Nebraska drops game 3, gets swept by Rutgers

The Nebraska baseball team (20-10) was shut out 6-0 in the final game of the three-game series against Rutgers (17-13). With this loss, the Huskers were swept by a conference opponent for the first time since 2016.

On the mound to start the game was Shay Schanaman, who quickly found himself in a hole. In the top of the first inning, the junior walked the lead off batter, and a double in the next at-bat drove in a run. Two strikeouts got Schanaman out of the inning, but the Scarlet Knights had already cracked the scoreboard.

After the starter pitched two scoreless innings, he stepped back on the mound for the fourth inning. RU got on base quickly with a single and a double in the first two at bats. With runner on second and third, a ground ball to the infield was able to drive in a run to double the Rutgers lead. Later in the inning, with two runners on, a double scored both baserunners and made the score 4-0.

Schanaman’s day was done after six innings, and Koty Frank was in to relieve him with one runner on in the top of the seventh. Frank retired the side in the seventh, and allowed just one hit in the eighth. In the ninth inning, Frank got into trouble when a single and a walk put two runners on. Rutgers hit another base hit, and their lead was extended to five. Frank walked a batter and loaded the bases, then walked another to drive in the sixth run of the game.

On the other side of the ball, NU bats didn’t catch any eyes. Throughout the game, the Big Red had just three hits, all three coming in different innings. A single in the second inning from Max Anderson, one in the eighth from Gunner Hellstrom and another from Cam Chick in the ninth were the only three hits in this game from Nebraska.

While the Huskers struggled to hit the ball, they also didn’t find a way to get on base very often. With three hits, they only had seven runners get on base in the entire game, and three of those guys got into scoring position.

A big part of the inability to get on was the amount of strikeouts NU had in this game. nine of the 27 outs in the game came from Big Red batters striking out. Jaxon Hallmark and Spencer Schwellenbach, two of the better hitters on the Nebraska team, struck out twice in this game and had no hits. Hallmark was 0-4 from the plate and Schwellenbach was 0-2 with two walks.

This loss was not only the first series loss of the season for the Huskers, but it was also the first time they have been swept by a conference opponent since 2016, at Michigan. On top of that, this is the first time that NU has been swept at home since 2009 when Missouri came to Lincoln and took all three games. After just getting ranked nationally this week, the Big Red will be frustrated that this is the way their first ranked series went.

Nebraska will head to Rutgers’ home city of Piscataway, New Jersey next weekend to play four games in a pod series against both the Scarlet Knights and Indiana. The Huskers will play Indiana on Saturday, then a doubleheader against both teams on Sunday and Rutgers on Monday.

All four games can be streamed on BTN+ and heard on Husker Sports Network.