On a beautiful, clear 70-degree California night that was made for baseball, the Huskers put the hurt on the Fresno State Bulldogs in the opening game, downing them 7-1. The Husker bats came to life early, getting all the runs the Huskers needed by scoring three in the first two innings, including doubles by Brandon Eymann and Will Bolt. NU added an extra run in the fourth as they bunted around Joe Simokaitas, and tacked on three more insurance runs in the eighth, including a two run-shot by Jeff Liese which barely cleared the left-field 330-foot barrier.

Behind an "adequate" effort from Shane Komine (8 K's, 0 er, 3 bb), the NU defense limited Fresno to 1 unearned run, and that came in the first inning when second baseball Will Bolt booted a two-out grounder to put Ben Fritz on first, then allowed two consecutive singles to plate the run. Clearly not throwing his best stuff (and seemingly bothered by the steep arc of the mound), Komine's fastball did not top 90 mph, his curve never found the strike zone, and in a break from usual routine, Shane used his change-up as his out pitch. Dustin Timm came on in the ninth, getting the needed three outs around two infield errors to finish the game. Amazing to this reporter, despite NU commiting 5 errors and Komine not his usual self, Fresno State stuggled to move men around the bases and score. Errors were not only made on the defensive side as a couple of base running errors cost NU a run or two. Most noticeable was Ryan Bonesio not taking third on a Drew Anderson single in the fifth. Bonesio was promptly taken from the game and replaced with pinch runner Justin Seely.

Overall, though, the Huskers played with intensity and desire in front of a reporter estimated crowd of 1,000 people, with about 1/5 of them in Husker red (attendence was announced at 2,700 people, but that includes all season ticket holders plus general admission sales). Nebraska returns to action tomorrow night, with first pitch at 9 p.m. central.