Husker Drop Season Opener to Northwestern State

Houston, Texas --The University of Nebraska baseball team dropped a heart-breaker to Northwestern State (La.) in the first game of the Marriott West Loop/Rice Invitational on Friday, 8-6. Nebraska surrendered three earned runs in the top of the ninth inning, as the Demons rallied from a 6-5 deficit to improve to 3-2.

NU Head Coach Dave Van Horn, who compiled a 106-65 record as head coach at Northwestern State from 1995 to 1997, said he was pleased with his team's effort despite its lack of execution.

"I thought we did a good job of fighting back after we got down early," Van Horn said. "I thought we let up offensively after we went ahead and we made a couple of baserunning mistakes that cost us a run. Overall, our middle relievers were outstanding, but our pitchers just didn't get the job done when it was on the line."

The Huskers had to go to their bullpen early after senior Scott Fries allowed five runs, four earned, in the first 2.1 innings, as Nebraska fell behind 5-1. But Nebraska rallied behind freshman Steve Hale as the Huskers scored four runs with two outs in the bottom of the third. Nebraska had five hits in the inning and capitalized on one Demon error to take a 6-5 lead. Hale and sophomore R.D. Spiehs combined to throw 5.1 innings of scoreless baseball before Andy Bent and Dave Schneider combined for a pair of walks in the top of the ninth. Schneider (0-1) was charged with the loss, while Northwestern State's Andy Stout (1-1) picked up his first victory after throwing 137 pitches in the complete game victory .

Offensively, Nebraska got strong performances from sophomore shortstop Will Bolt and junior first baseman Dan Wright. Bolt went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and a double, while Wright went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Senior catcher Justin Cowan scored a pair of runs and also had a hit for NU. Designated hitter Matt Hopper and senior third baseman Brandt Vlieger also chipped in a pair of hits.

As a team, Nebraska had 12 hits from eight batters and forced Northwestern to strand 12 baserunners. Nebraska, which comitted three errors, also managed to turn two double plays. Northwestern State had five errors.

Nebraska will face Rice, 0-4, which was ranked No. 7 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Huskers will wrap up the tournament on Sunday with a Noon matchup against Arkansas State.