Duensing Leads Huskers to 10-3 Win over OSU

Stillwater, Okla. --- Freshman Brian Duensing threw six innings of three-hit ball, while No. 19 Nebraska accomplished a feat that no previous Husker team had accomplished in 32 years, as the Huskers took the series finale over No. 17 Oklahoma State, 10-3, in front of 2,682 at Reynolds Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Duensing, a left-hander from Omaha, allowed one run and struck out a career-high eight batters in improving to 2-1 on the season, as Nebraska won its first Big 12 road series in four attempts this season. Duensing, who picked up his first conference win, lifted NU to a 26-14 overall record, including 12-9 in league play, as NU moved into third place in the Big 12 standings.

The win was also historic, as NU won its first series in Stillwater dating back to 1970 and for only the third time since OSU, which dropped to 29-11 and 8-6 in the league, joined the conference in 1958.

The Huskers, who did not commit an error all weekend, got a balanced offensive attack, as six players had at least one RBI, including two each by Justin Seely and Matt Hopper, while Will Bolt's had three hits, including a pair of doubles, to pace a 14-hit attack.

The Huskers took a 1-0 lead in the first, using a two-out rally for their first run. Consecutive singles by Jed Morris and Hopper put runners on first and second before Jeff Blevins walked to load the bases. Jimmy Rhodes hit Drew Anderson to plate Morris.

Nebraska chased the Cowboy starter in the second, scoring three times, as Rhodes allowed four runs on five hits in one inning of work in falling to 2-4 on the year. The Huskers loaded the bases on two hits and a walk before Seely delivered an RBI single to left, scoring Bolt, who opened the inning with a double, to end Rhodes' afternoon after 10 batters. Morris then hit a slow roller which OSU reliever Mike Paticucci booted for a run-scoring error before Hopper gave the visitors a 4-0 advantage with a fielder's choice RBI.

OSU sliced the Husker lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the third, as Mike Mitchell drew a leadoff walk before coming home on Jeff Salazar's one-out RBI double to right center. It would be the only run the Cowboys would score off the NU starter.

The Huskers took advantage of three Cowboys errors to extend the margin to 7-1 in the top of the sixth. Bolt opened the inning with his second double of the afternoon and came around to score, as Jeff Leise's liner to right was misplayed by Daylon Monette for a two-base error. Seely then drove in his second run of the game with a seeing-eye single between first and second and advanced to second on Monette's second error of the inning. NU added its final run of the inning, as OSU reliever Shane Hawk misplayed a throw from Mitchell, allowing Seely to score from second.

The hosts had a golden opportunity in the sixth, as the first two runners reached on back-to-back base hits, but the NU left-hander retired the final three hitters, including a strikeout of Matt Oakes to end the inning. Duensing pitched into the seventh before Waylon Byers came in for the final three innings.

NU tacked on another run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to extend the margin to 10-1. In the seventh, Jeff Blevins singled and moved to second on Drew Anderson's sacrifice bunt before John Grose extended his hit streak to 11 games with an RBI single to left. In the eighth, Hopper drove in his second run of the day before Blevins' fielder's choice plated the Huskers final run. OSU finished the scoring with two runs off Byers in the eighth.

Nebraska begins a six-game homestand Tuesday evening, as the Huskers take on Texas-Pan American at 6:35 p.m. at Hawks Field.