Nebraska comes back to beat Northeastern in Game 1

The Nebraska baseball team (32-12) came back from a four-run deficit to beat Northeastern (36-11) 8-6 in its first game in the Fayetteville Regional. A win in Game 1 sets up a matchup against top-ranked Arkansas in Game 2 tomorrow.

Cade Povich got the start for the Huskers and he struggled to settle in. In the second inning, Northeastern took an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run to left field. The next inning, the Huskies kept getting their bats on the ball and scored three more runs to make it 4-0. After Povich gave up two hits in the third inning, Koty Frank came to the mound with one out. The junior retired the side with no problems.

In the fourth inning, the Big Red offense heated up. Spencer Schwellenbach got on base with a single and Brice Matthews walked behind him, then Cam Chick jolted some life into the game with a three-run home run.

Jaxon Hallmark kept the momentum going in the fifth inning and was drive in on a sacrifice fly to right to tie the game. The runs kept coming for Nebraska and in the sixth inning they added three more from three hits and a balk which made the lead 7-4. Another run scored in the seventh to make the lead four runs and the Huskers needed six more outs.

Koty Frank got into trouble in the seventh when he walked two batters and the Big Red went to Jake Bunz. The junior hit a batter and gave up a hit that scored two runs with one out and Spencer Schwellenbach quickly took over. The shortstop, now closer retired the side and did the same in the ninth to earn his tenth close of the year.

When Cade Povich didn’t have his stuff in this game, Nebraska needed something to change on he mound. Koty Frank brought exactly what his team needed to this game and settled things down quickly. The junior was thrown into the fourth inning with two runners on and one out and he needed just two pitches to get out of trouble. Frank retired 11 straight Huskies and when his offense was doing work on the other sides of the innings, he was keeping Northeastern off the board. After the Huskies took control of the game early, Koty Frank steered the momentum back in the direction of the Big Red.

Right after Frank took the mound and got the Huskers out of a tricky situation, Cam Chick brought the offense to life with a three-run home run. In the first two innings the Northeastern starter, Sebastian Keane had Nebraska on strings, but in the third NU got a couple of hits off him, and in the fourth the damage was dealt. When it looked from the start like the Big Red was going to struggle to get their bats on the ball, Cam Chick’s home run allowed them to take a deep breath and settle into the game.

The Huskers will take on Arkansas, the nation’s top-ranked team, tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Head coach Will Bolt told the media that he plans on starting Chance Hroch in that matchup.

The game vs. the Razorbacks can be watched on the ESPN app and heard on Husker Sports Network. The TV channel it will be on has not been announced.