| Stats & coverage |
May 12, 2003
NU rolls in third game, sweeps OSU
Lincoln — Matt Hopper went 3-for-3 with four RBIs, while Phil Shirek pitched seven innings of four-hit ball, as No. 8 Nebraska completed a sweep of Oklahoma State with a 9-1 victory in front of a crowd of 4,771 at Hawks Field Monday afternoon.
Hopper, who went 7-for-9 with six RBIs over the weekend, highlighted a three-run fifth inning with a two-run single and added another two-run single in the eighth, as the Huskers (39-13, 18-6) moved into a tie with Texas for the league lead entering this weekend�s home series against Baylor.
While Hopper powered the Husker offense, Shirek, who was making his first career Big 12 start, kept the Cowboys (30-21, 12-12) at bay all afternoon. The right-hander from Minot, N.D., allowed one run, a seventh-inning homer by John Urick, and scattered four hits to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Joe Simokaitis had three hits and scored twice, while Curtis Ledbetter went 1-for-3 with a pair of sacrifice flies, as NU pounded out 10 hits off five Oklahoma State pitchers.
The Huskers broke the scoreless tie in the third, scoring an unearned run off OSU starter Spencer Grogan (3-3), as Jake Mullinax walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jeff Leise, who went 1-for-2 with three runs scored. Simokaitis hit a fielder�s choice to shortstop Chris Gutierrez, whose throw to third hit Mullinax, putting runners at the corners. After a walk to Hopper, Ledbetter lofted a sacrifice fly to center, giving the Huskers a 1-0 lead.
Nebraska chased the OSU starter in the fifth, loading the bases with no outs on walk to Mullinax, who scored twice, and a pair of bunt singles by Leise and Simokaitis. Hopper than greeted Cowboy reliever Shawn Callahan with a two-run single to left, upping the Husker lead to 3-0. NU would later add another run, as Simokaitis scored on a double play.
Urick�s homer, his 13th of the year, put OSU within 4-1 in the top of the seventh, but NU got the run back in the bottom half of the frame. A pair of walks sandwiched around a Simokaitis single loaded the bases with no outs before Ledbetter picked up his second RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly.
Jeremy Becker pitched two shutout innings of relief, while NU added four insurance runs in the eighth on an RBI single by Simokaitis, a two-run single by Hopper and a bases loaded walk to Joe Gullion.
Nebraska returns to action Tuesday evening when it travels to Rosenblatt Stadium to take on Creighton. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m., as freshman Zach Kroenke (4-2, 2.50 ERA) makes his first start since April 27.
Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.