June 1, 2008
Nebraska Game Notes
* With the loss, Nebraska ended its season with a 41-16-1 record,
including a 29-5-1 mark at Hawks Field, which tied for the second-most home wins in school history. The Huskers also dropped to 31-25 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a 14-7 mark at Hawks Field (19-7 overall at home including games played at Buck Beltzer). Nebraska lost seven of its final nine games to end the season.
* NU's 8-0 loss was its second-worst defeat in the seven-year history of
Hawks Field. The worst home loss in Hawks Field history was a 14-3 defeat to Kansas on April 28, 2002, the first year the park opened. Nebraska had suffered three seven-run losses in the history of Hawks field, including a 7-0 defeat to Southwest Missouri State in the 2003 NCAA Lincoln Regional championship game.
* NU was shut out at Hawks Field for just the second-time ever as the only
other occurrence came exactly five years ago today when Bob Zimmermann tossed a five-hit shutout to lead Southwest Missouri State to a 7-0 victory in the NCAA Lincoln Regional championship game on June 1, 2003.
The Huskers went 149 home games between the two shutouts.
* After recording only four hits on Saturday, Nebraska managed a Hawks
Field record-low two hits on Sunday. Through the first five games of the NCAA Lincoln Regional, the Huskers are the only team not to record at least 10 hits in every game.
* Tyler Farst got the Huskers' first hit of the game with a leadoff single
in the top of the seventh inning. The hit was Nebraska's first in 12.1 innings dating back to the third inning of Saturday's loss to UC Irvine.
* Nebraska trailed 6-0 after three innings of play, marking the Huskers'
largest deficit at Hawks Field this season. The largest previous deficit the Huskers had faced was five runs in a 9-4 loss to Arkansas on March 19.
* NU was held to a season-low run total at Hawks Field for the second
straight game on Sunday. The Huskers had scored at least three runs in 36 consecutive games at Hawks Field (dating back to 2007) before being held to two against UC Irvine on Saturday and zero against Oral Roberts on Sunday. On the season, NU was held to two runs or less just seven times.
* NU lost back-to-back home games for the first time this season and for
the first time since losing the first three home games of May in 2007.
* Nebraska trailed at Hawks Field for the eighth straight game (5-3 record
in those contests). Overall, the Huskers trailed at home for the 12th time in their last 13 home games (8-4 record in those contests).
* Bryce Nimmo added his third stolen base of the NCAA Lincoln Regional on
Sunday. Nimmo entered the tournament having gone 39 consecutive games without a stolen base.
* Nebraska surrendered at least 10 hits in 10 of its last 13 games,
including all three games at the NCAA Lincoln Regional.
* Jake Opitz singled in the top of the ninth to finish his career on a
career-best 14-game hitting streak. During the streak, Opitz hit .421
(24-for-57) with five homers, 11 RBIs and 13 walks. He reached base safely in 26 of his final 27 games.
* Mitch Abeita failed to reach base safely for only the second time in 56
games this season.
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Oral Roberts Game Notes
* Oral Roberts improved to 48-13 on the season with the win and 15-8 on
the road. With the win, ORU advanced to an NCAA Regional final for the fourth time in five years under Coach Rob Walton (lone regional championship came in 2006 at the NCAA Fayetteville Regional).
* The shutout was Oral Roberts' sixth of the season and first combined
shutout of the year. ORU's last shutout was thrown by Jerry Sullivan against Southern Utah in the championship game of the Summit League Tournament on May 24.
* Starting pitcher Kelly Minissale was just two outs away from recording
his second straight shutout. Minissale has now thrown 17.1 consecutive scoreless innings and has not allowed a run since surrendering six runs in only one inning of a start at South Dakota State on May 4.
* Minissale improved to 3-3 on the season, with all three wins coming
against NCAA Tournament teams, including a complete-game shutout at Wichita State on May 13 and a complete-game effort against Arkansas on April 15 in which he allowed only two runs.
* The Golden Eagles are now 35-3 this season when scoring first and 18-1
when scoring in the first inning.
* ORU scored at least seven runs for the eighth-straight game. The Golden
Eagles have now scored 23 runs through their first three games of the NCAA Lincoln Regional.
* Oral Roberts recorded 15 hits on Sunday, marking its fifth straight game
with at least 10 hits. The Golden Eagles recorded 14 hits on Saturday and
11 hits on Friday and have now recorded double-digit hits in 11 of their last 12 games.
* After being outscored 8-2 after three innings on Friday, Oral Roberts
has outscored its last two opponents a combined 11-1 after the first three innings.
* Michael Notaro hit his 10th home run of the season on Sunday. Notaro has
nine home runs in his last 19 games after homering just once through the first 26 games of the season. Notaro joins Brian Van Kirk (18 homers) and David Genao (10) as Golden Eagles with double-digit home runs this season.
* Brian Van Kirk finished with one RBI in the game and now has 74 on the
season. He now ranks seventh on the Oral Roberts single-season chart.
* Brendan Duffy reached base in all five of his plate appearances,
finishing 3-for-3 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Duffy added two doubles and scored three runs while finishing one shy of his career best in both hits and runs.
* Duffy was one of five Golden Eagles to record a multi-hit game joining
Ben Petralli (2-for-5), Brian Van Kirk (2-for-5), Michael Notaro (2-for-4) and David Genao (2-for-4).
* Genao finished 2-for-4 on Sunday to extend his hitting streak to a eight
games, matching a season-high. In three games at the NCAA Lincoln Regional, Genao is 8-for-15 with a homer and five RBIs.
