Huskers Close Regular Season With 5-1 Loss to Iowa State

Ames, Iowa - Iowa State capitalized on Will Bolt's sixth-inning error, scoring three unearned runs to break a 1-all tie, as the Cyclones handed top-ranked Nebraska its second straight loss, 5-1, in front of 526 at Cap Timm Field Sunday afternoon.

The Cyclones, 23-26-1 overall and 9-14 in the Big 12, managed just five hits, but Ryan Wickham and Jason McNertney delivered a pair of run scoring hits with two outs to capitalize on the Husker miscue in winning the final regular-season game in the program's 109-year history.

"Iowa State did a great job all weekend and they deserve credit," Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. "They played hard and took advantage of every opportunity we gave them. They played with emotion and got timely hitting the past two days."

The Huskers, who clinched the Big 12 regular-season title on Friday, have lost two in a row and are 41-14 overall and 20-8 entering the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City this week. The Huskers face ISU, taking on the Cyclones at 8 p.m. Wednesday evening at the Bricktown Ballpark.

The Cyclones struck first, scoring an unearned an off Husker starter Derek Conte in the bottom of the first. With one out and runners on second and third in the bottom of the first, Rob Conway grounded back to Conte, who caught ISU's Beau Hampton between third and home. The Husker pitcher threw to Josh Hesse, who apparently applied the tag and threw to second to complete the double play, but third base umpire Curtis Alexander ruled that the Husker third baseman missed the tag, allowing Beau Hampton, who had moved to third on a passed ball, to score on the play.

Nebraska, which had a runner at third with two outs in the second and could not score, had another golden opportunity in the fourth, as Dan Johnson was on second with two outs before John Cole singled to center, extending his hit streak to 20 games. ISU center fielder T.J. Bohn threw home to get Johnson out at the plate for the final out of the inning.

The Huskers knotted the score at one, scoring an unearned run in the fifth off ISU starter Mark Hanrahan. Jed Morris singled and advanced to second on T.J. Bohn's error before moving to third on Jed Morris' grounder. With a 2-2 count, Hesse fouled off six pitches before Hanrahan's next offering went to the screen behind the plate, scoring for the tying run.

It would be the only run allowed by the Cyclone starter, who pitched into the fifth. Hanrahan scattered three hits and struck out three to improve to 4-2 on the season with the win.

Iowa State broke the tie, scoring three runs off NU reliever Bandon Penas, who held the Cyclones off the scoreboard until the sixth, when ISU tallied three unearned runs. With a runner on third and two outs, Brandon Cashman hit a slow roller to the Husker shortstop, who misplayed it, allowing T.J. Bohn to score from third to give ISU a 2-1 lead. Ryan Wickham increased the lead to 3-1 with an RBI double to left center off Penas before Jason McNertney singled off Jeff Blaesing for the Cyclones' final tally of the inning.

Although he took the loss, Penas pitched well in relief, replacing Conte in the first and throwing a season-high 4.2 innings of relief, allowing three hits on three unearned runs to fall to 0-1 on the season.

In the seventh, the Cyclones manufactured their final run, as Hampton led off the frame with a walk, stole second and eventually scored on Rob Conway's RBI squeeze play,

The Huskers managed just seven hits, as no player had more than one hit, and left eight runners on base.

"We left too many runners on base today and we didn't get timely hitting the last two days," Van Horn said, as NU left 31 runners on base over the weekend.

The Huskers and Cyclones will meet for the fourth time this season in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City Wednesday evening at 8p.m.