Marsden, a junior college transfer who had pitched just 7.1 innings in his first four appearances this season, struck out nine and allowed one hit, a second-inning single to Rusty Meyer, before retiring 20 of the next 21 hitters he faced. The Grand Forks, N.D., native improved to 1-0 with the win, as the Huskers blanked Texas A&M for the second straight day. The consecutive shutouts of the Aggies marked the first time that Texas A&M, who dropped to 17-9 and 5-4 in the Big 12, had been blanked in back-to-back games since 1994, a span of 485 games. On the weekend, Husker starters allowed one unearned run in 25 innings, as Shane Komine allowed one unearned run in eight innings on Friday before Jamie Rodrigue fired a complete-game six-hit shutout Saturday.

“My arm felt really good today,” Marsden said. “My slider was moving quite a bit. Like Coach Childress has said, ‘good pitching is contagious.’”

“I thought Aaron went out and pitched fantastic,” Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. “He was ahead of hitters all day. It was tremendous job by Aaron to give us a chance to go out there and let us relax.”

The Huskers, who have won 12 straight home games, took advantage of clutch hitting, scoring eight of their 10 runs with two outs off Texas A&M pitching. With the win, the Huskers, who have won six straight against the Aggies in Lincoln, improved to 4-2 in conference play.

The Huskers jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first, as Jeff Leise, who had three hits and scored twice, singled, stole second and came around to score on Matt Hopper’s RBI single to center. Hopper added NU’s second run in the third with a sacrifice fly that plated Daniel Bruce, who walked to open the inning.

In the fourth, Aggie starter Kyle Parcus, who dropped to 1-2 with the loss, hit Josh Birmingham and Will Bolt on back-to-back at bats. The mistakes would prove costly, as Leise, who had three hits, plated both runs with a one-out single to center off A&M reliever Ryan Warpinski, giving the Huskers a 4-0 advantage.

NU broke open the contest with five runs, all with two outs, in the fifth. Will Bolt’s RBI single scored Hopper with the first run before Warpinski walked John Groce to load the bases. Brandon Eymann greeted Logan Kensing with a grand slam, his first homer of the season, to extend the margin to 9-0.

“I was just trying to get a pitch that I could hit into the outfield,” Eymann said. “I knew if we got a hit in that situation, it would kind of be the dagger in the heart for the game and the series.”

The Huskers ended the game in the eighth, as Drew Anderson scored Daniel Bruce with the 10th and final run, invoking the conference mercy rule.

The Huskers return to action Tuesday evening as NU travels to Minneapolis for a two-game series with the Minnesota Golden Gophers at the Metrodome. First pitch in the series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.