Nebraska baseball drops season opener to Purdue 6-5

After a back and forth battle, Nebraska baseball (0-1) watched Purdue (1-0) walk off game one of the weekend series in Round Rock, Texas. Even after the Huskers took the lead in the top of the eighth inning, the Boilermakers were able to score a run in the bottom of both the eighth and ninth innings to make the final score 6-5.

Cade Povich got the start after being tagged as the best arm over the last couple months, but he didn’t look like himself. The junior threw for three innings and 80 pitches where he gave up six hits for three runs. Povich also walked four batters in those three innings, double the amount he walked all of last season.

However, despite the abnormal struggles Povich had, the offense didn’t struggle to hit the ball. The Big Red took the lead in the second inning from a solo home run hit by Max Anderson. In his first at-bat as a Husker, Anderson sent a high fly ball to right field that carried the wall and gave Nebraska the lead. In the fourth inning, after going down 3-1, it was senior Joe Acker who went yard scoring two runs and tying the game at 3. The next inning, junior Cam Chick sent a line drive over the right field wall which gave the Huskers a 4-3 lead.

At the same time that the lead was changing, Braxton Bragg had come in to pitch for NU. The sophomore impressed for the four innings he pitched giving up only two hits and one run, while racking up six strikeouts. Next to the mound was Max Schreiber, who struggled to get into a grove. The senior gave up a run that tied the game in the eighth inning, and then loaded the bases in the ninth with a hit, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. The next at-bat , the Boilermakers hit a sacrifice fly to walk off the game.

Nebraska had no problem getting the ball into play, registering 15 hits. The issues came with turning those hits into runs. The Huskers left a man on base in all but one inning, and in the sixth, when they were leading 4-3, they had two men on with one out, and then the bases loaded with two outs and failed to convert those to runs. With a total of 13 men left on base and 15 hits in this game, the Big Red will be hoping to translate those numbers into runs in the future.

Cade Povich didn’t find his grove in the season opener. The junior threw 80 pitches in just three innings forcing a move to the bullpen earlier than Nebraska expected. NU was able to recover from that, taking the lead 4-3 in the fifth inning. Braxton Bragg then came in to relieve Povich and impressed. Bragg pitched for four innings only giving up two hits for one run. The sophomore also struck out six Boilermakers. However, after throwing 52 pitches, Bragg left for Max Schreiber to try and close the game. The senior couldn’t hold the lead, giving up one run in both of the inning he pitched, the second being the winning run.

Games two and three of the weekend series against Purdue are tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and then 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Both games can be streamed on BTN+ or heard on Husker Sports Network.