Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Nebraska
No. 10 Nebraska Edges No. 21 Bulldogs
5/12/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 12, 2000
LINCOLN, Neb. - Jamal Strong's RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning lifted No. 10 Nebraska to a 3-2 victory against No. 21 Fresno State on Friday night. The Bulldogs saw their five-game winning streak come to an end and their record dropped to 38-16 for the season. The Huskers won for the 23rd time in their last 25 games and improved to 41-13.
Nebraska scored the game's first run in the second against Fresno State starting pitcher Shawn Hannah (Sr., Clovis, Calif.). The Bulldogs took the lead with a two-run fourth, but Dan Johnson's 20th home run of the season tied the game at two in the fifth. Bulldog reliever Mike Hernandez (Fr., Fresno, Calif.) hit Brandt Vlieger to start the eighth and he was forced out at second on Josh Hesse's fielder's choice two batters later. Adam Gozart followed with a single to put runners on first and second. Strong then hit Hernandez' 1-2 pitch through the right side to put the Huskers ahead for good.
"This was well-played college baseball game," Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett said. "We gave them the two guys on base before the winning run was scored. We had a couple of chances to win the ballgame, but our guys didn't get the job done and they did."
Hernandez (5-1) picked up his first collegiate loss. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out two in 1.2 innings of relief. Hannah allowed a pair of runs on six hits in 6.1 innings of work. He walked six and struck out five.
"Considering we battled uphill most of the game, I thought the pitchers did a good job," Bennett said. "We did a good job of pitching out of a lot of jams tonight."
Nick Garcia (Jr., Lakewood, Calif.) paced the Fresno State offense by going 2-for-4 with a run scored. It was his 21st multi-hit contest of the season. Mike Bowlin (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) was 1-for-4 with an RBI double and he extended his hitting streak to seven games, tying a career high. Anthony Acevedo (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif.) was 1-for-3 with a run scored and his 43rd career double. Acevedo moved into a fifth-place tie with current Bulldog student assistant coach Derek Feramisco (1995-97) and Steve Hosey (1987-89) on the all-time doubles list.
Shane Komine, the nation's strikeout leader, picked up the victory and improved to 10-3 for the season. Komine allowed two runs on seven hits and struck four in eight innings pitched. Thom Ott retired the Bulldogs in order in the ninth to register his fourth save of the season.
"I thought we did a fairly good job against Komine although we were battling from a hole most of the time," Bennett said.
The three-game series continues on Saturday afternoon at Buck Beltzer Field. Right-hander Tom Graham (Sr., Modesto, Calif.) is scheduled to start for the Bulldogs. Graham is 6-5 with 5.15 ERA this season. Nebraska will counter with left-hander Jamie Rodrigue (8-2, 2.54 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for noon (PDT). Click here to listen to the game via the Internet.
