Huskers Rally to Beat New Mexico State 9-6 in Opener

Peoria, Ariz. -- Behind the arm of Scott Fries and eight runs in the final six innings, the Nebraska baseball team won its season opener in come-from-behind fashion beating New Mexico State 9-6 in front of a crowd of 250 at the Peoria Sports Complex on a cold and rainy Friday afternoon.

"Our biggest plus tonight was having Scott Fries on our side," NU Coach Dave Van Horn said. "He cam in and gave us a chance to come back when we were in a tough spot."

Fries pitched the final 5.1 innings allowing only one run and striking out five in his first appearance at Nebraska, as the Huskers (1-0) rallied from a 5-1 deficit. In the top of the fourth inning, Nebraska trailed 5-1 and when Fries came on to replace freshman starter Shane Komine, the game was halted by a 59-minute rain delay in the top half of the inning.

"We were pretty frustrated out there," Van Horn said. "They scored three runs in the early and two in the fourth inning. The win changed from blowing in hard to blowing out and then we had to sit for almost an hour during the rain delay. I give our team a lot of credit for not giving up."

Nebraska cut into a 5-1 deficit in the bottom of the fourth inning. In the inning, Nebraska's bats were sparked by a Danny Kimura single, a Jeff Hedman triple, a Ken Harvey single and an Erik Mumm double. Kimura led off the fourth with a single and Hedman knocked in Kimura with a triple to left. Harvey followed with a single that scored Hedman. Harvey scored on a Mumm double to cut the NMSU lead to 5-4.

In the seventh, with the Huskers trailing 6-4, the top of the order did the damage for the Huskers scoring four runs. With one out, junior Jamal Strong doubled and scored when Junior Adam Shabala beat out a bunt and Aggie pitcher Kevin Clements had an arrant throw to first.

Justin Cowan walked and with runners on first and second, Kimura ripped a single to left scoring Shabala to tie the game at six. Cowan scored the go-ahead run from second on an error by NMSU's Mike Marvel. Harvey hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Kimura to give the Huskers an 8-6 advantage.

Nebraska added an insurance run in the eighth when freshman Will Bolt doubled and scored on a single by Strong.

"It was a pretty big comeback for us," Van Horn said. "Usually it takes you a month to win a game like that, but this win will give our team a lot of confidence. The bottom line is, tonight we got the nervousness out and got some great experience."