NCAA West I Regional Baseball : Nebraska Upsets Pepperdine; Stanford Wins

Jeff Mays threw a seven-hitter to lead Nebraska to a 4-2 upset of Pepperdine Friday in the NCAA West I Regional baseball tournament at the Sunken Diamond.

The ninth-ranked Waves (49-14) left 12 runners on base and managed only two unearned runs in the eighth inning off Mays, who improved his record to 9-2.

In the second game, top-seeded Stanford routed Oregon State, 17-3. Stanford (44-12) will meet Nebraska (45-22) in the second game today for the right to advance to the championship game.

Pepperdine and Oregon State (34-16) will meet at 11 a.m., with the loser eliminated from the tournament.

Friday, 20th-rated Nebraska opened the scoring in the third inning with an unearned run off Wave starter Jon Smith (8-2). The Cornhuskers added two more runs in the fourth on Burt Beattie’s sacrifice fly and Rich King’s single. King also hit an RBI double in the sixth.

Mays, who struck out nine and walked six, completed his first nine-inning game this season by striking out Pepperdine first baseman Chris Johnson.

Pepperdine’s scoring in the eighth was the result of Mays’ errant pickoff throw to third base. Johnson and Steve Kirkpatrick, after hitting successive singles to open the inning, scored on the error.

The Waves left the bases loaded in the third inning and stranded two runners in three other innings.

“That’s criminal,” Pepperdine Coach Dave Gorrie said. “We didn’t execute as a team as we are capable of. We had our chances, but we didn’t take advantage of them.”