Huskers Lose to Minnesota on a Walk Off Home Run, Falling 5-2 in Extra Innings

Nebraska came up just short against the defending Big 10 champions, falling to the Golden Gophers in walk-off fashion in the 10th inning, 5-2.

Both teams enjoyed excellent outings from their starting pitchers. Nebraska’s Matt Waldron had seven strikeouts, allowing two runs on eight hits in eight innings pitched. Minnesota’s Max Meyer also went eight innings and allowed two runs, striking out 11 batters.

“Matt (Waldron) pitched well enough for us to win. There’s no consolation prizes or participation ribbons for going up against an All-American (Meyer)” Nebraska head coach Darin Erstad said on the Husker Sports Network following the game. “We had a chance to beat them, and we let them off the hook.”

It began with a bang for the Huskers. Mojo Hagge turned on Meyer’s pitch for a leadoff homerun. In the bottom of the third though, the Golden Gophers tied it up at 1 on an RBI single through the left field side.

Then Minnesota would take the lead in the fifth after beginning the inning with a double, followed up by a base hit to left field to drive in a run to make it 2-1. However In the seventh, it was the Husker’s turn to erase the lead, scoring on a bobbled ball which allowed Joe Acker to reach home plate safely.

With the game tied up at 2-2 after nine innings, it was bonus baseball time in Minneapolis. The Huskers began extras strongly, stringing together two consecutive hits on one out in the top of the 10th. However, Hagge got punched out looking at a pitch on a 2-2 count. That left things to Minnesota native and senior infielder Angelo Altavilla to try and be the hero for the Huskers with runners on the corners, but relief pitcher Brett Schulze got the strikeout to end the inning.

In the bottom of the frame, Minnesota made Nebraska pay for stranding their base runners. With one out and two men on, Eli Wilson belted a deep shot for the walk-off home run to win it 5-2. With the loss, NU dropped to 12-8 overall and 3-1 in Big 10 play.

Despite how the game turned out, Erstad isn’t worried about his team being able to bounce back. “They’re a pretty resilient bunch of guys. They’re playing well (and) I thought we played well today,” Erstad said. “… It’s a game of inches, that’s for sure.”

Nebraska will play Minnesota on Saturday. First pitch is set for one o’clock. Pregame coverage begins at 12:30 on KLIN.

(Photo – Kenny Larabee)