Lubach said he could tell Kubat was on early.

"I had a sense in the first inning and knew Kyle would be good," said Lubach, a junior catcher from Lincoln Southwest. "His change-up was moving and down in the zone. Then, he changed his change-up and changed the eye level for the batters and kept going."

Kubat explained his success.

"Strike one is the key," he said. "Keep the ball moving."

He faced the minimum number of batters through the first three innings and gave up a single to left in the fourth. After he walked Cole Martin to start the fifth, he coaxed Carmen Benedetti into a line drive to first for a double play.

Kubat walked a batter and couldn't find the handle on a grounder that was ruled a hit in the seventh, but he got out the next seven Wolverines in order.

"Kubat is a lefty who can throw the change-up and throw it for strikes all the time," said Michigan coach Erik Bakich, whose team finished the season 30-29-1 with a 1-3 record against Nebraska. "The change-up is the equalizer. Everybody can hit a fastball and a curve, but a good change-up, when this guy throws it anywhere in the count, kept us off-balance all day."