LINCOLN -- Jeff Leise’s two-out, two-RBI single to center drove in Will Bolt and Jed Morris with the go-ahead runs as top-seeded Nebraska came back from a 7-2 deficit after five innings to defeat Rutgers, 14-10, in front of 4,683 fans at Buck Beltzer Stadium in Lincoln on Sunday.

With the win, Nebraska won its second straight NCAA Regional title with its sixth straight regional victory. The Huskers also improved to 48-14 on the season with their seventh consecutive win overall. Rutgers finished the season with a 42-17 record and a 2-2 mark in this season’s regional.

Nebraska will face the winner of the NCAA Regional at Houston, where Rice and Baylor play later Sunday, and if necessary a second championship game on Monday. The site of Nebraska’s three-game Super Regional series has not been determined.

Leise’s game-winning single followed on the heels of a two-RBI double by Morris with the Huskers down to their final strike, trailing 10-8 in the top of the ninth. For the day, Leise went 3-for-5, including a two-run homer, four RBIs and a stolen base to earn NCAA Regional Most Valuable Player honors.

John Cole, who added three hits, including a two-run homer of his own, drove in Leise, before stealing third and scoring on a wild pitch to give Nebraska a four-run lead. Cole joined Leise, Matt Hopper, who reached base six times on Sunday, and pitcher R.D. Spiehs on the all-tournament team.

Waylon Byers picked up the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to improve to 3-0 on the year, while Thom Ott closed the door on the Scarlet Knights by striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth. Ryan Molchan (3-2), who pitched Rutgers into the championship with 4.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up a win against Northern Iowa on Saturday, took the loss after allowing six earned runs on four hits, three walks and one strikeout in 1.1 innings.

In Nebraska’s decisive ninth inning, Hopper led off with a single to right. After Dan Johnson’s fly out to left, Jeff Blevins walked, and both runners advanced on Josh Hesse’s ground out to the pitcher for the second out. Molchan walked Will Bolt to load the bases for Morris, who hit a two-out, one-ball-two-strike pitch down the left field line for a a two-run double to tie the score at 10-10. Leise followed with a two-run single after falling behind in the count 0-2.

In a rough day for the two pitching staffs, five Huskers and four Scarlet Knights combined to allow 24 runs, 23 hits, 19 walks and one hit batter.

Nebraska, which advanced to its second straight NCAA Super Regional with the win, scored runs in each of the last five innings to produce its second consecutive come-from-behind win over Rutgers.

For the second straight game, Nebraska trailed Rutgers 3-1 at the end of one inning. The Huskers took a quick 1-0 lead on Buddy Gallagher and the Scarlet Knights in the top of the first, as Adam Stern and Hopper drew back-to-back walks before executing a double steal to put runners at second and third with one out. Johnson followed with his 84th RBI of the season on a groundout to first to score Stern.

But Rutgers took control of the game with three runs in the bottom of the first and three more in the bottom of the third to take an early 6-1 lead. Brian Ciemniecki led off the first with a walk before being forced out at second on Matt Wolski’s ground out to second. Val Majewski followed with his school-record 24th double of the season, before Rodaway intentionally walked Billy McCarthy to load the bases with one out. RU catcher Mike Popowski came through with a single to left field to drive in two runs and give the Scarlet Knights a 2-1 lead. Rutgers added a third run on Ryan Lillis’ two-out, RBI single to left scored McCarthy, before Rodaway struck out Steve Normane to end the inning.

Normane got revenge against Rodaway in the third when he hit a two-out, three-run home run just over Stern’s glove in right field to give the Scarlet Knights a 6-1 lead after three innings. Normane’s homer was his eighth of the season and Rutgers’ first in four tournament games.

After Cole cut the lead to 6-2 with his fifth inning solo homer off the top of the scoreboard in left-center field, McCarthy chased Rodaway by answering with a solo homer of his own to put the Scarlet Knights’ lead back to five runs at 7-2.

Husker freshman Dustin Timm, making just his fourth appearance of the season, ended the Scarlet Knight rally without further damage, before Hesse cut into the RU lead by hitting a two-out, two-run homer in the sixth. It was Hesse’s first home run of the season and just the third of his career.

Rutgers answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth to increase its lead to 8-4, but the Huskers continued to use the long ball to get back into the game, as Leise chased Gallagher with a two-run homer to right-center field after Tito Rivera singled to lead off the inning. Cole continued the rally with an infield single off reliever Jimmy Wilson, and Stern followed with a sharp single to center to put runners at first and third with nobody out. Hopper’s ground out to third forced Stern at second for the first out, but drove in Cole to make it 8-7, before Johnson grounded into an inning-ending double play.

But Nebraska couldn’t shut down Rutgers, giving the Scarlet Knights two runs on two Blevins errors and two walks and a hit batter by Derrick Conte to force in two runs and give RU a 10-7 lead after seven. Waylon Byers limited the damage by getting Wolski to groud into a double play to end the inning.

Rutgers returned the favor in the top of the eighth, as Wilson walked Blevins, Bolt and Morris to load the bases, before Molchan struck out Leise. But Molchan walked Cole to score Blevins and cut the RU lead to 10-8, setting up the Husker heroics in the ninth inning.

2001 NCAA Regional at Lincoln, Nebraska All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player -- Jeff Leise, Nebraska
Catcher -- Mike Popowski, Rutgers
First Base -- Jason Simon, Northern Iowa
Second Base -- John Cole, Nebraska
Third Base -- Aaron McEachran, Northern Iowa
Shortstop -- Tim Sweeney, Rutgers
Outfield -- Billy McCarthy, Rutgers
Outfield -- Jeff Leise, Nebraska
Outfield -- Val Majewski, Rutgers
Designated Hitter -- Matt Hopper, Nebraska
Pitcher -- Micah Green, Northern Iowa
Pitcher -- R.D. Spiehs, Nebraska

Tournament Note

• With a session six crowd of 4,683, the total attendance at the NCAA Lincoln Regional increased to 18,027, for an average attendance of 3,005 through six games.

Nebraska Quotes
Coach Dave Van Horn
“That game right there, I told the team it showed what we were made of, because we didn’t play very good, we didn’t pitch very good. We kept getting close then make a mistake and slip up. We just showed we have a very resilient team, as we can beat teams with our great speed, with good pitching, or with timely hitting.  And it took a bit of everything in this game today.”

“It seemed like just about every time they were about to put us away, we’d turn a double play. And every time we’d turn a double play, I’d be the first one out of the dugout yelling that we were going to win this game, that we’re not done and we haven’t had a big inning yet. But at the same time in the back of my head I had to keep thinking positive, in case you don’t win the game because I have to have a way to get them to get up for the second game.”

“When they had a four or five run lead, I told Coach Childress that of all the guys in the bullpen who were fresh, that Dusty Timm had the best stuff. I know he doesn’t have a lot of experience, but the last time we threw him against Northern Iowa in that mid-week game, he looked great. And when he came in I told him, “I didn’t bring you in here because I don’t think we can win. I brought you in because you have great stuff, so give us two innings, have fun and give us a chance.” He went out and filled up the zone, he’s young and has a live arm.”

Jeff Leise
“This is really a great feeling. Today, and actually all weekend, we had awesome crowds to play in front of and it was great today.”

John Cole
“Coach really stayed with us today, even when we got down by a lot early. Before the game, he really wanted us to get it cemented in our heads that we wanted to play just one game today, not two. Coach stayed positive throughout the whole time and I don’t think playing two games today really came into our heads at all throughout the game.”

Nebraska Notes

• NCAA Regional Tournament MVP Jeff Leise’s two-run homer in the top of the seventh was his second of the tournament, Nebraska’s third of the game and the Huskers’ seventh in three games. Leise improved his tournament numbers to 7-for-13 with two homers and eight RBIs and five runs scored.

• John Cole’s solo home run in the fifth inning was his second of the tournament and ninth of the season.

• John Cole grounded into a 6-4-3 double play in the third inning, marking the first time this season that Cole had hit into a double play.

• Cole’s three-hit performance was his 30th multiple-hit game and eighth three-hit effort of the season. Cole, who is 7-for-15 in three tournament games, has a team-leading 93 hits, tying Marc Sagmoen for seventh on Nebraska’s single-season hit list. His 215 career hits also moved him ahead of Joe Scherger’s (212, 1977-80) on NU’s all-time hit list.

• Matt Hopper went 2-for-3 and reached base six times against Rutgers on Sunday. Hopper earned a spot on the all-tournament team by going 7-for-10 with a grand slam, six RBIs and six runs scored in three games.

• Josh Hesse’s two-out, two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning was his first of the season, and the first since May 8, 2000 (at Texas). It was just Hesse’s third home run of his career.

• Nebraska freshman right-hander Dustin Timm made just his fourth appearance of the season, relieving Rodaway with nobody out in the fifth. Timm, who allowed one earned run, set career highs with 1.1 innings pitched and two strikeouts. He walked one and threw one wild pitch.

• Nebraska starting pitcher Brian Rodaway’s four walks equalled a career high. Rodaway had only walked two hitters in his last eight starts combined. Rodaway went four innings, allowed seven runs, seven earned runs, with two strikeouts and four walks.

• Nebraska, which improved to 48-14 overall, extended its winning streak to seven games.

• The crowd of 4,683 in Game 6 of the NCAA Regional at Lincoln was the second-largest crowd in Buck Beltzer Stadium history. Each of Nebraska’s three games in the NCAA Tournament drew more than 4,600 fans for the top three crowds in stadium history.

• The Huskers have won six straight NCAA Regional games after going 3-0 at the 2000 NCAA Regional in Minneapolis, Minn., and finishing 3-0 in the 2001 NCAA Regional in Lincoln.

• Nebraska improved to 12-10 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.

Rutgers Quotes
Coach Fred Hill
On the Game:
“Nebraska’s an excellent ball team, no doubt about that. But going into the top of the ninth inning, I didn’t feel satisfied with a two-run lead. We really didn’t have anybody left in the bullpen, and our pitcher was just working on guts.”

“You can’t keep giving a team like Nebraska life, because sooner or later they’ll get you one way or another. They’re as good as any team we’ve faced this season, and that includes Miami, Georgia Tech and Delaware.”

On Rutgers’ Season:
“I’m really proud of the guys this season. With replacing six starters, we had a fairly young team. I’m looking forward to next year.”

Matt Wolski
On Nebraska’s Hitters:
“They make you earn it, every pitch that you throw. They know exactly what they want to hit. They just did a little bit more than we did today.”

Rutgers Notes

• Rutgers finished to 42-17 on the season and fell to 14-26 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.

• Steve Normane’s three-run home run in the third inning was Rutgers’ first homer of the tournament and the Scarlet Knights’ first in six games since homering in the opening game of the Big East Tournament. Normane was just 2-for-13 in the tournament before hitting the home run, which was his eighth of the season.

• Four Scarlet Knights claimed spots on the all-tournament, including right fielder Billy McCarthy, left fielder Val Majewski, shortstop Tim Sweeney and catcher Mike Popowski.

• Billy McCarthy earned a spot on the all-tournament team by hitting .500 (8-for-16) in four games, including a solo home run in the fifth against the Huskers, his seventh of the year. McCarthy hit safely in all four games, scored five runs and produced four RBIs.

• Val Majewski finished 7-for-16 in four tournament games, with four doubles, four RBIs and four runs scored. His first inning double against Nebraska was his 24th of the year to set a Rutgers single-season record.

• Mike Popowski led the Rutgers attack with a 7-for-13 performance in the tournament, including a 2-for-3 effort vs. Nebraska. Popowski produced seven RBIs, including two on Sunday.

• With eight runners left on base on Sunday, Rutgers left 40 runners stranded in four tournament games.

• First Regional Final Since 1990: Rutgers advanced to its first regional final since 1990, when the Scarlet Knights competed in the six-team Northeast Regional in Waterbury, CT. In that regional, Rutgers lost the opener, 3-2, to North Carolina, but rallied back for four-straight wins, including a 4-3 win over Georgia that forced a winner-take-all game. In that game, Georgia defeated Rutgers, 20-9, on its way to the national championship.

• McCarthy Moves Up to Fourth: With his 65 RBIs this season, junior Billy McCarthy has moved up to third on the single-season RBI list, passing Jake Daubert’s 1998 total of 64. His hit total of 91 is also good for fourth on the single-season list, 10 shy of the record set by Darren Fenster last season (101).

• Respect for McCarthy: Billy McCarthy, who was 6-for-8 in yesterday’s doubleheader, received his team-leading fourth intentional walk of the season in the first inning of today’s first game vs. Nebraska. It is the first first-inning intentional pass of the season for McCarthy. The move backfired a bit, as McCarthy moved over to third on a two-run single by Mike Popowski and scored on a two-out single by Ryan Lillis. Ironically, sophomore Val Majewski has been walked intentionally three times this season, each time with McCarthy on deck.

• Ciemniecki Hits Theft Milestone: With a swipe of second base in the bottom of the sixth, Brian Ciemniecki registered his 50th career stolen base, becoming just the fourth RU player to reach that plateau. He is joined by Doug Alongi, Adam Neubart and current Chicago Cub Eric Young.

• Double-Digit Hits: Rutgers, with 10 hits in today’s game, collected 10 or more hits in each game of the regional. RU’s season-long streak for games with 10 more hits is five. RU was the only team to have 10 or more hits in all of its regional games.