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May 17, 2001

Komine Pitches Huskers to 7-1 Win Over Cowboys

OKLAHOMA CITY -- All-American Shane Komine pitched eight strong innings, allowing just one run on six hits as top-seeded Nebraska led from start to finish to advance in the winner’s bracket with a 7-1 win over fifth-seeded Oklahoma State at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament at Southwestern Bell Ballpark in Oklahoma City on Thursday.

Komine, a 5-10, 175-pounder right-hander from Honolulu, Hawaii, tied a season high by striking out a Big 12 Tournament record 12 Oklahoma State hitters to improve to 12-1 on the season, while helping the No. 3-ranked Huskers improve to 43-14 on the season and 2-0 in the tournament. Mike Miller (2-2) took the loss as the Cowboys dropped to 39-19 overall and slipped into a losers’ bracket elimination game against eighth-seeded Iowa State on Friday at 7 p.m.

Iowa State stayed alive by beating fourth-seeded Baylor, 6-5, earlier Thursday to eliminate the Bears. The Cyclones scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to provide the first walk-off win in Big 12 Tournament history.

The Huskers will play the winner of the Oklahoma State vs. Iowa State matchup in Saturday’s 1 p.m. game, which will be televised live by College Sports Southwest on Time Warner Cable Channel 13 in Lincoln.

Dan Johnson and John Cole provided the offensive punch for the Huskers, combining for six of Nebraska’s 12 hits, while having a hand in Nebraska’s first five runs.

Johnson drove in Cole with the game-winning run in the first inning on a fielders choice, before adding an RBI double to score Cole in the third to give Nebraska a 3-1 lead. Johnson increased NU’s lead to 5-1 by smashing a towering two-out, two-run homer to right field driving in Cole for the third time on the night. Johnson’s Big 12-leading 20th home run knocked in his 72nd and 73rd RBIs of the season. Johnson, who hit 21 home runs in his first season with Nebraska in 2000, became the first Husker in history to hit 20 or more homers in back-to-back seasons and moved into a tie for fourth on Nebraska’s all-time list with 41 career home runs, tying Darin Erstad (1993-95).

Cole finished 4-for-5 on the night with three runs scored, three stolen bases and one RBI to continue his torrid hitting. After having a career-best 20-game hitting streak snapped against Iowa State on Wednesday, Cole’s fourth four-hit performance of the year propelled his team-leading batting average to .413.

Jeff Blevins, who also knocked out two hits, added an RBI single in the eighth. Jeff Leise added a lead-off double to open the game and eventually scored the game’s first run, while Justin Seely and Will Bolt contributed singles for the Huskers.

Matt Hopper provided the game’s final margin by crushing a solo shot off the collection of billboards behind the leftfield bleachers in the top of the ninth inning for his 10th homer of the season and his team-leading 75th RBI.

Hopper (75 RBI) and Johnson (73 RBI) also give the Huskers two players to each drive in 70 or more runs for the second straight season, joining Hopper (71 RBI) and Justin Cowan (74 RBI) in 2000.

Komine, Nebraska’s all-time strikeout leader, increased his career total to 286 strikeouts with his sixth double-figure strikeout performance of the season and 16th of his career. Komine’s 127 strikeouts this year are the second-highest single-season total in school history, trailing only his 159 strikeouts in 2000.

Komine earned his first career victory in the Big 12 Tournament after entering the 2001 tournament with an 0-0 career mark and an 11.50 ERA and one save. Komine’s performance also came after his shortest outing of the season, when he last just two innings and allowed three runs before leaving with back pain in Nebraska’s 16-8 win over Iowa State on May 11.

Komine did not allow a Cowboy runner to reach third base after the second inning. In fact, no Cowboy reached second base between the third and seventh innings and just five advanced into scoring position for the entire contest.

Brandon Penas allowed a lead-off single in the ninth before getting a strikeout, a flyout to center and a game-ending strikeout to give the Husker pitchers 14 strikeouts on the night.

In other Big 12 Tournament action earlier Thursday, sixth-seeded Texas A&M improved to 2-0 in the tournament with an 8-6 victory over second-seeded Texas Tech. Seventh-seeded Oklahoma remained alive with a 9-7 win over third-seeded Texas to eliminate the Longhorns. Texas A&M, which does not play again until the 10 a.m. game on Saturday, will play the winner of Friday’s 4 p.m. elimination game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State

Source: University of Nebraska Sports Information

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