Huskers Run Rule Hawkeyes 11-1 in Second Round of Big 10 Tournament

If revenge is a dish best served cold, Nate Fisher doesn’t seem to care. The senior southpaw came out of the gates firing against Iowa, serving up heat from the mound to shut down the Hawkeye bats in Omaha.

Earlier this year, Fisher was chief witness to the meltdown Nebraska had against Iowa in game two of their Easter weekend series. In 4.1 innings pitched, he gave up seven runs. The Hawkeyes wound up with 17 runs on the day in what was a humiliating defeat for NU.

Fortunes were reversed though in the second round of the Big 10 Tournament at TD Ameritrade Park on Friday. Outside of a shaky second inning, Fisher was excellent on the bump. In seven innings, Fisher finished with seven strikeouts and allowed just one run on four hits.

Things didn’t get off to a great start for him, however. Iowa took the lead in the top of the second with a two out, RBI single from Iowa second baseman Mitchell Boe. The next batter, Justin Jenkins, drew a walk to load up the bases but Fisher got Chris Whelan to fly out to center field to get out of the jam.

In the bottom half of the frame, Hawkeye starter Grant Judkins had all he could handle. He was pulled after giving up his second RBI of the inning. He had already thrown 56 total pitches. Nebraska widened their advantage from there, with both Aaron Palensky and Angelo Altavilla driving in runs to put the Huskers up 4-1.

The Big Red tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a commanding 9-1 lead. Then in the bottom of the seventh, the Huskers nearly run ruled Iowa. Gunner Hellstrom hit an RBI single to left field to make it 10-1 and Schwellenbach drew a walk to load the bases. Colby Gomes chopped one to third base to end the inning and the threat of a walk-off, but Nebraska’s dominance was on full display.

The Huskers were ultimately able to walk-off the Hawkeyes the next inning, however. Mojo Hagge led off the inning with a triple. The next batter, Cam Chick, flew out to center field which was deep enough to bring in Hagge for the game winner.

Nebraska will be back in action Saturday morning at 9 a.m. to take on the winner of the Michigan and Maryland elimination game. Coverage of it all can be found on KLIN.

(Photo – Kenny Larabee)