ChiefsPlanet - 2006 College Baseball Thread

WSU scores four in eighth to top Nebraska
BY JEFFREY LUTZ
The Wichita Eagle

Larry Smith/Correspondent
Wichita State pinch-runner Ryan Jones slides safely past Nebraska catcher Mitch Abeita for the go-ahead run in the eighth inning at Eck Stadium.
PHOTO GALLERY: Wichita State-Nebraska
Shocker report
Tyler Weber had hit into hard luck all night. There was the line drive in the second inning hit right to the left fielder. In the fifth, Weber drove a ball to the warning track in center, but it was also caught. When Weber's bases-loaded line drive in the eighth hit off the pitcher and stayed on the infield, the Wichita State catcher figured it was more bad luck.

"I wasn't sure what was going on," Weber said. "I was just praying he didn't have time to get either one of us out."

The ball ricocheted to Nebraska third baseman Craig Corriston, who scooped it to catcher Mitch Abieta. But Abieta wasn't on the plate to make the force out and Ryan Jones slid under the tag.

The run tied the game and paved the way for No. 11 WSU's 5-3 win over the Cornhuskers Thursday night at Eck Stadium -- a victory marred by the potential loss of Derek Schermerhorn to an ankle injury.

Damon Sublett provided the winning runs with a two-run single with two outs in the eighth.

Weber wasn't the only one with bad luck before the eighth. The Shockers had baserunners all night against Nebraska starting pitcher Drew Bowman, but just one run to show for it during Bowman's 5 2/3 innings.

"I thought we were swinging the bats well," WSU coach Gene Stephenson. "Their balls were finding holes and getting in there and we weren't having any luck at all. This team battled back and we didn't give in."

The Shockers lost at least two runs in the first inning, when Schermerhorn reached base on an error by Corriston. He was on his way to scoring easily on Matt Brown's triple when he injured his left ankle while rounding third.

Schermerhorn was unable to get up after falling from the injury and was tagged for the second out. The next batter, Danny Jackson, hit a deep fly ball to right that would have scored Brown from third.

Stephenson, uncertain of the severity of Schermerhorn's injury, didn't sound optimistic. Schermerhorn was on crutches after the game and Stephenson said he would likely be X-rayed tomorrow.

"When it happened, I thought he broke it," Stephenson said. "He heard something snap, he said. It's very unusual that you twist a left ankle running bases like that. That's a tough thing. I'm really concerned."

The Shockers scored on doubles by Conor Gillaspie and Dusty Coleman in the second. They struggled to string hits together after that, but WSU's pitching kept it close by frequently escaping potential game-breaking jams.

Nebraska took the lead in the third on an RBI single by Ryan Wehrle, but stranded runners at second and third. In the fifth, the Huskers scored their final run and left Abeita, who reached scoring position with one out, stranded at third base.

Max Hutston, making his first start and fifth appearance of the year for WSU, allowed two runs in three innings. Relievers Kyle Touchatt, Anthony Capra and Noah Booth combined for six innings of one-run, five-hit ball.

"I thought our pitching was outstanding, I really do," Stephenson said. "Hutson did a good job; he deserved a lot better than what he got. We were snakebit there until the eighth inning."

The pitching set the stage for the late rally during an eighth inning that featured 14 players -- nine WSU batters, two pinch-runners and three Nebraska pitchers.

Sublett, who had only reached base via a fifth-inning walk prior to the eighth, wasn't patient this time.

"I was just going up there looking first-pitch fastball," Sublett said. "I kind of figured he'd want to get ahead with the bases loaded, and I didn't think he'd throw anything off-speed."