Despite some early struggles, the Huskers wrapped up their series sweep of Purdue on Sunday comfortably, in front of a nice little crowd at Haymarket Park.
The Boilermakers got on the board early, slapping two extra base hits in a row into the same gap at right center field to make it 1-0 in the top of the first. But in the bottom of the frame, Carter Cross drew a leadoff walk, and then Aaron Palensky smashed a homerun to left center to score two and take a 2-1 lead. It was the first homer of Palensky’s Husker career.
“I feel like I’ve been seeing the ball well lately,” Palensky said. “It was nice to finally put one out.”
Nebraska’s advantage was wiped out in the third though, after a leadoff double and error advanced Purdue’s Evan Albrecht to third base, where he would be driven in by Bryce Bonner on a one out, RBI single to tie it up at 2. Then in the fourth, Ryan Howe gave Purdue the lead by smoking a solo shot to left field to make it 3-2.
Nebraska responded strongly in the bottom half of the inning. NU loaded up the bases for Carter Cross, who appeared to bail out the Boilermakers by hitting a ground ball to short that was primed for a double play to end the inning. However the short stop, Albrecht, fired the ball into right field on an errant throw to second, allowing three runs to come in and bring Cross to third base. That was when things began to unravel for Purdue, as Nebraska would tag on three more runs to take a commanding lead in the game, 8-3 at the end of four.
“(They) smelled blood in the water right there,” Nebraska head coach Darin Erstad said. “That was a time there when we were battling back and forth and then all of a sudden, they make a mistake and we had to jump on it and that’s exactly what we did.”
In the fifth inning, Purdue scored to narrow the margin but that was eventually answered by Alex Henwood in the bottom half of the frame, who hammered a homer of his own to make it 9-4 NU. That would be the lead heading into the sixth, where Paul Tillotson would take over from Reece Eddins. On the day, Eddins struck out three batters in five innings pitched and allowed four earned runs on six hits.
Tillotson’s appearance was brief, recording just one out before giving up a home run and hitting a batter. Tillotson was replaced by freshman reliever Shay Schanaman, who got the Huskers out of the inning without allowing any more damage. Heading into the seventh, Nebraska led it 9-5, which would wind up being the final score of the game after Colby Gomes shifted from third base to the pitcher’s mound to end it in the ninth.
Palensky went 4-5 on the day and had 3 RBIs. Henwood was 2-2 and scored two runs. Eddins was awarded the win. He’s now 2-2 on the year.
This series, the Huskers made the most of their opportunities at the plate, scoring a combined 39 runs against the Boilermakers. The Husker’s approach to the plate was the key to their offensive success, according to Erstad.
“That’s something we need to continue to do,” Erstad said. “Lay off pitches down, have quality at bats, and then when you get a good pitch to hit, let’s smash it.”
That success at the plate has the team feeling confident, according to Henwood. “…When guys get their numbers called, they’re coming through,” Henwood said. “It’s a very close knit team. It’s awesome, and we’re hoping to keep it rolling.”
With the win, Nebraska improves to 17-9 overall and 7-2 in Big 10 play. Next up for the Huskers, they’ll host in state rivals Creighton at Haymarket Park Tuesday night. Coverage for that game can be found on KLIN, beginning at 6 o’clock. First pitch is set for 6:35.
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