The Nebraska Cornhuskers staved off elimination in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Huntington Park, rolling over the No. 3 seed Penn State with a 12-3 win. It was a close and evenly matched game until the Huskers lineup chased PSU starter Steven Hill from the game and exploded on the bullpen for three straight innings.
After a three-run fifth inning, Nebraska strung together seven hits in the sixth to put a 5-spot on the board and blow things open. Richard Stock played a key role in doing the damage, doubling home two runs and scoring a third. Pat Kelly matched Stock with two RBIs of his own. Chad Christensen smoked a solo homer one inning later as the Huskers poured on three more to make it 12-1 at the time.
Ryan Hander was steady for Nebraska, holding the Nittany Lions to just two runs in 6.1 innings of work. He struck out seven and gave way to Tyler Niederklein and Jeff Stovall, who both protected the lead and prevented any sort of significant rally which would have threatened the outcome (as NU did in the 9th on Wednesday against Michigan State). Nebraska now moves on to play again Friday at 12:05 p.m. ET against the lowest remaining seed between the two losers of this afternoon's games.
For more on Nebraska, visit Corn Nation. For all your Nittany Lions news, visit Black Shoe Diaries. Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates throughout the 2012 Big Ten Baseball Tournament.