Nebraska falls apart late to drop game one to Rutgers

The Nebraska baseball team (20-8) gave up seven runs in the final two innings to lose game one to Rutgers (15-13) 9-4. The Huskers will have to win the following two games in the series to keep the series win streak alive.

The NU offense got out to a quick start in this game once again, but they didn’t do as much damage as they would have hoped. In the first inning, a leadoff walk followed by a bunt single and a throwing error put the Big Red up early. Three straight ground balls to the infield ended up in Nebraska not scoring a runner from third and leading by a slim 1-0 margin.

Starting the game from the mound was Cade Povich, who cruised through the first two innings with no hits allowed and one strikeout. In the third inning however, Povich got into trouble when he walked a man and allowed four base hits that scored two runs. The lefty got out of the jam with just two runs allowed, but the Huskers no longer had the lead.

In the bottom of the third, Joe Acker led off with a line drive to center field that was misread by the center fielder and it ended in an inside the park home run to tie the game. NU regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth after the defense shut out a couple more innings and a Jaxon Hallmark solo home run.

Cade Povich ended his day after five innings with two runs allowed on six hits and he struck out two. In to relieve in the sixth was Jake Bunz who pitched two innings and started out the next inning.

The eighth inning was when things fell apart for the Big Red. Jake Bunz started the inning with a walk, and he was taken off the mound for Cam Wynne. The junior hit a batter and walked another to load the bases, then hit another to allow a run. A sacrifice fly ball gave the Scarlet Knights the lead, and two more runs were driven in before the Wynne was taken off the mound for Max Schreiber. The senior retired the last batter, but RU had already taken a 6-3 lead.

In the ninth inning, Rutgers tacked on another run with a bases loaded hit-by-pitch. Caleb Feekin took the mound after that and he allowed two runners to score before he got out of the inning. Nebraska was able to score one run in the bottom of the ninth on a sacrifice fly ball, but it was too little too late.

The Husker bullpen fell apart in the final two innings of this game. Holding on to a slim 3-2 lead, Cam Wynne was brought into the game with a runner on first and no outs in the eighth inning. The junior walked one batter and hit another to load the bases, then proceeded to hit another batter to tie the game. The Scarlet Knights took advantage and scored three more with a with a sacrifice fly, a double and an infield ground out.

The following inning was a struggle as well. After Max Schreiber came in to finish the eighth inning, he started the ninth inning with a ground out. A base hit, an infield error and an infield single loaded the bases for Schreiber to hit a batter and drive in a run. RU then singled and hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 9-3 and put an exclamation point on the bullpen’s struggles.

While the bullpen did have their problems, the offense was also struggling to break the game open. Throughout the game, NU scored on two big hits that both ended as home runs and an error. The Big Red went 0-6 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners stranded.

Last weekend, the team saw offensive struggles, but they were able to make up for it on defense. Today, the defense was unable to keep the Scarlet Knights off the board, so the result was different.

Nebraska will play game two of the series tomorrow, starting at 4:00 p.m. The final game of the series is on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.

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