Huskers Blanked by Hawkeyes on Saturday

Nebraska suffered its first shutout of the season, falling 8-0 at Iowa on Saturday afternoon at Duane Banks Field.

The Huskers (21-13-1, 7-4 Big Ten) had five hits and an error, while the Hawkeyes (28-10, 6-5 Big Ten) totaled eight runs on 10 hits.

Jace Kaminska allowed four runs on four hits in three innings to fall to 5-3 on the season. Jackson Brockett replaced Kaminska on the mound, dealing 1.2 shutout innings in relief. Michael Garza gave up four runs, three earned, on three hits in 0.2 innings, while Brett Sears tossed 2.2 scoreless innings.

Brice Matthews, Charlie Fischer, Garrett Anglim, Ben Columbus and Efry Cervantes recorded one single apiece. Matthews went 1-for-2 with a walk to extend his on-base streak to 35 games this season.

Nebraska pieced together two of its hits in the second inning, but Fischer was thrown out at third after trying to advance two bases on Columbus’ single to center.

Iowa plated three runs on four hits in the bottom of the third to grab a 3-0 advantage. Ben Wilmes lined a two-run homer over the wall in right-center, before a two-out RBI single up the middle by Raider Tello made it a three-run game.

The Hawkeyes added one more to the lead in the fourth after an RBI single through the left side by Michael Seegers.

Iowa doubled the lead to eight in the sixth after back-to-back two-RBI doubles by Tello and Kyle Huckstorf.

The Huskers threatened late in the eighth by loading the bases with two outs, but the Hawkeyes eluded the jam to keep the Big Red off the board. Cervantes and Matthews reached on consecutive one-out singles, while Anderson drew a two-out walk on full count to load the bases. Iowa drew a fielder’s choice by Gabe Swansen to escape the inning without a run.

Nebraska drew two baserunners in the ninth with walks to Fischer and Josh Caron but couldn’t get the timely hit to scratch across a run, as the Hawkeyes clinched the 8-0 win on Saturday.

The Huskers and Hawkeyes wrap up the series tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. at Duane Banks Field.