Huskers Extend Win Streak in Dramatic Fashion

Lincoln, Neb. -- Nebraska swept a doubleheader from Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Monday to extend its winning streak to 15 games, the third-longest streak in school history and the longest ever by a Big 12 school. Freshman Jamie Rodrigue tied a school record with his third shutout of the season in the first game, as Nebraska rolled to an 11-0 victory. And Matt Hopper hit two home runs in the nightcap as the Huskers rallied from 3-0 and 5-4 deficits to win, 8-5. NU's streak broke the Big 12 record of 14 straight wins set twice by Baylor.

The Panthers were poised to snap the Huskers 15-game streak, leading 3-0 through four innings. But in the bottom of the fifth, Justin Cowan hit a two-out RBI single to score Aaron Gozart , giving the Huskers just their third hit of the game, to put NU on the board. Dan Johnson followed Cowan with a single to the right side, leaving runners at first and second for Hopper. Hopper hammered a 3-0 pitch from starter Andy Neary over the left center field fence to give Nebraska its first lead of the game at 4-3.

But UWM used a two-out rally of its own with a one-run double from Darin Haugom to tie the game at 4-4. The Panthers took the lead in the eighth after getting a leadoff single from Eric Goerdt and a two-out RBI single three batters later from Steve Tylke.

The Huskers, who had managed just six hits in the first seven innings, led off the eighth with Gozart's third walk of the game. After Gozart advanced to second on a sacrifice from Adam Shabala, Adam Stern hit a ball over the head of the Haugom in centerfield for a standup triple, scoring Gozart and tying the game at 5-5.

Then Panthers intentionally walked Cowan to face Dan Wright. With one out, Wright hit a ball into right centerfield that was dropped after the right fielder, J.J. Kotarek and Hougom collided. Stern scored on the play and Wright reached third, but Cowan was thrown out at home despite a hard collision with UWM catcher Todd Ludwig. Both benches cleared without incident after Cowan and Ludwig exchanged shoves.

But Hopper delivered the knockout punch delivering his 15th homer of the season, a towering shot to left field to give Nebraska its 8-5 lead.

Junior Andy Bent, who recorded the final out of the eighth, returned for the ninth and earned the win. Bent struck out the allowed a walk between a pair of strikeouts and then got a ground out to end the game after a Husker error.

Hopper, who tied Johnson for the team and Big 12 lead with his 15th home run, finished went 3-for-5 with five RBI.

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Game One: Nebraska had no problems in the first game behind an outstanding effort from Rodrigue, who hadn't earned a win as a starter since March 19, tossed a three-hit shutout as Nebraska cruised to an 11-0 victory.

Rodrigue allowed a leadoff infield single to Haugom to start the game. However, Rodrigue picked Haugom at second and struck out Goerdt looking to end the inning. A native of St. Clair, Mo., Rodrigue retired 12 of the next 13 batters, hitting Brett Huebner in the third before giving up a single to Chad Sadowski in the fifth. After Sadowski's single, Rodrigue retired the next 12 batters, until Haugom managed his second hit in the ninth. Rodrigue became the first Husker pitcher since 1966 to throw three shutouts in a season and is just the third in school history do so. Gary Neibauer (1966) and Stan Bahnsen (1965) are the only other pitchers in school history to toss three complete-game shutouts.

Nebraska on the other hand, scored two runs in the second inning, getting a walk from Brandt Vlieger and three straight singles from Will Bolt, Jeff Leise and Josh Hesse. Nebraska added two more runs in almost the same fashion in the fourth, getting another leadoff walk from Vlieger. Bolt singled and Leise doubled to set up a sacrifice fly from Hesse.

The Huskers scored a run off a hit and a pair of errors in the fifth. Hesse led off the sixth with his first career home run, a line drive over the left field fence. Nebraska then got hits from Shabala and Cowan to chase Sadowski from the game. But Hopper hit an RBI single to score the fourth run of the inning. Nebraska tacked on a final run in the eighth to wrap up the win.

The Huskers will put the nation's second-longest winning streak on the line on Tuesday in the final game of a three-game series.

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