Bullpen fails Huskers in 8-1 loss at Missouri

Most of the record-setting crowd of 2,418 at Taylor Stadium came to see a match-up between two of the country's best college pitchers Friday.

And for seven innings, Nebraska's Johnny Dorn against Missouri's Aaron Crow lived up to its billing.

Dorn and Crow traded quick innings through six with the only run coming from Jake Mort's first career home run in the first. But the fifth-ranked Huskers couldn't get to Crow after collecting four hits in the first two innings and its bullpen couldn't hold a lead in an 8-1 loss to the 15th-ranked Tigers (35-17, 14-11 Big 12).

"They had a tough outing," said Nebraska coach Mike Anderson of his bullpen that allowed seven Missouri runs on four hits in the eighth inning. "But they'll respond tomorrow. I won't get down on them at all."

Dorn struck out three and allowed only four hits and one run in 62⁄3 inning, the 11th time this season he has allowed fewer than three runs.

But because of Crow's ability to both mix his pitches and dominate with his mid-90s fastball, Nebraska (39-10-1, 17-7-1 Big 12) couldn't muster more than the four hits it got in the first two innings.

"He's one of the top college pitchers in the country," said Mort, whose home run just cleared the wall in left-center field. "You're not going to expect to come out and score 10 runs off of him."

Dorn entered the bottom of the seventh having retired seven straight and got Jonah Schmidt to fly out to center field to lead off the inning. But Steve Gray and Kyle Mach singled and Dorn hit Greg Folgia to load the bases with two outs, after which he was replaced with Dan Jennings.

Ryan Lollis then tied the game at 1 with an RBI infield single before the inning ended when Mach was caught between third base and home and was tagged out by catcher Mitch Abeita.

"They got a lot of momentum there," Anderson said. "We were so good about just holding tight and they pushed one run across right there."

Against Dorn, who didn't factor into the decision for the seventh time this season, Missouri was 1-for-8 with runners on base. The Tigers didn't have that much trouble against a trio of relievers.

Aaron Senne and Jacob Priday each singled off Jennings to lead off the eighth and Trevor Coleman walked to load the bases with no outs. Mike Nesseth then allowed a sacrifice fly by Schmidt that scored Senne to give Missouri its first lead and a pair of doubles to help extend Missouri's lead to 8-1.

The first came from Gray, who drove in two runs with a double to left field off Nesseth to make it 4-1.

Nesseth walked Andrew Thigpen and hit Folgia to load the bases again, and Zach Herr hit Lollis to make it 5-1 before Senne's bases-clearing double to right produced the final score.

The Nebraska bullpen, which entered with a 3.65 ERA, allowed seven earned runs on four hits and hit or walked four batters in 11⁄3 innings. Jennings fell to 6-2.

"We kind of let it get away from us," Dorn said. "You can't do that on a Friday night when you have a chance to win a championship."

Anderson felt Missouri's big seventh inning could have been limited had his team taken advantage of offensive opportunities early in the game.

After Mort's home run Jake Opitz doubled down the left field line but was stranded when Crow, who broke a school record by improving to 12-0, struck out Abeita and Nick Sullivan. Nebraska then got a pair of singles in the second from Tyler Farst and David Stewart, but Stewart was picked off first and Farst was stranded at third.

The Huskers, whose four hits was their lowest total since tallying three April 11 against Oklahoma State, did not get another hit and had only seven more base runners against what may be the best pitcher they have seen this season.

"We had chances early on to score on him and you've got to take advantage of that," Opitz said. "He'd throw a fastball, he'd throw you a change-up, he's a good pitcher."



Abeita named Bench Award semifinalist

LINCOLN -- Nebraska catcher Mitch Abeita has been named one of 12 semifinalists for the Coleman Company/Johnny Bench Award. This award is presented annually at the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet to the nation's top collegiate catcher, as voted on by the national voting committee which is comprised of sportswriters, sportscasters, Division I coaches and scouts.

Abeita leads the Huskers with a .344 average with eight homers and 41 RBIs, pacing the Huskers in all three triple crown categories. He has reached safely in 46 of 47 games this season and ranks among Big 12 leaders in batting average (16th), walks (35, seventh) and on-base percentage (.475, third).

A final vote among the national selection committee will occur during the College World Series. All three finalists and their coaches will be invited to Wichita for the 11th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 27, 2008 in Wichita. Johnny Bench will present the award to the recipient.