Jennings, Abeita lead Huskers past Arkansas
Dave Van Horn saw something in Haymarket Park on Tuesday afternoon that made him both proud and angry.
Things really haven’t changed much for Nebraska since he last called the place his home.
The Huskers, playing like they had a College World Series berth on the line — as was the case in 2002 when Van Horn was last in their dugout — welcomed him by producing as crisp a performance as they could have hoped for in beating his Arkansas squad 6-1.
While watching NU notch its 14th straight win — the longest streak since Van Horn’s 2000 club won 15 in a row — a sun-soaked crowd of 3,417 saw 22nd-ranked NU grab an early lead on Nick Sullivan’s two-run homer, play spotless defense that included four double plays, and get the first complete game out of left-handed junior Dan Jennings.
“His guys played hard,” Van Horn said of the bunch coached by his former assistant Mike Anderson. “A lot harder than our guys.
“We didn’t play with hardly any emotion today, and that’s what bothered me more than anything.”
Van Horn did have to change starting pitchers about 20 minutes before the contest, as sophomore Mike Bolsinger, who missed a weekend series with Georgia because of the flu, complained of arm soreness. The Razorbacks then went to right-handed freshman Kendall Korbal, who received nothing close to the kind of support Jennings got.
Nebraska’s first hitter, DJ Belfonte, reached on an error by first baseman Aaron Murphree, and later tagged up to score from third on a pop up hit by Jake Opitz.
After the Razorbacks tied the game in the second on Tim Smalling’s RBI single, Nebraska grabbed the lead back in the bottom half on Sullivan’s first homer of the year.
It was bad enough for Arkansas that the 1-2 pitch Sullivan deposited into the bullpen behind right field was supposed to be a pickoff move to first. But to make matters worse, the runner at first, Craig Corriston, was only there because of an error by the shortstop Smalling.
From there, the Huskers put things in the left hand of the 6-foot-3 Jennings, who really did hogtie the Razorbacks.
On the heels of Saturday’s one-inning relief outing at Kansas State, when he gave up two runs on three hits and a pair of walks, Jennings went three innings longer and recorded two more strikeouts (7) than his previous highs.
“When Dan has a great outing, he’s right there in tune just looking at my mitt playing catch,” said catcher Mitch Abeita. “Nothing else affects him.”
Jennings, who worked around five hits and two walks, needed just 107 pitches to go the distance. While improving to 2-0, he lowered his earned-run average to 2.81.
“I told myself before the game, ‘I’m not going to walk anyone today,’ Jennings said. “I did let a few (pitches) get away in the second, but after that I just said ‘No more.’”
Both of Jennings’ walks came in the second.
“The word on him was that he could get a little wild, but he really never did,” Van Horn said. “He didn’t give us a lot of pitches to hit. He was busting guys in, throwing his changeup, throwing the curveball for a strike at the lefthanders.
“He mixed it up. He didn’t just start you with a fastball. He’s a guy that if he keeps pitching like that he’ll be pitching on the weekend.”
Arkansas was still in striking range in the eighth, but that’s when Abeita drove a 1-1 pitch from just-in reliever Justin Wells just over the 395-foot sign in straight center for his fifth homer of the season.
Wells had replaced Omaha Westside graduate Sam Murphy, who had thrown five scoreless innings before giving up a single to Jake Mort and a double to Opitz to begin the eighth.
Later, Abeita was asked if he and his teammates took any special pleasure in giving Van Horn the kind of treatment he received in the first of two games between the clubs (game two is at 1:05 p.m. Wednesday).
“That was before my time,” Abeita said. “We treated it just like any of the other games we’ve been playing.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
Things really haven’t changed much for Nebraska since he last called the place his home.
The Huskers, playing like they had a College World Series berth on the line — as was the case in 2002 when Van Horn was last in their dugout — welcomed him by producing as crisp a performance as they could have hoped for in beating his Arkansas squad 6-1.
While watching NU notch its 14th straight win — the longest streak since Van Horn’s 2000 club won 15 in a row — a sun-soaked crowd of 3,417 saw 22nd-ranked NU grab an early lead on Nick Sullivan’s two-run homer, play spotless defense that included four double plays, and get the first complete game out of left-handed junior Dan Jennings.
“His guys played hard,” Van Horn said of the bunch coached by his former assistant Mike Anderson. “A lot harder than our guys.
“We didn’t play with hardly any emotion today, and that’s what bothered me more than anything.”
Van Horn did have to change starting pitchers about 20 minutes before the contest, as sophomore Mike Bolsinger, who missed a weekend series with Georgia because of the flu, complained of arm soreness. The Razorbacks then went to right-handed freshman Kendall Korbal, who received nothing close to the kind of support Jennings got.
Nebraska’s first hitter, DJ Belfonte, reached on an error by first baseman Aaron Murphree, and later tagged up to score from third on a pop up hit by Jake Opitz.
After the Razorbacks tied the game in the second on Tim Smalling’s RBI single, Nebraska grabbed the lead back in the bottom half on Sullivan’s first homer of the year.
It was bad enough for Arkansas that the 1-2 pitch Sullivan deposited into the bullpen behind right field was supposed to be a pickoff move to first. But to make matters worse, the runner at first, Craig Corriston, was only there because of an error by the shortstop Smalling.
From there, the Huskers put things in the left hand of the 6-foot-3 Jennings, who really did hogtie the Razorbacks.
On the heels of Saturday’s one-inning relief outing at Kansas State, when he gave up two runs on three hits and a pair of walks, Jennings went three innings longer and recorded two more strikeouts (7) than his previous highs.
“When Dan has a great outing, he’s right there in tune just looking at my mitt playing catch,” said catcher Mitch Abeita. “Nothing else affects him.”
Jennings, who worked around five hits and two walks, needed just 107 pitches to go the distance. While improving to 2-0, he lowered his earned-run average to 2.81.
“I told myself before the game, ‘I’m not going to walk anyone today,’ Jennings said. “I did let a few (pitches) get away in the second, but after that I just said ‘No more.’”
Both of Jennings’ walks came in the second.
“The word on him was that he could get a little wild, but he really never did,” Van Horn said. “He didn’t give us a lot of pitches to hit. He was busting guys in, throwing his changeup, throwing the curveball for a strike at the lefthanders.
“He mixed it up. He didn’t just start you with a fastball. He’s a guy that if he keeps pitching like that he’ll be pitching on the weekend.”
Arkansas was still in striking range in the eighth, but that’s when Abeita drove a 1-1 pitch from just-in reliever Justin Wells just over the 395-foot sign in straight center for his fifth homer of the season.
Wells had replaced Omaha Westside graduate Sam Murphy, who had thrown five scoreless innings before giving up a single to Jake Mort and a double to Opitz to begin the eighth.
Later, Abeita was asked if he and his teammates took any special pleasure in giving Van Horn the kind of treatment he received in the first of two games between the clubs (game two is at 1:05 p.m. Wednesday).
“That was before my time,” Abeita said. “We treated it just like any of the other games we’ve been playing.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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