With two out and Sillman at second, Matt Hopper, who led NU with a pair of hits, hit a sharp single to left center, and third base coach Mike Anderson waved the runner home, but left fielder Jeff Cook fired a strike to Wilcutt, who was blocking the plate as Sillman was tagged to end the Husker comeback.

Nebraska, which dropped to 3-3 on the season, had rallied from a 6-4 deficit earlier in the inning, as pinch hitter Justin Seely doubled and came around to score on a double by Ryan Bonesio before Hopper’s two-out single almost capped another Husker comeback.

In the first, Southern Miss jumped out to a 3-0 lead off Nebraska starter Phil Shirek, scoring all three runs with two outs. Jarrett Hoffpauir gave the visitors a 1-0 with an RBI single to left before Bobby Gardner doubled to right center, plating two more runs for the Golden Eagles.

The Huskers came back, scoring two runs in the third before tying the game at 3-3. In the third, Jeff Leise led off with a double to the wall in right center and scored on Adam Riddle’s RBI single to left. Riddle later scored on Matt Hopper’s sacrifice fly. The Huskers received their second sacrifice fly RBI of the game in the fifth, as Jed Morris brought home Joe Simokaitis, who walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch amd moved to third on Adam Riddle’s ground out.

After the rocky start, Shirek, who dropped to 0-1 with the loss, settled down, throwing five innings and allowing only two hits after USM’s three-run first. The freshman right-hander from Minot, N.D., struck out seven and allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits before running into trouble in the sixth, as the Golden Eagles scored two runs to take a 5-3 lead.

Brad Willcutt led off with a double and moved to third on an error by Daniel Bruce off a Griff Israel fly ball. The error would prove to be costly, as USM proceed to load the bases before NU reliever Jason Burch uncorked a pair of wild pitches, allowing Willcut and Israel to cross the plate.

USM Charlie Rogers picked up the win, throwing six inning of three-hit ball. The senior walked six and struck out two to move to 2-0 on the year, as USM improved to 6-1 on the campaign.

The Huskers cut the USM lead to 5-4 in the seventh, as pinch hitter Drew Anderson led off with a double, moved to third on a balk and scored on Nick Tilbrook wild pitch.

The Golden Eagles added a controversial run in the top of the ninth to push the margin to 6-4. With one out and the bases loaded, Jeff Cook hit a slow roller to Jeff Blevins, who fired home to get Matt Benson at the plate. Home plate umpire Dwayne Hilton initially ruled Benson was out at the plate, but after USM coach Corky Palmer appealed the call, Hilton reversed his original decision, saying that Morris never had control of the ball on the force. The sudden reversal caused a second argument that led to the ejection of NU Coach Dave Van Horn and provided the Eagles’ margin of victory.

Nebraska returns to Lincoln this evening and will be off on Monday before returning to practice on Tuesday. The Huskers will depart for Fresno, Calif., Wednesday afternoon for a three-game series with the Bulldogs Thursday through Saturday.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.