to pick up his first win of the season. Kirkendall allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits before Jon Lockwood fired two scoreless innings for the save.

Becker (0-1) took the loss for the Huskers, allowing one run in 0.1 innings of work, as NU starter Aaron Marsden allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, but did not factor in the decision. Marsden left with a 5-2 lead, but the Husker bullpen could not hold a three-run lead.

The Huskers jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Hopper wasted little time getting into the swing of things, crushing an 0-1 fastball homer to dead center for a solo homer in his first at-bat of the year.

Louisiana Tech played small ball in the bottom half of the second, scoring a pair of runs. The Bulldogs loaded the bases on a pair of singles by Fairon Allen and Kyle Humphreys, and Odenreider�s throwing error on Wade Robinson�s sacrifice bunt. The hosts took advantage of the Husker miscue, plating runs on a fielder�s choice by Jeff Walker and a sacrifice bunt by Antonio Sabatini to give LTU a 2-1 lead.

The Huskers regained the lead at 3-2 in the top of the fourth on Odenreider�s two-run double. NU loaded the bases on singles by Hopper and John Grose and a fielding error by Kirkendall before Odenreider, a redshirt freshman from Omaha, laced a shot to the gap in left center for his first career hit.

In the seventh, the Huskers extended the lead to 5-2, as Hopper belted his second homer of the game, a two-out two-run blast to right center. Jeff Leise was hit by a pitch with one out before Hopper brought him home two batters later.

The lead would be short-lived, as the hosts came back with four runs in the bottom of the seventh to hand the Huskers their sixth-straight one-run loss dating back to last season�s Big 12 Tournament title game.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.