Huskers slip past Alabama
A warm March day, a record crowd, extra innings and a game-winning hit. Nebraska fans couldn't have wanted more after the Cornhuskers' 2-1 win over Alabama on Friday.
Brandon Buckman singled to left in the bottom of the 11th to drive in Bryce Nimmo and give Nebraska (9-2) the win.
Buckman's hit was the Huskers' first since the seventh inning.
"I was just in the right place at the right time," Buckman said. "I just was trying to stay on the ball ... just drive it the other way."
Alabama (13-4) had its chances, stranding 11 runners and leaving the bases loaded three times.
The seventh inning -- the Crimson Tide had runners on the corners with no outs and eventually filled the bases -- was particularly costly, Alabama coach Jim Wells said.
"The seventh inning was the key inning for us," Wells said. "We felt like that was our best opportunity."
The Huskers almost ended the game in the ninth when Luke Gorsett hit a blast to left field that turned foul.
Gorsett accounted for the Huskers' first run with a homer to left in the fourth, his sixth of the season.
Nebraska got a strong outing from starter Tony Watson, who gave up five hits and a run in six innings. Watson was starting in place of ace Joba Chamberlain, who sat out to nurse a sore pitching arm.
"I'm glad he viewed himself as a Friday night kind of guy," Nebraska coach Mike Anderson said of Watson. "I think if he would have thought anything different, then we would have been in trouble."
Nebraska closer Brett Jensen (2-0) got the win for Nebraska after working 3 1-3 innings of relief.
Alabama closer David Robertson (1-1) took the loss.
Tide starter Wade LeBlanc (3-0) gave up a run and five hits while striking out six in eight innings.
Alabama's run came off a fourth-inning single by David Ferazza, who was a redshirt for Nebraska in 2002.
Ferazza, who went 2-5, said he was glad to get a couple hits at Haymarket Park.
"It was good to finally do well in this ball park," Ferazza said.
Ferazza's day would have been a little brighter if a strong wind had not kept a sixth-inning ball he hit to left in the park.
"I was telling my buddies I love everything about Nebraska but the wind," Ferazza said.
A crowd of 6,291 -- an opening-day record at Haymarket Park -- and a strong opponent helped create an atmosphere similar to a conference series, Anderson said.
"They're a very good ball club," Anderson said of Alabama. "This is a unique Friday night, (home-opening) game."