Huskers Fall to Oklahoma St., 7-1

Arlington, Texas ? Spencer Grogan tossed a complete-game three-hitter, leading Oklahoma State to a 7-1 victory over Nebraska at the Big 12 Tournament in Arlington, Texas, Friday afternoon at Ameriquest Field.

Grogan, who improved to 12-2 with his seventh complete game of the season, fanned three without a walk and took a shutout into the ninth, as Oklahoma State advances to Saturday’s 1 p.m. matchup against either Nebraska or Texas.

The Cowboys (35-22) broke open a 1-0 game late, scoring four in the eighth and adding two more in the ninth, sending the Huskers (36-22) into an elimination game against No. 1 Texas at 7 p.m.

Grogan, who retired 15 straight hitters over one stretch, allowed one Husker to get into scoring position over the first eight innings, facing one bitter over the minimum into the ninth. The Huskers averted the shutout when Chad Steele singled and eventually scored on a throwing error of the bat of Jesse Boyer.

The loss offset another strong performance by Nebraska starter Zach Kroenke, who allowed one run over the first seven innings. Kroenke, who dropped to 7-5, surrendered two runs on six hits while striking out four over 7.1 innings, as he went over the 100-inning mark for the season.

The Cowboys scratched a run across in the top of the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Jason Jaramillo, who went 4-for-5 on the day. With two outs, Ty Wright singled and moved to second on a walk to Josh Fields before Jaramillo sent Kroenke’s 1-2 pitch to center for his 50th RBI of the year.

The game remained 1-0 until the eighth, until the Cowboys scored four times, including an RBI single by Thomas Incaviglia, who went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. Keanon Simon added a two-run double before Rusty Ryal’s run-scoring single capped the outburst. OSU added a pair of runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Chris Gutierrez and Incaviglia’s RBI single.

Nebraska Notes
*- Nebraska now drops to 19-5 all-time in the Big 12 Tournament.
*- The loss to the Cowboys was the first in five Big 12 Tournament games and was the first postseason loss to the Cowboys since the 1995 Big Eight Tournament.
*- Kroenke is now the 11th pitcher in school history (and sixth coached by Rob Childress) to pitch over 100 innings per season. The last sophomore to throw 100 innings in a season was Aaron Marsden in 2002. His 104 innings is the sixth-highest single-season total in school history.
*- Kroenke has gone five or more innings in 14 of his 15 starts this season and has allowed two runs or less in nine of his last 12 starts dating back to March 12 (and 10th time in 15 starts overall).
*- Kroenke’s five walks are a career-high, as he had walked four batters on two other occasions (most recently against Oklahoma on May 21.
*- Kroenke’s 15 starts this season ties five others (last being Jamie Rodrigue in 2001) for the eighth-highest single-season mark in school history.
*- With the run in the ninth, Nebraska has now scored in all 58 games in 2003 and is the only Big 12 team to score in every game this season.

Box score (NCAA) The Automated ScoreBook Oklahoma State vs Nebraska May 28, 2004 at Arlington, Texas (Ameriquest Field)

Oklahoma State 7 (35-22)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Ryal, Rusty 2b........... 6 0 1 1 0 3 1 4 3 Wright, Ty dh............ 4 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 Fields, Josh 3b.......... 3 1 1 0 2 0 0 4 1 Jaramillo, Jason c....... 5 1 4 1 0 0 3 1 0 Kirby, Scott lf.......... 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 Allen, Rod rf............ 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 Gutierrez, Chris ss...... 1 1 0 1 2 0 2 3 0 Incaviglia, Thomas 1b.... 5 1 3 2 0 1 17 1 2 Simon, Keanon cf......... 4 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 Grogan, Spencer p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 36 7 12 7 6 6 27 14 12

Nebraska 1 (36-22)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Boyer, Jesse lf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 Mullinax, Jake 2b........ 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 3 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 Grose, John c............ 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 0 Shockey, Colin cf........ 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 Bruce, Daniel rf......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 Steele, Chad dh.......... 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kroenke, Zach p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Sillman, Mike p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Becker, Jeremy p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Schoeninger, Tim p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 29 1 3 0 0 3 27 10 2

Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Oklahoma State...... 000 010 042 - 7 12 3 Nebraska............ 000 000 001 - 1 3 2 -------------------------------------------

E - Ryal(10); Gutierrez(8); Grogan(2); Shockey, C.(1); Kroenke, Z.(1). DP - Cowboys 2. LOB - Cowboys 12; Huskers 2. 2B - Ryal(15); Jaramillo(12). HBP - Allen; Simon. SH - Gutierrez(11); Bruce, D.(13). SF - Gutierrez(2). CS - Allen(2).

Oklahoma State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Grogan, Spencer..... 9.0 3 1 0 0 3 29 30

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Kroenke, Zach....... 7.1 6 2 2 5 4 26 32 Sillman, Mike....... 0.1 1 2 2 1 1 2 3 Becker, Jeremy...... 0.1 2 1 1 0 0 3 3 Schoeninger, Tim.... 1.0 3 2 2 0 1 5 8

Win - Grogan (12-2). Loss - Kroenke, Z. (7-5). Save - None. WP - Grogan(3); Kroenke, Z.(11). HBP - by Schoeninger, (Allen); by Schoeninger, (Simon). PB - Grose, J.(5). Inherited runners/scored: Sillman, M. 1/1; Becker, J. 2/2. Umpires - HP: Bob Homolka 1B: Wes Hamilton 2B: Randy Bruns 3B: Curtis Alexander Start: 11a.m. Time: 2:33 Attendance: 8393 Game: NU58