Townsend struck out 10 and held Nebraska to four hits in eight innings, allowing a pair of unearned runs to improve to 2-0 on the season.

"He did a good job today," Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson said. "With our offensive attack and our style of play, we forced him to throw a lot of off-speed pitches for strikes, and he did that today."

Nebraska had several chances in the later innings, putting runners in scoring position in each of the final three innings, but could not get closer against Townsend and reliever Josh Baker, who pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save.

"I think we were a little tight coming out, with the first big game of the year, but I was pleased with how we played from the fourth inning on," Anderson said. "We did a good job of keeping pressure on and giving ourselves chances to win."

The Huskers stranded five runners from the seventh inning on against the Owls, but Townsend got out of jams in the both the seventh and eighth before the Huskers put together one last rally of Baker in the ninth. Chad Steele opened with a single before Colin Shockey�s one-out single to center put runners on first and second. A fielder�s choice moved runners to the corners, but Baker got Jesse Boyer to ground out to end the game.

Boyer led the Huskers� offensive output, going 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs, as no other starter had more than one hit in the loss.

The Huskers also got a strong effort from Quinton Robertson, who pitched a gem in defeat. Robertson went eight innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits, but was hurt by a pair of errors that led to three Owl runs. The effort � the second longest outing of Robertson�s career � earned the Husker starter praise from Coach Anderson.

"I think Quinton out-pitched him today, which is real good news for us in the future," Anderson said.

"As a team, it was disappointing because when two teams like this play together, it comes down to which one made the fewer errors and Rice did that today," Robertson said. "If anything comes from a loss, it makes us put more emphasis on the small things. We gave them a run for it today, and it may have taken a loss to prove it, but we know we can play with anyone."

Rice took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, taking advantage of a Husker error to plate a run off Robertson on an RBI groundout by Paul Janish. With one out, Matt Moake reached on an error by Joe Simokaitis before Craig Kolkhorst�s double, one of two hits for the Owl leadoff hitter, moved runner to second and third, setting up Rice�s first run.

The Huskers got the equalizer on Townsend in the bottom of the frame, as Boyer brought home Simokaitis with an RBI grounder to second. Simokaitis opened the frame with a double down the right field line and moved to third on a passed ball before Boyer�s chopper behind the mound pushed home NU�s first run.

Boyer gave the Huskers their first lead of the day in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out RBI single to score Daniel Bruce, who reached on an error and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch.

Robertson ran into his only trouble of the day in the sixth, as the Owls took advantage of a costly error to score two runs. Austin Davis walked and moved to third on Matt Ueckert�s single, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Adam Rodgers then lofted a fly ball to left, but Boyer misplayed the ball, allowing Davis to tie the score at three. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position Adam Morris plated the Owls second run of the frame with a ground out to second, putting Rice up 3-2. Austin Davis� second homer of the year in the eighth gave the Owls� a much-needed insurance run, as Townsend and Bake held Nebraska off the scoreboard after the fifth.

The Huskers conclude play at the Crowne Plaza/Rice Invitational Sunday afternoon at Noon, when NU faces North Carolina.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.