The top-seeded Huskers, who improved to 43-13 on the season, will face fifth-seeded Baylor, an 11-0 winner over Missouri, Thursday evening at 8 p.m. With tonight�s win, the Huskers improved to 17-2 in the Big 12 Tournament history and 14-1 at the Bricktown Ballpark, including a 10-game winning streak dating back to the 2000 season.

Mullinax�s four hits not only eclipsed his previous career high of three hits, and also tied the tournament record held by Texas� Dustin Majewski set last season and Oklahoma State�s Scott Kirby, who tied the mark earlier today. The Huskers second baseman�s performance highlighted a Husker offense that saw seven players contribute at least two hits, while NU�s 18-hit effort was the most since pounding 18 hits against Kansas on April 4. Joe Simokaitis and Drew Anderson drove in two runs apiece while seven different Huskers had one RBI.

The offensive support was more than enough for starter Aaron Marsden, who went eight innings the win. The left-hander, who lasted just 1.1 innings before leaving with tightness in his forearm in his first start against the Jayhawks on April 4, scattered nine hits and struck out six to improve to 8-2 on the season.

Nebraska jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Alex Gordon�s two-out RBI single. Jeff Leise opened the inning with an infield single and moved to third after a sacrifice by Simokaitis and a ground out by Matt Hopper before Gordon knocked in Leise with a solid single to right.

The Huskers extended their advantage to 4-0 with three runs in the second on RBI doubles by Joe Gullion and Mullinax and an RBI single by Simokaitis, who went 2-for-2 with a pair of sacrifices. Daniel Bruce opened the frame with a leadoff single before Gullion doubled to the wall in left, scoring Bruce from first. Two batters later, Mullinax pushed the lead to 3-0 with a double to left before Simokaitis drove in the Husker second baseman with a two-out run scoring single.

Matt Wells added to the Husker offense in the third, driving in Bruce with a double to right to push the NU lead to 5-0.

The Jayhawks began to chip away at the Husker lead in the middle innings, plating a solo run in the fourth on a solo homer by Casey Spanish, who went 2-for-3 with a pair of homers, and two more in the fifth on consecutive run-scoring singles by Kevin Wheeler and Matt Tribble.

Nebraska pushed the lead back out to five runs in bottom the sixth, chasing Wheeler (6-6), who allowing eight runs on 14 hits to take the loss. NU opened the inning with consecutive singles by Mullinax and Leise before a double steal moved both runners into scoring position. Simokaitis then slapped an RBI single to right to score Mullinax. Hopper then lofted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Leise to give NU a 7-3 cushion before Anderson�s RBI single to center capped the frame.

Spanish�s second homer of the night, a solo shot in the eighth, cut the NU lead to 8-4 before Anderson�s second RBI of the evening accounted for the Huskers� final run.

Notes: Marsden joins former Husker All-American Shane Komine (2000-01) as the only Huskers to throw 100 innings in consecutive seasons�Daniel Bruce has now hit in nine straight games, dating back to May 4�Nebraska has now scored three or more runs in an inning 63 times this season�Nebraska has now scored a run in 323 consecutive games, a continuing Big 12 record and the fifth-longest streak in NCAA history�Gullion was hitless in his last eight at-bats before his RBI double in the second and recorded his first multi-hit game of the season�The four earned runs marked only the fourth time in 14 starts that Marsden allowed more than two runs in an outing.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.