Huskers Falter at Omaha on Wednesday
Nebraska fell 11-9 in a midweek matchup at Omaha on Wednesday night at Tal Anderson Field in Omaha.
Nebraska (12-17) scored nine runs on 16 hits and two errors, while Omaha (9-17) scored 11 runs on eight hits.
Case Sanderson led NU at the plate, going 4-for-6 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Max Buettenback had a 3-for-4 night with a home run, five RBI and two runs scored. Cayden Brumbaugh went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and two runs. Dylan Carey tallied two hits, while Cael Frost and Joshua Overbeek recorded one hit each.
Carson Jasa pitched two innings, allowing three runs on one hit and two walks. Gavin Blachowicz and Caleb Clark combined to pitch the third and fourth innings, while Casey Daiss and Aiden White saw an inning of action. J’Shawn Unger fell to 0-1 on the season after allowing two runs on one hit in 0.2 innings, before Blake Encarnacion and Ty Horn tossed the final 1.1 innings.
Omaha took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on just one hit. A hit batter, single and walk loaded the bases with one out for the Mavericks. Back-to-back hit batters with the bases loaded plated the two runs in the opening frame for the Mavericks.
Nebraska responded immediately with three runs on three straight hits to begin the second to take a one-run lead. Singles from Stone and Carey set up Buettenback’s 441- foot three-run homer to right that sailed into the parking lot.
Brumbaugh began the top of the third with a double down the left-field line and later came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Buettenback to grow the lead to 4-2.
The Mavericks locked the at four in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs on just one hit. A trio of walks loaded the bases with one out, while an RBI single to center trimmed NU’s lead to 4-3. A fourth walk in the inning allowed the Mavericks to tie the game at four.
The NU offense erupted for five runs on six hits to snag a 9-4 lead in the fourth inning. Overbeek’s leadoff single, followed by an RBI double down the left-field line off the bat of Sanderson scored the Big Red’s first run of the inning.
Brumbaugh lined an RBI double down the left-field line to bring home Sanderson and double the lead to 6-4, while a single through the left side by Stone put runners on first and third for the Huskers with one out. An RBI groundout to shortstop from Carey brought home Brumbaugh, while an RBI single by Buettenback and Frost’s RBI double gave the Big Red its five-run advantage.
UNO plated four runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth to bring the Mavericks within 9-8. Two straight walks and a single loaded the bases with no outs, while a bases-clearing RBI triple down the right-field line made it a two-run game. A sacrifice fly to deep right in foul territory cut the deficit in half and made it a 9-8 game through five innings.
The Mavericks added a run in the sixth to lock the game at nine. Two walks a ground-rule double loaded the bases, while a sacrifice fly to deep center allowed the tying run come home.
Nebraska loaded the bases in the top of the seventh after Brumbaugh drew a two-out walk, but a groundout to second ended the threat and sent a tied game into the bottom of the seventh.
Omaha grabbed an 11-9 lead in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run homer to left field after a two-out walk.
The Huskers loaded the bases for the second consecutive inning in the top of the eighth, but couldn’t get the tying run home. Carey began the frame with a single, while Will Jesske and Overbeek drew walks to load the bases, but a strikeout put a halt to NU’s eighth-inning threat.
Nebraska steps back into conference play this weekend, as the Huskers welcome Rutgers to Hawks Field at Haymarket Park. First pitch of Friday night’s series opener is set for 6:02 p.m. on Nebraska Public Media/B1G+.