Huskers Play to 16-16 Tie in Series Finale

Nebraska finished its series at San Diego with a 16-16 tie on Monday afternoon at Fowler Park. Due to travel curfew, the game was called off after seven innings.

Nebraska (0-3-1) scored 16 runs on 17 hits and an error, while San Diego (3-0-1) recorded 16 runs on seven hits and three errors.

Seven Huskers recorded a two-hit performance on Monday, highlighted by Charlie Fischer going 2-for-4 with a double, home run, four RBI and three runs. Dylan Carey went 2-for-4 with a double, home run, two RBI and two runs scored. Max Anderson, Ben Columbus, Efry Cervantes, Garrett Anglim and Brice Matthews also had two hits apiece.

Jackson Brockett pitched two innings in the start, allowing one run on one hit with a pair of strikeouts and a walk. Drew Christo threw one inning in relief, surrendering three runs, one earned, on no hits and two walks. Austin Berggren, Jake Bunz and Will Walsh teamed up to pitch an inning on the mound. Shay Schanaman pitched two innings, allowing four runs on two hits and a pair of strikeouts, while Mason Ornelas and Sam Novotny threw the final inning.

Carey broke the scoreless tie in the open frame with a 400-foot solo homer over the wall in left-center for his second home run of the season.

Nebraska built its lead to four, tacking on three more runs on four hits in the second. Anglim lifted an 0-2 pitch off the wall in left-center for a one-out triple, while trotting home on Matthews’ RBI double down the left field line. Carey continued his hot streak at the plate with an RBI double down the left field line to plate Matthews, and Anderson hit Carey home with an RBI single through the left side to make it 4-0.

A two-out walk and pair of wild pitches set up Andrew Semo’s RBI single to left to score San Diego’s first run of the game in the bottom of the second.

USD poured in nine runs on three hits in the fourth, including a grand slam by Jack Costello and a two-run homer by Angelo Peraza to jump ahead 10-4 after four innings.

The Big Red responded back in the next half inning with five runs on four hits to climb back within 10-9. A double by Josh Caron and an infield single from Cervantes set up a two-RBI single up the middle by Anglim to cut the deficit to three. Matthews followed by reaching on a fielding error by the USD shortstop to load the bases for the Big Red. Griffin Everitt stepped into the box in a pinch-hitting role and lined a two-RBI single up the middle, which also saw Matthews score on an errant relay throw to make it a 10-9 game.

Momentum carried into the sixth for the Husker offense, as Fischer unloaded a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right for a two-run homer to give Nebraska an 11-10 lead after six.

Nebraska continued to stay hot at the plate, scoring five runs on three hits in the seventh to stretch the lead to 16-10. Matthews began the inning with a single, while Luke Sartori’s single through the left side was botched by the USD left fielder and rolled all the way to the wall for a little league home run. Anderson and Ben Columbus drew walks on 3-1 counts, before Fischer brought them home with a two-RBI double into the gap in right-center. Hitting for the second time in the inning, Matthews drew a walk with the bases loaded to give the Big Red a 16-10 advantage.

San Diego responded with six runs on one hit in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 16.

Three walks and two hit batters brought the Toreros within four, while a sacrifice fly made it a 16-13 game with one out. USD tied the game with a three-run homer by Costello to left-center.

The Huskers continue play next weekend with a three-game series at South Alabama on Friday-Sunday, Feb. 24-26 in Mobile, Ala.