Sorting table results using numeric sorting

I have a column that outputs multiple alphanumeric pairs per row. This data is pulled in from MySQL via a wordpress plugin. In every case, this data is out of numeric order and I'm hoping datatables might be able to solve it.

Example:

Table Cell currently contains: 9U 8U 12U 11U 10U
I want the cell to be sorted like: 8U 9U 10U 11U 12U

I was looking at the Sorting plugins (http://www.datatables.net/plug-ins/sorting) and think I'm on the right path, but don't really know how to implement. I've created a live site of the code I tried with some sample data as it displays on my site, but got no results. I'm clueless when it comes to jquery.

http://live.datatables.net/unixak/edit

Thanks!