Huskers Fall at Purdue on Friday

Nebraska held a 3-0 lead in the fourth until Purdue plated seven unanswered runs in the Huskers’ 7-3 setback at Purdue on Friday afternoon in West Lafayette, Ind.

Nebraska (30-21-1, 14-9 Big Ten) scored three runs on nine hits and an error, while Purdue (24-28, 11-12 Big Ten) had seven runs on 11 hits.

Jace Kaminska pitched 4.1 innings in the start, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and tied his season-high with seven strikeouts. Will Walsh dropped to 3-3 on the season after surrendering five runs on five hits in 1.2 innings. Drew Christo tossed the final two innings for the Huskers, allowing just one hit in the seven batters he faced.

Dylan Carey and Charlie Fischer went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead the Huskers. Ben Columbus was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI, while Max Anderson went 1-for-4 with a double. With the double, Anderson moved into a tie for eighth with Alex Gordon for the most extra-base hits in a season at Nebraska with 41.

Gabe Swansen was 1-for-3 with a double, while Josh Caron and Blake Mozley had one hit apiece.

The Huskers leaped out to a 2-0 lead behind a pair of hits in the second inning. Swansen opened the inning with a four-pitch walk, and Fischer ripped a single up the middle to place runners on first and third with one out. Swansen was later tagged out on a play at home on a sacrifice squeeze play by Carey.

Columbus roped a 2-2 pitch for a double down the left-field line to plate Fischer and Carey to give the Huskers a 2-0 lead in the second.

Kaminska recorded three consecutive strikeouts after a leadoff single in the bottom of the second to maintain the two-run lead through two.

Three straight hits by the NU offense to open the fourth stretched the lead to 3-0 for the Big Red. Swansen’s leadoff double, followed by Caron’s single to center had runners on first and third with no outs. Fischer grew the lead to three with an RBI single to center, plating Swansen.

Purdue climbed back within a run with two runs on three hits and a Husker error in the bottom of the fourth. Jake Jarvis led off the inning with a solo homer down the right-field line to score the Boilermakers’ first run of the afternoon. An NU error and a single put two runners on, while Paul Toetz’s RBI single to right-center made it a one-run game through four innings.

The Boilermaker grabbed a 4-3 lead in the fifth with Connor Caskenette’s two-run homer to left-center.

A single and a hit batter, followed by RBI singles from Evan Albrecht and Couper Cornblum extended the lead to three. Albrecht later trotted home on a wild pitch to build the lead to 7-3 through six innings for Purdue.

The two teams exchanged scoreless innings in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to preserve the 7-3 win for the Boilermakers.

Nebraska and Purdue conclude the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind.