Huskers Drop Series Opener at Iowa

Nebraska suffered an 11-6 setback in the series opener at Iowa on Friday night at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City, Iowa.

The Huskers (21-12-1, 7-3 Big Ten) scored six runs on seven hits and an error, while the Hawkeyes (27-10, 5-5 Big Ten) had 11 runs on nine hits.

Emmett Olson dropped to 5-2 on the season after allowing five runs on six hits in 2.1 innings. Corbin Hawkins replaced Olson and tied his career high with 3.1 innings of relief. Hawkins surrendered one run on one hit while striking out two and walking three Hawkeyes. Jake Bunz and Shay Schanaman teamed up to pitch an inning of relief, allowing five runs, one earned, on two hits. Drew Christo pitched 1.1 scoreless innings with a walk and a strikeout.

Max Anderson went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk. Brice Matthews was 1-for-4 with a double and two runs, while Casey Burnham had a 1-for-2 night after being hit by pitch twice and scoring two runs. Gabe Swansen drove in a team-high two RBI and went 1-for-3, while Josh Caron and Dylan Carey had one hit each.

A five-run inning in the second had the Hawkeyes out front to an early 5-0 lead. An RBI sacrifice bunt and an RBI single made it a 2-0 game, before Keaton Anthony drilled a three-run homer to right to grow the lead to five.

Garrett Anglim and Charlie Fischer led off the fourth with back-to-back walks and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, before a second wild pitch in the inning brought home Anglim to plate Nebraska’s first run of the game. Carey followed with a two-out RBI single to shortstop, recording the Huskers’ first hit of the night and scoring Fischer to bring the Big Red within 5-2 in the fourth.

The Hawkeyes loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth with three consecutive walks, and an RBI groundout back to the pitcher with one out made it a 6-2 game after four innings complete.

Nebraska cut the deficit in half in the fifth with two runs on one hit. Matthews began the inning with a double to left-center, before Burnham was plunked on an 0-1 count. Anderson drew a walk on full count to load the bases with no outs, while Fischer was hit by pitch with one out to plate Matthews. Swansen followed by lifting a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Burnham to make it a two-run game in the fifth.

The Huskers looked to threaten in the seventh after back-to-back singles by Burnham and Anderson to open the inning, but Iowa escaped the jam with a double play to maintain the 6-4 lead.

Iowa poured in five runs in the bottom of the seventh to blow the game open at 11-4. A sacrifice fly made it 7-4, before the Hawkeyes tacked on four more runs after a two-out throwing error by Nebraska extended the inning.

Matthews and Burnham opened the ninth with a walk and a hit by pitch, before Anderson lined an RBI single down the right-field line to score Matthews. After two straight strikeouts, Swansen smacked an RBI single off the third baseman and into left field to plate Burnham and make it an 11-6 game.

Nebraska and Iowa continue the series tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City, Iowa. Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on B1G+, while fans can listen to Ben McLaughlin and Logan Foster call the action on the Huskers Radio Network.