Huskers Sweep Series with 17-5 Rout at Ohio State

Nebraska clinched the series sweep over Ohio State with a 17-5 win at BIll Davis Stadium on Sunday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio.

Nebraska (12-14, 4-2 Big Ten) scored a season-high 17 runs on 16 hits, while the Buckeyes had five runs on 11 hits and committed an error.

The Husker offense hit 10-of-19 (.526) and scored 13 of its 17 runs with two outs on Sunday, while the Nebraska defense turned three double plays in the victory.

Dawson McCarville pitched four innings in his seventh start this season, allowing three runs on six hits and recording two strikeouts and walks. Jaxon Jelkin moved to 1-1 on the year after tossing two shutout innings with one hit. Mason Ornelas threw two innings, while Chandler Benson pitched the final inning.

Brice Matthews went 3-for-5 at the plate with pair of RBI and runs to extend his on-base streak to 20 games. Max Anderson was 3-for-7 with two RBI and two runs, while Cam Chick was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with five walks and a team-high four runs. Chick’s five walks ties a school record, joining Jim Bailey (vs. Chicago State, March 16, 1999) and Tom Novak (vs. Denver College, April 18, 1949) in the record books.

Luke Sartori went 2-for-4 with a grand slam, four RBI and three runs on the day. Garrett Anglim and Efry Cervantes also had two hits in the win. Sartori’s grand slam in the top of the ninth gave Nebraska a grand slam in back-to-back games for the first time since Kash Kalkowksi and Kale Kiser vs. Washington and Missouri State on Feb. 19-20, 2011.

Nebraska went to work early, scoring a pair of runs on two hits in the first inning. Wimmers stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs and knocked a two-RBI single back up the middle to plate Chick and Anderson.

Ohio State responded quickly with three runs on three hits in the bottom half of the first. An RBI single up the middle by Tyler Pettorini broke open the scoring for the Buckeyes, while Colton Bauer tacked on two more with a two-RBI single to center.

Jack Steil led off the fourth reaching on a hit by pitch and advanced to third after a sacrifice bunt and a balk. Steil scored from third after an RBI groundout by Matthews to tie the game at three, before Everitt lifted a two-RBI double to right center, scoring Chick and Anderson to give the Big Red a 5-3 lead.

A fielder’s choice and walk put Sartori and Steil on first and second, before back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Matthews and Chick plated both Huskers stretched the lead to 7-3 for Nebraska in the fifth.

The Huskers added three runs on two hits in the seventh to blow the game open with a 10-3 advantage. Nebraska loaded the bases with no outs to start the inning and got its eighth run of the game after Anderson’s RBI groundout to the shortstop scored Sartori. The Big Red reached a double-digit run total for the sixth time this season after Anglim drilled a two-RBI double down the left field line to score Matthews and Chick.

Ohio State scored its final two runs in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run homer to right by Trey Lipsey.

The Huskers unloaded seven runs on seven hits in the top of the ninth to clinch the 17-5 rout of the Buckeyes. Anderson and Cervantes had RBI singles and Everitt knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice, before Sartori smacked his first home run as a Husker with a no-doubt grand slam over the fence in left.

Nebraska ventures to Omaha on Wednesday, April 6 to take on the Mavericks at Tal Anderson Field. First pitch between the Huskers and Mavericks is set for 6:30 p.m.