Komine, Huskers Run Wild on Rice in 7-0 Super Regional Win

Lincoln, Neb. -- All-American Shane Komine baffled the Rice Owls by tossing a complete-game, three-hit shutout in one of the best outings of his career, as No. 3 Nebraska ran to a 7-0 win over No. 8 Rice in the first game of the three-game NCAA Super Regional series in front of a school-record 5,353 fans at Buck Beltzer Stadium in Lincoln on Friday.

With the win, Nebraska improved to 49-14 on the year and moved within one win of the College World Series. Rice fell to 47-19 overall and must now beat the Huskers in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday to complete its road to Omaha.

Komine, who set the Nebraska single-season and career victory marks by improving to 14-1 on the year and 31-7 in his career, struck out 12 and allowed just three hits in his sixth complete game of the season and 14th of his career. It was Komine?s 14th straight win to break another school record previously held by Troy Brohawn, who had 13 straight wins in 1993.

While Komine was running through the Rice lineup, the Huskers were running wild on Rice starter Jon Skaggs, who fell to 9-4 on the year with the loss. Nebraska stole five bases in the first 1.1 innings and the Huskers? success on the bases allowed NU to race to a 5-0 lead in the third inning, despite managing just two hits.

The Huskers finished the day with a season-high six stolen bases, including two each by Will Bolt and Adam Stern, and single steals by John Cole and Jeff Leise.

Along with their success in stealing bases, the Huskers succeeded in rattling Skaggs, who uncorked three wild pitches, including two that scored runs, and walked a season-high nine hitters through 7.1 innings. For the game, Skaggs allowed seven runs, six earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts.

The only thing that slowed Nebraska?s running game was a 51-minute rain delay in the top of the fourth. After scoring runs in each of the first three innings, the Huskers were held scoreless over the next four innings.

While the Husker offense stalled, Komine just kept rolling, striking out the side in the fourth when play resumed. In fact, Komine retired 13 consecutive Owls before Jeff Blevins? throwing error allowed Hunter Brown to reach first with two outs in the seventh.

Nebraska stole two runs in the first inning with Cole?s one-out RBI single coming as the only hit in the inning. Cole?s single scored Adam Stern all the way from first, after Stern had walked to start the Husker rally. Cole then used heads-up, aggressive base running to advance to second on his single, when Rice left second uncovered on a cutoff relay throw home.

Cole continued to apply pressure by stealing third base, before Dan Johnson drew a walk to put runners at the corners with one out for Matt Hopper, who drove in his 84th RBI of the year with a sacrifice fly to left to score Cole and give NU a 2-0 lead.

In the second inning, Bolt led off with a walk and stole second and third, before Leise struck out, and Stern walked to put runners at the corners. Stern stole second, before Cole drove in Bolt with a ground out to second, as Stern moved to third with two outs. Stern then scored on a wild pitch, as the Huskers put up two runs on the Owls without recording a hit.

Hopper led off the third with a single, before Seely sacrificed him to second. Hopper moved to third on Morris? groundout to second and scored on Skaggs? second wild pitch.

After being shutout over the next four innings, the Huskers played small ball to break through and chase Skaggs with one out in the eighth. Blevins walked and moved to second on Bolt?s bunt single, before both runners moved up on Leise?s sacrifice bunt. After Skaggs was replaced by Matt Cunningham, Stern drove in Blevins with another bunt and was called safe at first when Cunningham failed to step on the bag, to put runners at the corners with one out. Cole followed with his third RBI of the day on a sacrifice fly to right field to score Bolt and give the Huskers a 7-0 lead.

For the game, Nebraska scored seven runs on just eight hits and two Rice errors. Among the Husker hits, two were bunt singles, while the Huskers also used three sacrifice bunts and two sacrifice flies to score runs. Hopper led NU?s offense with a 2-for-4 effort, with a double, one RBI and one run scored. Cole added a single, three RBIs and a run scored, while Bolt contributed a single and two runs scored. Leise and Blevins each added doubles, while Johnson pitched in a single.

       
Attendance Note:
--The crowd of 5,353 was the largest crowd in history at Buck Beltzer Stadium, surpassing the crowd of 4,936 on Saturday, May 26, against Rutgers. All four of Nebraska?s NCAA Tournament games have resulted in the four largest crowds in school history.

Nebraska Quotes (Game One)
Coach Dave Van Horn
On the Rain Delay:
?I didn?t want to see that tarp go out. Most of the time, a rain delay can really hurt if you?re doing well. But it turned out to be a good thing for us. Shane (Komine) got a little rest, and when he came out and got strike three, it kept the momentum on our side of the field.?

On Nebraska?s Running Game:
?Things were really working for us when we had runners on today. We had the right people on, and that was something that we wanted to do going in. We weren?t looking to hit the ball out against (Jon) Skaggs, he?s too good of a pitcher. But when we got runners on second and third with less than two outs, we knew we needed to score.?

Shane Komine
On the Rain Delay and Nebraska?s Performance:
?It was really positive for me. I went to the fieldhouse and warmed up, and came back rested and ready to go. I was a lot stronger from that point on. The defense really came through, and we had good run support, and that always makes things easier on the pitcher.?

Nebraska Notes
--Nebraska, which improved to 49-14 overall, extended its winning streak to eight games, including 4-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
--The crowd of 5,353 at Buck Beltzer Stadium was the largest in school history, surpassing the 4,936 fans vs. Rutgers on May 26.
--Nebraska improved to 13-10 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.
--Shane Komine improved to 16-0 all-time at Buck Beltzer Stadium.
--Komine has won 14 consecutive decisions to break Troy Brohawn?s previous mark of 13 in 1993.
--Komine improved to 14-1 on the year to set NU?s single-season victory mark, breaking Troy Brohawn?s mark of 13 wins in 1993. With a 31-7 career mark, Komine also became the NU career victory leader, eclipsing Jeff Anderson?s 30 wins from 1981 to 1984.
--Komine tied a season-high with 12 strikeouts for his eighth double-figure strikeout performance of the season and             18th of his career. Komine has 149 strikeouts on the year, which is the second-highest single-season total in school history, trailing only his 157 strikeouts in 2000. Komine has 386 career strikeouts.         
--With five stolen bases in the first two innings, NU extended its streak to 33 consecutive stolen bases without being caught stealing. John Cole, who was 12-for-12 during the stretch, extended his personal stolen base streak to 21 by stealing third in the first inning. NU?s streak ended in the fourth inning when Justin Seely was thrown out at second.
--In four NCAA Tournament games, Nebraska has stolen 16 bases and 121 stolen bases on the season.
--Matt Hopper was the only player in the game with more than one hit. Hopper is 9-for-14 in 2001 NCAA Tournament play, including 2-for-4 in the Super Regional.
--With two runs in the first inning, Nebraska has scored at least one run in the first inning in four consecutive games, dating back to the Big 12 Championship game against Texas on May 20.

Rice Quotes (Game One)
Coach Wayne Graham
On the Game and Nebraska Pitcher Shane Komine:
?The story of the game was that they did a good job of hitting the ball. Ever since Shane (Komine) was a freshman, I knew that he was one of the top pitchers in the nation. Today, he moved his fastball all around the plate. He has a very rare touch.?

On Rice Pitcher Jon Skaggs:
?It was a little shaky to begin with, but he did a good job of hanging in there. He did a good job of getting out of some jams, and he did a good job of battling back from a shaky start.?

Jon Skaggs
On Nebraska?s Hitters:
?They did a good job of laying off my breaking pitch.

On the 51-Minute Rain Delay:
?The rain delay didn?t affect me. As for the running game, it didn?t bother me, it helped them score some runs.?

Eric Arnold
On Nebraska Pitcher Shane Komine:
?He spotted his fastball all day and did a good job of keeping us off balance.?

Rice Notes
--With the loss, Rice fell to 47-19 on the season, 0-1 in the 2001 NCAA Super Regional and 4-2 in the 2001 NCAA Tournament.
--The shutout was just Rice?s second shutout loss of the season, joining a 1-0 shutout at Fresno State on May 11.
--Rice?s 12 strikeouts were the most this season.
--Before allowing six stolen bases to Nebraska, Rice had surrendered only 51 stolen bases in 65 games this season.
--The nine walks issued by Jon Skaggs were a season high.
--Austin Davis and Eric Arnold had 10-game hitting streaks come to an end Friday.