Dorn's Gem Tops Texas Tech, 2-1

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Oklahoma City, Okla. ? Freshman Johnny Dorn shut down Texas Tech Friday night, as the fourth-ranked Huskers picked up the 2-1 victory in front of a session attendance of 5,909 at the SBC Bricktown Ballpark.

 

Dorn (10-1) scattered five hits in earning his freshman-record 10th victory for the Huskers. He struck out four and walked only one in his first career complete game. Dorn, whose previous high was eight innings against both Texas Tech and Creighton, needed only 103 pitches to earn his 10th win, equaling the most by any first-year Husker pitcher.

 

Nebraska, which improved to 48-13, will play Missouri Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. with the Huskers needing to down the Tigers twice to advance to Sunday’s title game. The 48 wins ranks fifth on NU’s single season list.

 

Dorn and Texas Tech starter Tanner McElroy locked up in a classic duel that remained scoreless until the sixth. With one out, Joe Simokaitis, who had two of the Huskers’ six hits, roped a single to right. One batter later, Big 12 Player-of-the-Year Alex Gordon ripped Texas Tech starter Tanner McElroy's 2-1 delivery to right center field for an RBI triple, his third of the season. Curtis Ledbetter then laid down a squeeze, plating Gordon to give the Huskers a 2-0 lead.

 

Dorn, who has won his last 10 decisions, retired the first 10 Texas Tech batters he faced in order before Chris Williams delivered a one-out single in the fourth. The next batter, Carey Avants, crushed a ball to right center field but was robbed of a hit on an acrobatic catch by center fielder Bryce Nimmo. The catch effectively ended the Red Raider threat in the inning.

 

The Red Raiders again threatened in the bottom half of the sixth, as Cameron Blair and Williams, who had two of Texas Tech’s five hits, delivered back-to-back two-out singles. After a visit from pitching coach Rob Childress, Dorn ended the threat by striking out Carey Avents, whose game-winning hit on Wednesday sent NU into the loser’s bracket.

 

Nebraska looked to make some noise in the seventh, as Ryan Wehrle led off the inning with a double, and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Trey Adams. After consecutive two-out walks by Jeff Christy and pinch hitter Jake Opitz, the Huskers could not punch the run across, as Simokaitis grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

 

Texas Tech scratched its lone run across in the bottom half of the inning, as Brian Capps hit a one-hit double down the third base line, and scored on Cody Fuller's RBI single to right field to narrow the margin to 2-1. The run snapped Dorn’s streak of 14.2 consecutive shutout innings.

 

McElroy (2-4) took the complete game loss for the Red Raiders, surrendering six hits and two earned runs. The loss eliminated eighth-seeded Texas Tech (34-25) from the tournament, and avenged the top-seeded Huskers first-round loss to the Red Raiders Wednesday.

 

The Huskers will now face Missouri on Saturday in a game scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The game will start 40 minutes after the conclusion of the Texas-Baylor game at 10 a.m. A Nebraska win means the Huskers will face the Tigers again in a game starting at 7 p.m. or 40 minutes after the conclusion of Texas-Baylor game two, should the Longhorns win the first game.

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Box score (NCAA) 2005 Nebraska Baseball #4 Nebraska vs Texas Tech May 27, 2005 at Oklahoma City, Okla. (Bricktown Ballpark)

Nebraska 2 (48-13)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Nimmo, Bryce cf.......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 Opitz, Jake ph.......... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Bruce, Daniel cf........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Simokaitis, Joe ss....... 4 1 2 0 0 1 0 2 3 Gordon, Alex 3b.......... 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 Ledbetter, Curtis 1b..... 3 0 0 1 0 0 11 2 0 Bohanan, Ryan dh......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Wehrle, Ryan 2b.......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 Adams, Trey rf........... 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 1 Gerch, Andy lf........... 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 Christy, Jeff c.......... 2 0 0 0 1 2 4 1 1 Dorn, Johnny p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 Totals................... 30 2 6 2 2 5 27 12 6

Texas Tech 1 (34-25)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Blair, Cameron ss........ 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 2 0 Williams, Chris lf....... 4 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 Avants, Carey 3b......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 Stewart, Trey 1b......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 8 1 1 Capps, Brian rf.......... 4 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 Callender, Joseph 2b..... 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 Thomas, Brent dh......... 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Fuller, Cody cf.......... 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 Fouts, Cooper c.......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 2 McElroy, Tanner p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 Totals................... 32 1 5 1 1 4 27 10 5

Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Nebraska............ 000 002 000 - 2 6 0 Texas Tech.......... 000 000 100 - 1 5 1 -------------------------------------------

E - Ta., McElroy(2). DP - TT 2. LOB - Huskers 6; TT 5. 2B - Wehrle, R.(5); Capps(15). 3B - Gordon, A.(3). HBP - Wehrle, R.. SH - Ledbetter, C(3); Adams, T.(1). SB - Williams(25).

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Dorn, Johnny........ 9.0 5 1 1 1 4 32 33 104

Texas Tech IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- McElroy, Tanner..... 9.0 6 2 2 2 5 30 35 123

Win - Dorn, J. (10-1). Loss - Ta., McElroy (2-4). Save - None. HBP - by Ta., McElroy (Wehrle, R.). Pitches/strikes: Dorn, J. 104/68; Ta., McElroy 123/74. Umpires - HP: Chris Coskey 1B: Andy Eaves 2B: Bill Davis 3B: Jeff Henrichs Start: 7:30p.m. Time: 2:05 Attendance: 5909 Game: NU61