The left-hander from St. Clair, Mo., posted his second shutout in his last three outings, allowing only two Aggies to reach scoring position in posting his sixth career shutout, extending his own school record. Rodrigue, who improved to 3-0 while lowering his season ERA to 1.01 in 35.2 innings, struck out five and walked two in the win.

In four starts since moving into the rotation, Rodrigue, who also cracked NU’s top 10 list with his 18th career win today, has allowed two earned runs for a 0.59 ERA.

“He has been incredible,” Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. “He’s only given up a couple of runs in his last three starts. It has been fun watching him go out there and pitch.”

“I just go out there, and try and do what I can,” Rodrigue said. “I’m not trying to get a shutout every time. I’m just trying to give us a good shot a winning the ballgame. If the shutouts come, then they come, if not then that is okay too.”

With the loss, A&M, which has lost three straight games, drops to 17-8 overall and 5-3 in conference play.

“We are very happy to get a win,” Van Horn said. “Going into the game, we figured it was going to be a low scoring game and, probably, a quick game with two guys who throw strikes. I think Jamie went out and threw a good game. He did a good job of throwing strikes and getting ahead of them. He proved you don’t have to throw 90 mph to get people out. You just have to locate and change speeds.”

The Huskers, who improved to 3-2 in the conference with their 11th straight home win, tallied single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings off Texas A&M starter Khalid Ballouli, who suffered his first loss in four decisions.

NU plated its first run in the fourth, as Jed Morris opened with a single and moved to third on a Jeff Blevins’ double down the line in left before Justin Seely drove in Morris with a grounder to short.

The Huskers extended the lead to 2-0 one inning later as right fielder Drew Anderson, who led NU with two hits, singled home Daniel Bruce, who was hit by a pitch and moved to second on Jeff Leise’s walk.

Bruce, a freshman from Omaha who singled and was hit by a pitch twice in three plate appearances, also provided the Huskers’ final run in the seventh, stealing home on a perfect executed double steal off Texas A&M reliever Zach Dixon. Bruce led off the frame with a single, moved to second on Leise’s sacrifice bunt before Anderson’s second hit of the day put runners on the corners, setting the stage for Bruce’s swipe of home. It was the first steal of home since John Cole stole home at Southern Utah last March 4.

The run support was more than Rodrigue needed, as the crafty southpaw was steller in the win, his seventh straight decision dating back to last March. Texas A&M’s best offensive chance came in the fourth when Matt Alexander, who had two of the Aggies’ six hits, singled, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error, but Rodrigue retired Tim Petru to evade any damage.

The two teams continue the three-game set Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Sophomore left-hander Aaron Marsden (0-0, 2.45 ERA) will make his first career start and will be opposed by Aggie southpaw Kyle Parcus (1-1, 2.70 ERA).

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.