Early Deficit Dooms Huskers on Saturday
No. 7 Auburn jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back, as the Huskers fell 15-4 in seven innings to the Tigers at Plainsman Park on Saturday afternoon.
Nebraska (5-4) scored four runs on seven hits and an error, while Auburn (8-2) totaled 15 runs, 12 hits and no errors.
Mac Moyer was 2-for-4 at the plate, while Jett Buck and Nico Newhan each had a two-run homer. Joshua Overbeek doubled, while Dylan Carey and Cole Kitchens had one hit apiece.
Carson Jasa dropped to 1-1 on the year after giving up four runs on three hits and two walks in one inning of action. Colin Nowaczyk surrendered four runs on two hits and three walks while recording one out.
Ryan Harrahill dealt 2.2 scoreless frames and allowed just one hit with a pair of punchouts. Lynden Bruegman made his Husker debut, giving up four runs on four hits without recording an out. Tucker Timmerman tossed a pair of scoreless innings with three strikeouts and a walk. Jalen Worthley allowed three unearned runs on two hits and recorded a pair of outs.
Auburn had the bases loaded with one out after a leadoff single and consecutive free passes via a walk and plunked batter. A bases-loaded walk, followed by an RBI groundout to third base had the Tigers up 2-0. Auburn doubled its lead to four with a two-RBI single lined to left field with two outs to make it a 4-0 game through the opening frame.
The Tigers tacked on four more runs in the second inning behind a pair of hits to enlarge the lead to eight. Back-to-back walks and a bunt single loaded the bases for Auburn without an out. A plunked batter and a full-count walk plated the Tigers’ first two runs in the inning, while a two-RBI single through the right side made it an 8-0 game through two innings.
Kitchens reached on a one-out single to the shortstop, setting up Buck’s two-run homer to left field that scored NU’s first runs of the afternoon and made it an 8-2 game in the fourth inning.
Harrahill kept the Tigers off the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, while the NU offense added a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to bring the Big Red within 8-4. Moyer laced a 2-2 pitch back up the middle for a leadoff single, before Newhan blasted a two-run homer to right field to make it 8-4.
The Huskers loaded the bases and had the tying run at the plate in the top of the fourth inning after Newhan’s two-run homer, but a swinging strikeout put a halt to the Big Red’s threat.
Auburn immediately responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to grow the lead back to 12-4. Bruegman replaced Harrahill on the mound and gave up four consecutive hits, including a single, a double and back-to-back homers that grew the Tigers’ lead back to eight through five innings.
The Tigers plated three unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh to clinch the 15-4 run-rule victory. A catcher’s interference set the table for an RBI double into the left-center field gap, while a two-run homer into the batter’s eye in center field gave Auburn its 15-4 win on Saturday afternoon.
Nebraska and No. 7 Auburn conclude the series tomorrow afternoon at Plainsman Park. First pitch between the Huskers and Tigers is set for 1 p.m. on SEC Network+.