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Nebraska Tops Baylor, 1-0, For Big 12 Crown

May 29, 2005

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Huskers scored one run in the top of the sixth to take their first Big 12 baseball tournament crown since 2001 against Baylor at the 2005 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Tournament at the SBC Bricktown Ballpark Sunday.

With bases loaded, the Huskers took the lead with a sacrifice fly to right field by Andy Gerch to score Alex Gordon. First baseman Curtis Ledbetter went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to seven games which broke the tourney longest hitting streak record. With a one-run lead, right-handed pitcher Brett Jensen held the Bears at bay in the last 1.1 innings to earn his 12 th save and broke Nebraska's school record for season saves. Today's championship game was the lowest scoring game in Big 12 tournament history.

Nebraska came into the championship game with a 5-1 record in the conference tournament and ended with a 51-13 overall record. BU fell to 39-21 on the season and went 3-1 in the conference tournament. The Huskers entered the tourney as the No. 1 seed with a 19-8 record in Big 12 play. Baylor, co-champion for regular season, also came into the tournament with a Big 12 record of 19-8.

 

Team Notes:

Nebraska

  • Nebraska's 51 wins ties its school record set in 2001.
  • It is the second time NU swept both tourney titles.
  • NU's last 1-0 win came last season against Oklahoma on May 22, in an 11-inning game.
  • Curtis Ledbetter tied the Big 12 tourney record with seven consecutive hits dating back to yesterday's first game versus Missouri.
  • Brian Duensing improved to 7-0 on the year and now has thrown 15 consecutive shutout innings dating back to Wednesday's Big 12 opener against Texas Tech.

Baylor

  • Baylor also finished as tournament runner-up in 1999, 2000 and 2003.
  • Baylor dropped its first game this season against a team ranked in the top 10. The Bears are 7-1 in such games.
  • Sunday was just Baylor's fourth loss in Mark McCormick's 16 starts this season. He has not allowed more than five hits in any start this season, including 14 starts allowing four or fewer hits.
  • Ryan LaMotta finished with 11.1 scoreless innings in this year's tournament.
  • Josh Ford reached base in the 17th consecutive game. He has reached safely in 53 of his last 54 games and in 58 of 60 games this season.
  • Baylor leads the all-time series with Nebraska 24-17-1, including a 16-13 advantage since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997. Nebraska leads the series 5-3 in neutral-site meetings. Baylor is 17-13 against Nebraska under the direction of head coach Steve Smith.
  • Baylor is 11-4 on Sunday; two of the four losses have been to Nebraska.
  • The Bears are 31-10 when the starting pitcher goes at least 5.0 innings.

 

2005 Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference All-Tournament Team
C Jacob Priday, Missouri
1B Curtis Ledbetter, Nebraska
2B Michael Griffin, Baylor
3B Alex Gordon, Nebraska
SS Seth Johnston, Texas
OF Nick Peoples, Texas
OF James Boone, Missouri
OF Andy Gorch, Nebraska
DH Zane Taylor, Missouri
SP Randy Boone, Texas
SP Brian Duesing, Nebraska
RP Ryan LaMotta, Baylor
UT Joe Simokaitis, Nebraska

Outstanding Player - Curtis Ledbetter, Nebraska

2005 Phillips 66 Tournament Attendance: 74,439, 14 games (5,296 average)