Nebraska dominates Northwestern in series opener

The Nebraska baseball team (24-11) proved their dominance over Northwestern (12-17) in the series opener with a 12-2 win. The Huskers broke down the Wildcat pitchers late and hung crooked numbers in three straight innings.

On the mound to start the game was Cade Povich who came out strong. The junior pitched the first two innings and retired the first six batters he faced. In the bottom of the second inning, his offense gave him some help when Logan Foster found himself in scoring position and was driven in by Brice Matthews.

After NU took the lead, Povich kept dealing, and it took until the fourth inning for him to allow a hit. Nothing came of the double from Northwestern and the lefty continued to dominate.

In the fifth inning, the Big Red bats found their groove with Brice Matthews hitting a leadoff double and being driven in the next at-bat by Griffin Everitt. Later in the inning, with runners on second and third, Spencer Schwellenbach hit a ground ball to the shortstop and a throw home didn’t get Everitt who avoided the tag. Jaxon Hallmark rounded third as the catcher tried to get Schwellenbach out at first and the senior scored as well.

That fifth inning started the momentum for Nebraska as they scored three more in the sixth with RBIs from Griffin Everitt and Joe Acker. In the seventh the Huskers scored five more, this time coming off the bats of Cam Chick, Brice Matthews, Griffin Everitt and Luke Sartori. A big swing from Everitt sent a ball over the left field wall to score two and Sartori got a hit in his first collegiate at bat that brought in NU’s 12th run of the day.

Cade Povich ended his day after seven shutout innings and only allowing two hits. The junior struck out five Wildcats and walked zero. Emmett Olson took the mound in the eighth inning and gave up just one hit for no runs. In the ninth inning Braxton Bragg took over and struggled to put the game away. The sophomore gave up three hits and walked two batters which scored two runs. Bragg was able to escape a bases-loaded jam with a double play and end the game.

The Big Red offense was getting on base up and down the lineup. Ten different players recorded hits in this game and three recorded multiple. Max Anderson went 3-5 and scored twice and his fellow freshman Brice Matthews did the same, but he had two RBIs as well. Griffin Everitt stole the show from the plate going 3-4 and driving in four runs along with scoring all three times he got on base. When all parts the Nebraska lineup are hitting well, big numbers on the scoreboard tend to follow.

Cade Povich had his stuff tonight, and Northwestern was struggling to find a way to hit off him. The junior threw 95 pitches through seven shutout innings and put down five batters. Only three Wildcats got on base off the lefty and two were well hit balls and the other was an error.

After Povich, Emmett Olson also had a solid outing with just one hit allowed and no runs getting home. The sophomore Braxton Bragg struggled to find his stuff, but with a 12 run lead, it had little effect on the outcome.

The Huskers return to Haymarket Park for two more games against Northwestern this weekend. Game two starts at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and game three is at noon on Sunday.

Both games can be streamed on BTN+ and heard on Husker Sports Network. Saturday’s game will also be on NET.