Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Nebraska (Rice Tournament)
Baseball Defeats #8 Nebraska, 9-8
2/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 17, 2002
Houston, Texas - The 15th-ranked Wake Forest baseball team defeated eighth-ranked Nebraska 9-8 on Sunday afternoon at the Crowne Park/Rice Invitational in Houston. The Demon Deacons finished the weekend winning two of three in the four-team tournament that featured three top 15 teams.
Sophomore right-hander Kyle Sleeth improved to 2-0 on the season, pitching six innings and yielding three runs on just five hits. The Huskers scored two runs in the eighth and were threatening to do more damage but Adam Hanson struck out the side.
Senior All-American Dave Bush made his first appearance of the season, pitching the ninth inning. Nebraska mounted a rally in the ninth inning with three runs and the tying run was at second base before Bush got the Huskers' Will Bolt to roll out to shortstop to end the game.
Eight different Deacons had hits and seven different players had at least one RBI. Steve LeFaivre tied a career-high with three hits, including a pair of doubles. Adam Bourassa had two hits.
Wake Forest got out of the gates quickly and chased off Nebraska starter Dustin Timm after just 2.1 innings. The Deacons put up two runs in the first inning and five in the third highlighted by Ryan Hubbard's home run and a two-run double by Houston native Stephen Ghutzman.
The Demon Deacons faced their first former Big Eight opponent since 1955 when Wake Forest defeated Oklahoma State for the national championship.
Wake Forest returns home to Hooks Stadium for its home opener on Wednesday Feb. 20 against Elon. First pitch is 2:30 p.m.
