Huskers rally to sweep Aggies

Texas A&M may very well go on to win the Big 12 Conference regular-season baseball title this season. However, the Nebraska Cornhuskers left Haymarket Park Sunday night feeling satisfied that at least it didn't happen on their watch.

No. 5-ranked Nebraska produced the second and third largest comebacks in Mike Anderson's six years as head coach, sweeping the No. 6 Aggies 9-8 and 13-10 to win the key Big 12 series. Texas A&M, which could've clinched the regular-season crown with a victory in either game of the doubleheader, instead headed back to College Station with a 1 1/2-game lead in the league standings with three to play.

Even factoring in Nebraska's 6-3 loss in 16 innings in Friday night's opening game, Anderson described the series as "pretty remarkable."

"What will stay with me forever is how well these kids fought, even in the 16-inning game," Anderson. "I'm extremely proud of the kids. This is a series that, in my mind, you could literally look up and say, ’Man, they had a chance to sweep and so did we.' That's how tight it was."

In game one, Nebraska erased an 8-4 deficit by scoring five runs in the bottom of the ninth. On an emotional day where senior day and parents' day were combined due to Saturday's rainout, senior Mitch Abeita delivered the game-winning hit, singling up the middle on a 1-2 pitch to score Bryce Nimmo from second and end A&M's conference-record Big 12 winning streak at 16 games.

"This is something I'll probably remember for a long, long time -- hopefully the rest of my life," Abeita said. "It seemed like baseball skills didn't matter today. It was all energy and willpower.

"We just had a lot of fight. It was just great heart all around."

Anderson agreed.

"Those are things you just dream of," Anderson said. "I get emotional just even thinking about how our kids just fought back from that.

"I understand that (A&M) struggled a little bit, but our kids have to put the ball in play and do some things. Our kids believed that it could happen. That's just incredible. You don't have that very often, especially on a weekend like this."

In the nightcap, Texas A&M (42-10, 19-5 Big 12) led 9-4 through 5 1/2 innings before Nebraska (38-9-1, 17-6-1) scored three runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings as the Aggies' bullpen ran out of gas. A&M aided the Huskers with six second-game errors.

A&M was hampered by having to use star middle reliever Kyle Thebeau for 4 1/3 innings in game one and having closer Travis Starling unavailable after pitching eight innings Friday night to get the win. However, Aggies coach Rob Childress still credited the Huskers.

"They came and took game one in the ninth, scoring five runs," said Childress, who served as Nebraska's pitching coach from 1998-2005. "I'm still proud of the way responded in game two. Offensively, we did a great job, but we still didn't execute the routine -- I'm talking about defensively and throwing strikes."

The Aggies entered the series having committed 18 errors in their first 21 games. Against Nebraska, they had 12 errors in three games, including two crucial miscues in the ninth inning of Sunday's opener.

"Those are things we've got to learn from," Childress said. "This is a great weekend for us to pick ourselves up and learn from our mistakes, but by the same token you've got to give Nebraska credit.

"Nebraska has got a very good team -- extremely competitive and as good a pitching staff as we've seen all year, hands down."

That factor came into play late in the doubleheader. While A&M relievers Scott Migl, Kirkland Rivers and Shane Minks allowed a combined seven runs over the final 2 2/3 innings, Nebraska's Mike Nesseth (4-1) closed the game with 2 2/3 shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out five.

"It did boil down to just a few things there at the end and Michael was great," Anderson said. "In that 16-inning game, we used a lot of pitching and they used a lot of pitching.

"Two good teams on a Sunday -- Sunday's a fun day, run day --  so we all understand that. We just happened to score a little bit more than them."

While Abeita had the biggest hit of the twinbill, Nebraska designated David Stewart enjoyed his best day as a Husker. The freshman designated hitter from St. Louis was 4-for-9 with seven RBIs, including a 2-for-4 effort with a homer, double and career-high five RBIs in game one, prompting many in the crowd of 7,653 to yell, "Stewwwww," every time he came to the plate.

"David Stewart was spectacular today," Anderson said. "I'm not sure if somebody got a nickname so fast and it was picked up by the whole crowd. That's got to be a record right there."

In the game one, Nick Sullivan started Nebraska's ninth with a single and then runners moved to first and third when Texas A&M second baseman Blake Stouffer committed an error on a potential double-play ball. DJ Belfonte then walked to load the bases for the Huskers with no outs.

Nebraska got its first ninth-inning run on an error by Aggies' first baseman Luke Anders on a bouncer hit by Stewart, cutting its deficit to 8-5. Pinch hitter Cody Neer then delivered a two-run single to left-center field, slicing A&M's advantage to 8-7, leaving runners at the corners with still no outs.

Nimmo reached on a fielder's choice to plate Neer from third, tying the score at 8-8. After Jake Mort struck out, Jake Opitz walked to put runners at first and second for Abeita. Nebraska's senior catcher then delivered his second walk-off hit of the season.

"I kind of feel lucky about that," Abeita said. "There were so many guys in front of me that did jobs getting on and guys having tremendous at-bats. There were just a lot of guys coming through and doing their jobs."

Nebraska took a 4-2 lead into the top of the fifth, only to watch A&M score four times. All of the runs came with two out as Jose Duran had a two-run single and Anders ripped a two-run double off Huskers' starting pitcher Thad Weber.

Two walks a Brodie Greene single and an error by Nebraska shortstop Ben Kline allowed A&M to score twice in the sixth, extending its lead to 8-4. At that point, Anderson admitted that his hard-nosed team appeared "a little discouraged."

"There's a big difference in my mind from disappointment to discouragement," Anderson said. "I thought our dugout was a little bit down, but I guess I was wrong because we at least came back and they weren't that way."

Dave Jennings (6-1) came on in relief of Weber and shut A&M out over the final 3 1/3 innings to earn the win. Anderson said Jennings' effort gave Nebraska a chance to rally.

After retiring the Aggies in the top of the ninth, Jennings said he and pitching coach Eric Newman started making plans for the 10th inning -- even though NU trailed by four runs.

"When I saw coach Newman and we looked at each other and I said, ’When we score four more, I'm going back out right?" Jennings said. "He goes, ’Hell yeah, you're going back out.' I was trying to be ready. You've got to believe. You've got to believe it could happen."

The Huskers apparently never quit believing. In game two, they fought back from a 9-4 deficit to tie the score at 10-10 by plating three runs in the seventh without the benefit of a hit. Sullivan scored on Stewart's groundout, Travis Farst scored on a wild pitch and Belfonte came home on a passed ball.

Nebraska scored the go-ahead run in the eighth when Farst reached on an error and later scored when Belfonte single to center field was booted by A&M's Kyle Colligan. RBI singles by Stewart and Bryce Nimmo, who was 4-for-6 in game two, gave the Huskers a three-run cushion heading to the ninth.

"To win a doubleheader in the Big 12 is tremendously hard, let alone to do it this way against a great opponent," Anderson said. "It was a real special day."


First Game
Texas A&M    200    042    000—8    11    1
Nebraska    020    200    005—9    9    1
W--Jennings (6-1). L--Thebeau (5-3). 2B--Texas A&M, Stouffer (8), Carter (12), Anders (10), Gonzalez (5); Nebraska, Opitz (11), Belfonte (15), Stewart (3). HR--Nebraska, Stewart (2).

Second Game
Texas A&M (42-10, 19-5)    103    104     100—10    11    6
Nebraska (38-9-1)                210    103      33x—13    12    2
W--Nesseth (4-1). L--Minks (4-1). 2B--Texas A&M, Colligan (14), Stouffer (9), Brown (11); Nebraska, Opitz (12), Stewart (4). 3B- -Nebraska, Nimmo (2). HR--Texas A&M, Duran (5).