Leise, Komine Lift No. 13 Huskers to 7-1 Win

Fresno, Calif. - Jeff Leise had four of Nebraska's season-high 13 hits, while Shane Komine scatted three hits in eight innings of work, as No. 13 Nebraska defeated Fresno State, 7-1, in front of a crowd of 2,730 at Pete Beiden Field Thursday evening.

Leise went 4-for-5 with a homer, his second of the season, three RBIs and two runs scored, as the junior from Omaha Creighton Prep posted his third career four-hit game for NU, which improved to 4-3 on the season with tonight's win.

"I had a feeling that we were break out tonight," Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. "We had our best hitting practice of the season last night and they took it into tonight's game. We were very aggressive on hitters' counts and it was great to see our guys gain confidence on the fly tonight."

Komine struck out eight in a 119-pitch performance en route to his second win of the season, lowering his ERA to 0.82 in the process. The Honolulu, Hawaii, native has allowed seven hits in 22 innings, holding opponents to a .093 batting average. He allowed an unearned run in the first, but settled down after that, giving up only one hit, a double to Ben Fritz in the third, until he was pulled after eight innings for Dustin Timm, who pitched a scoreless ninth.

"Our pitchers were outstanding four nine innings tonight," Van Horn said. "Shane hung in there after we kicked some balls around early. If you take away the ground balls we didn't field well and the times we didn't move the runners, we played an outstanding game tonight."

The Huskers provided Komine, who has not allowed an earned run in his last two starts, with all the runs he would need early, as NU scored three runs in the first two innings off Fresno State starter Bob Runyon. The Bulldog ace allowed seven runs - six earned - on 12 hits to dip to 1-4 on the season.

The Huskers manufactured a run in the top of the first, as Matt Hopper drove in Leise on a fielder's choice.

Leise, who has hit safely in all seven contests, opened the game with a single, advanced to third on Adam Riddle's sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch before Hopper, who went 1-for-5 with a pair of RBIs, knocked in his third run of the season.

Fresno State came back in its half of the first, scoring an unearned run off Komine. With two outs, Ben Fritz reached on an error, one of five committed by NU this evening, before coming around to score on an RBI single to center by Tobey Riday-White, tying the score at 1-1. The run would be Fresno's only run off Komine, while Fritz and Riday-White had two of Fresno State's three hits, as the Bulldogs dropped to 6-9 on the year.

The Huskers quickly regained the lead for good in the second, as the bottom of the lineup triggered a two-run frame. Consecutive one-out doubles by Brandon Eymann and Will Bolt plated the first run before Bolt came home on Leise's RBI single.

The Huskers extended the lead to 4-1 after tallying an unearned run in the fourth. Riddle grounded into a fielder's choice, but second baseman Scott Beshears' throw was off the mark, allowing Joe Simokaitis to score from second on the play. The Huskers would put the game out of reach in the eighth, scoring three times to take a 7-1 lead. The outburst was highlighted by Leise's second homer of the year, an opposite field shot down the line in left, and an RBI double by Hopper, his first extra-base hit of the season.

The Huskers and Fresno State will continue the three-game series Friday evening at 9 p.m. (CST). Left-hander Jamie Rodrigue (1-0, 2.38 ERA) will take the hill for NU and will be opposed by Bulldog right-hander Ben Fritz (2-1, 5.40).