May 12, 2006
Final Stats
WACO, Texas - Nick Cassavechia struck out Nick Jaros with runners at second and third to preserve a 6-5 Baylor victory over No. 5 Nebraska in Friday night's Big 12 Conference series opener at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (31-19, 11-11) have won six straight against Nebraska at Baylor Ballpark, where the Huskers (37-10, 16-6) are 1-10 since the start of the Big 12 in 1997.
Baylor stretched a 4-3 lead to 6-3 with a two-run eighth inning, keyed by Tim Jackson's hit-and-run double down the line in left and a Mike Pankratz pinch-hit, two-out RBI single through the right side.
Those two runs proved to be the difference as Nebraska rallied in the top of the ninth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Jake Opitz chopped a two-run single up the middle. After Opitz stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position, Cassavechia struck out Jaros on a 2-2 pitch.
Cassavechia, who entered the game with a runner at second and two outs in the eighth and struck out pinch hitter Nick Sullivan looking, earned the save, his seventh of the season and fifth in Big 12 action. He matched his career high with three strikeouts and has recorded a save in five consecutive appearances.
Ryan LaMotta (6-4) earned the victory, becoming the 18th pitcher in Baylor history to reach 20 career wins. LaMotta worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first and went on to limit Nebraska to three runs on seven hits and four walks with four strikeouts over 7.0 innings.
Nebraska starter Joba Chamberlain (5-4) took the loss, allowing six runs, four earned, on eight hits and two walks with 12 strikeouts over 7.1 innings. Chamberlain joined former Baylor hurlers Steven White (2003 vs. Texas Tech) and Mark McCormick (2005 vs. Missouri) as the only hurlers to reach a dozen strikeouts in a game at Baylor Ballpark.
Baylor scored a pair of runs in each of the first two innings, thanks to a Jackson RBI single and an error in the first and an error and a Kevin Sevigny RBI single in the second. Nebraska got two runs back on a pair of Andrew Brown solo home runs, his second and third round-trippers in the Huskers' last two Big 12 games. The first came in the second and the second came in the fourth.
Nebraska cut the Baylor lead to one in the fifth, but the game would have been tied if not for a near-perfect relay by the Bears. With two outs and runners on the corners, Opitz doubled down the line in left, scoring Buckman from third. Luke Gorsett tried to score from first on the play. However, Seth Fortenberry hit cutoff man Beamer Weems, who fired a strike to catcher Zach Dillon to get Gorsett at the plate.
Jackson and Fortenberry finished with two hits each for the Bears, while Jackson had two RBI. Chase Gerdes scored twice.
Baylor and Nebraska continue the series Saturday at 7 p.m. CDT. It will be dueling southpaws as the Bears send Cory VanAllen (5-4, 4.71) to the mound, opposite Nebraska's Tony Watson (7-0, 3.00). Baylor will honor its six seniors - Dillon, Fortenberry, LaMotta, Pankratz, Kevin Russo and Sevigny - prior to the game, at approximately 6:40 p.m.
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series 25-17-1, including a 16-4-1 advantage in games played in Waco. The Bears are 17-13 against the Huskers since the start of the Big 12, 15-8 in regular-season conference meetings. Baylor is 18-13 against Nebraska under head coach Steve Smith. ... Fortenberry and Gerdes both extended hitting streaks to five games. Jackson (four games) and Dillon (three games) also extended streaks.
