Huskers Blast Past Western Illinois, 19-6

Lincoln -- Nebraska, ranked 19th by Baseball America this week, five home runs, including two grand slams to hand Western Illinois a 19-6 loss at Buck Beltzer Stadium, Wednesday, to improve to 28-11 and win its season-best 10th consecutive game, the second longest current streak in Division I.

"I was a little worried we might come out flat," said Head Coach Dave Van Horn, who notched his 200th Division I victory with the win. "Anytime you get a win like yesterday and come back the next day, there's a chance of that. We weren't sharp early and we had some errors, but we turned it on down the stretch."

Van Horn, who coached three seasons at Northwestern State, improved to 200-114 at the Division I ranks with the win and improved his Nebraska career record to 94-49 in three seasons.

Junior first baseman Dan Wright (Dixie, Utah) had his best game as a Husker, hitting back-to-back home runs in the fifth and sixth innings, third and fourth home runs of the season. Freshman Jeff Leise (Omaha, Neb.) made his first career home run a memorable one, coming off the bench to hit the second grand slam of the game in the eighth inning.

Senior Scott Fries (Dannebrog, Neb.) earned the win for the Huskers, throwing three innings of relief, allowing seven hits and three earned runs. However, NU sophomore starter Dave Schneider (Omaha, Neb.), who entered the game throwing just six innings this season, had his best outing of the year, allowing a double and two unearned runs in three innings of work. Junior Brandon Penas (Grand Island, Neb.) and junior Andy Bent (Beatrice, Neb.) combined to hold WIU hitless in the final three innings.

The Huskers jumped on top of the Leathernecks in the first inning on a two-run home run from Dan Johnson, his 12th of the season. Western Illinois tied the game in the second after a one-out double from Dennis Jackson and an outfield error allowed two unearned runs in the inning.

The Huskers answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning after Adam Stern (Ontario, Canada) hit a double with the bases loaded to give Nebraska a 5-2 lead. Senior catcher Justin Cowan (Tumwater, Wash.) followed with a home run to left field to score Stern and give Nebraska a 7-2 advantage.

Western Illinois pulled within three runs at 8-5 after a three-spot in the fourth inning, capped by a two-RBI double from left fielder Jessup French.

But Wright scored the next five Husker runs, hitting a solo homer in the fifth and a grand slam in the sixth to push NU's lead to 13-6. Leise's home run came in the eighth after Will Bolt (Conroe, Texas) and Wright reached on errors and Adam Shabala singled. The Huskers missed a chance to tie the NCAA record for grand slams in a game when freshman Matt Hopper (Morrison, Colo.), stepped to the plate four batters later with the bases loaded. Hopper, who is second on the team with 11 home runs, hit a hard single up the middle to score two runs and round out the Husker scoring.

Eight different Huskers scored in the game as Nebraska totaled 16 hits, marking the fifth straight game NU has had 14 or more hits. Stern, Cowan and Wright all had three hits, with Wright adding a double in the second inning. Wright, who had a career-high five RBI, finished the game with 10 total bases. John Cole last accomplished the feat in the final home game of the season in 1999.

The Huskers will put their 10-game win streak on the line against the defending Big 12 champions, Texas A&M Aggies. Nebraska will play Friday at 6:30 p.m. and a will start a double header Saturday at 2 p.m