Lincoln - Freshman outfielder Kevin Belcher (Lake Forest, Ill.) had three hits and drove in three runs, as the Red team evened the Red/White Series at a game apiece with a 9-6 victory Tuesday afternoon at Hawks Field.
Belcher's effort highlighted the Red squad's 11-hit attack, as they scored seven runs in the first four innings, including a four-run fourth, off White starter and loser Brian Duensing (Omaha, Neb.).
Belcher triggered the offensive efforts with a two-run double down the left field line in the second before belting a solo homer in the fourth, as the Reds jumped to a 7-2 lead and held behind an outstanding relief performance from Steve Hale (Yukon, Okla.), who struck out four in 4.2 innings of hitless relief for the win.
Leading 3-2, sophomore Matt Wells (Littleton, Colo.) and Belcher opened the fourth with back-to-back homers off Duensing before Joe Gullion (Overland Park, Kan.) gave the Red squad a five-run lead with an RBI double. Both Wells and Gullion, who had a pair of doubles, finished with a pair of hits in the win.
Duensing allowed seven runs - four earned - on seven hits in 3.2 innings, as both teams struggled defensively, combining for seven errors on the day.
The White team, which won Monday?s opener 4-3, chipped away at the lead, scoring a pair of runs in both the fourth and fifth innings of John Brownell (Omaha, Neb.), who went 4.1 innings but was not involved in the decision.
Darren Hoffart?s (Omaha, Neb.) two-run double in the fourth made it 7-4 before adding two more in the fifth on an RBI double by John Grose (Henderson, Nev.), who went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, and an RBI single by redshirt freshman Chase Odenreider (Omaha, Neb.) cut the lead to 7-6. With runners on first and second, Hale came out of the bullpen and got Chad Steele (Omaha, Neb.) to ground into an inning-ending double play.
The Reds added a pair of runs in the six on a two-run double by Alex Gordon (Lincoln, Neb.) off reliever Zach Kroenke (Omaha, Neb.) for the final margin. Gordon?s double was the only hit allowed by the freshman southpaw, who struck out six in 3.1 innings of scoreless relief in a losing effort.
The series continues Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Box score (NCAA)
University of Nebraska Baseball
Dirtbags at Delta Force
Oct 08, 2002 at Lincoln (Hawks Field)
Dirtbags 9 (1-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Jeff Leise cf............ 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1
Birmingham, J. ss........ 3 3 1 0 2 1 2 5 0
Drew Anderson lf......... 5 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 0
Joe Gullion 2b........... 4 0 2 1 1 1 1 2 1
Curtis Ledbetter 1b...... 5 1 0 1 0 3 11 0 1
Alex Gordon 3b........... 4 0 1 2 1 2 3 2 1
Matt Wells c............. 5 2 2 1 0 1 3 4 2
Kevin Belcher rf......... 3 1 3 3 1 0 4 0 0
Andy Lomax dh............ 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1
John Brownell p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Steve Hale p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 38 9 11 8 5 12 27 14 7
Delta Force 6 (1-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Daniel Bruce cf.......... 3 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 0
Tim Merrill 2b........... 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 1
Brandon Fusilier rf...... 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0
Jamie Rodrigue ph....... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
John Grose c............. 4 1 2 2 0 0 11 2 1
Jesse Boyer lf........... 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1
Chase Odenreider 3b...... 4 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 0
Chad Steele dh........... 3 2 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
Joe Simokaitis ss........ 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0
Darren Hoffart 1b........ 4 0 1 2 0 0 4 0 0
Brian Duensing p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Casey Jorgensen p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Zach Kroenke p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 35 6 8 5 3 5 27 8 6
Score by Innings R H E
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Dirtbags............ 021 402 000 - 9 11 3
Delta Force......... 110 220 000 - 6 8 4
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E - Gordon, A. 3; Merrill, T.; Grose, J.; Odenreider; Hoffart, D.. DP -
D-Bags 1; D-Force 1. LOB - D-Bags 7; D-Force 6. 2B - Gullion, J. 2; Gordon,
A.; Wells, M.; Belcher, K.; Fusilier, B.; Grose, J.; Hoffart, D.. HR -
Wells, M.; Belcher, K.. HBP - Bruce, D.. CS - Merrill, T.; Hoffart, D..
Dirtbags IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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John Brownell....... 4.1 8 6 5 3 1 21 24
Steve Hale.......... 4.2 0 0 0 0 4 14 15
Delta Force IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Brian Duensing...... 3.2 7 7 4 2 4 20 22
Casey Jorgensen..... 2.0 3 2 2 2 2 8 10
Zach Kroenke........ 3.1 1 0 0 1 6 10 11
Win - Hale, S. (1-0). Loss - Duensing, B. (0-1). Save - None.
WP - Brownell, J. 3. HBP - by Hale, S. (Bruce, D.).
