The senior from Conroe, Texas, broke Darin Erstad’s career hits record of 261with a fifth inning single before adding an RBI double in the seventh, as the Huskers won their eighth straight game to finish the regular season with a 39-17 record.

“I am just really happy with the way the regular season ended,” Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said. “We are getting on a little bit of a roll, and we have pitched and fielded well. It seemed like every time we came to the park the last couple weeks, we felt like we were going to win the game. We sensed that again today.”

Jeff Blevins drove in a pair of runs to pace the Huskers, while Brandon Eymann had three of the Huskers 10 hits in the win.

NU opened up a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first off Bulldog left-hander Casey Adams. With two outs and Jeff Leise on first, the Husker center fielder stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before Matt Hopper’s RBI single gave NU a 1-0 lead. Blevins added Nebraska’s second run with an RBI double down the line to score Hopper from first.

Nebraska pushed the margin to three runs in the second, as Eymann doubled and eventually came around to score on a bunt single by Jeff Leise, who finished the after with a pair of hits and two runs scored.

The hosts added single runs in the fifth and sixth off Adams, who allowed five runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings. The Huskers loaded the bases in the fifth on singles by Bolt and Jed Morris and a walk to Hopper before Blevins coaxed a walk off the Bulldog starter, who took the loss to fall to 0-1 on the year. Bolt, one of seven Husker seniors honored prior to today’s game drove in the final run with a double to right in the sixth.

Brian Duensing started and struck out three in three hitless innings, as six relievers threw one inning apiece out of the bullpen. The left-hander from Omaha improved to 5-1 with his fifth straight win, retiring all nine batters he faced.

Louisiana Tech, who fell to 21-34 with the loss, scored its only run on Jody Wood’s leadoff homer off Jeremy Becker in the top of the eighth. The homer was the only blemish for the Husker bullpen, as the seven pitchers

The Huskers will leave Lincoln Monday morning, as they head to Arlington, Texas, for the 2002 Big 12 Tournament. NU, which finished conference play in second place with a 16-11 mark, will play the No. 7 seed at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.