No. 8 NU Opens Big 12 Play with 15-4 Victory over No. 14 Baylor

Waco, Texas - Center fielder Jeff Leise (Omaha, Neb.) went 3-for-5 with a pair of homers, while All-America right-hander Shane Komine (Honolulu, Hawaii) struck out seven in seven innings, as No. 8 Nebraska opened defense of its Big 12 regular-season title with a 15-4 victory over No. 14 Baylor in front of 2,979 at the Baylor Ballpark Friday night.

Leise, who leads the Huskers with four homers, triggered the 19-hit Husker outburst, belting solo homers in the first and six inning, as the Huskers, who have won five straight, improved to 8-3 overall and 1-0 in the Big 12. It was his second career multi-homer game of his career and first since March 17, 2001.

"Jeff has had a tremendous start, Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. "For him to hit a homer in the first jump-started us a bit, especially with Shane on the mound."

"It was about this time last season that we kicked it into gear," Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. "I think this year we are ahead of schedule. We got it going last weekend at Fresno and it has carried over. They feel good about their approach at the plate now."

The win by the Huskers was their fifth straight over the Bears, dating back to the 2000 Big 12 Tournament Championship game, and NU's first win in Waco since a 1-0 win on March 21, 1977, snapping a six-game losing streak.

Drew Anderson (Kearney, Neb.), Jeff Blevins (Sand Spring, Okla.) and Daniel Bruce (Omaha, Neb.) all drove in three runs apiece, as the Huskers broke a 2-2 tie by scoring four in the fourth and tacking on eight more in the sixth. Anderson tied a career high with four hits and scored three times, as NU has scored 38 runs in two games this week.

Komine, who improved to 3-0 with a 1.55 ERA in four starts, allowed three runs and scattered seven hits to pick up his 13th consecutive regular-season Big 12 win.

"I wasn't sharp in the beginning and had to make some adjustments," Komine said. "I settled down after the third inning and started rolling."

NU struck first, scoring twice in the top of the first off BU starter Justin Taylor. Leise led off the contest with a solo homer to right, giving NU a 1-0 lead. Anderson singled and later scored on Blevins' ground out to second.

The Bears tied the score at 2-2 in the second, stringing together three consecutive hits off Komine. With one out, Michael Griffin singled before Chris Durbin doubled to put runners on second and third. Steve Dorneman laid down a bunt single between the pitchers' mound and first to score BU's first run. The hosts then knotted the score, as Durbin scored on Eric Errante's ground out to third.

In the fourth, the Huskers took advantage of a costly Baylor error, turning it into a four-run inning. Ryan Bonesio (Carrollton, Texas) walked, moved into scoring position on Will Bolt's (Conroe, Texas) sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch and scored on a fielder's choice by Anderson to give the visitors a 3-2 advantage. With two outs and runners on first and second, NU got a break as Matt Hopper's grounder went through the hands of third baseman Micheal Griffin for an error, allowing Anderson to score from second. The Huskers would take advantage of the extended inning, as Blevins added an RBI double before Justin Seely (Nacogdoches, Texas) capped the inning with an RBI single to extend the Husker lead to 6-2.

"That error was a big play," Van Horn said. "We had left runners on in both the second and third innings, but after the error, we were able to get some hits and the four-run lead took pressure off us."

The Huskers broke open the contest in the sixth, batting around en route to putting up eight runs against a Bears staff which entered the contest with a team ERA of 3.39. Leise led off the sixth, taking Taylor's 1-2 offering over the center field fence to push the margin to 7-2 before consecutive singles by Anderson and Morris chased the Baylor starter. In all, the Huskers sent 12 men to the plate with the big blows coming on pinch hitter Daniel Bruce's three-run double.

BU, which had won 10 of its last 12 entering the weekend, plated single runs in the seventh and ninth, but fell to 10-6 overall and 2-2 in conference play. Taylor took the loss, allowing nine runs - six earned in five innings to fall to 3-1 on the season.

The two teams continue the weekend series Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m., at the Baylor Ballpark. Junior left-hander Jamie Rodrigue (2-0, 1.33 ERA) will toe the rubber for NU against Bears right-hander Steven White (2-0, 2.81 ERA).