Nebraska shuts out Michigan State to win game 1

The Nebraska baseball team (19-6) shutout Michigan State (11-16) to take game one of the three-game series 4-0. Seven hits from the Huskers scored the four runs and the defense did the rest.

The NU offense was got on the board in the fourth inning after getting struck out six times in the first three innings. After Joe Acker was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, he advanced on a fly ball to deep right field. Spencer Schwellenbach drove him home and broke the deadlock. The junior later scored after a base hit from Cam Chick and a hard hit ball in the infield from Max Anderson.

The bats continued in the fifth inning and this time Joe Acker drove in a run with a double in the left center field gap. Jaxon Hallmark hit a single to put runners on the corners, and an infield error on Schwellenbach’s ground ball to shortstop scored one more and doubled the Big Red lead.

Cade Povich was on the mound to start the game and he was dealing. The junior pitched seven shutout innings allowing just four hits and striking out five. The most dangerous chance for the Spartans came in the sixth inning, when an error, a walk and a base hit loaded the bases. With one out, Povich forced a ground ball that ended up as a double play to get Nebraska out of the jam.

Jake Bunz came in to relieve Povich in the eighth inning and he didn’t miss a beat. The junior pitched the final two innings giving up just one hit and striking out three batters. Bunz walked no Spartans and his close finished the fourth shutout of the season for the Huskers.

Cade Povich was keeping MSU from scoring in every way he could. The junior only allowed four hits in his seven innings pitched and let eight runners on base. When he got into tough moments, he didn’t panic. In the sixth inning, with the bases loaded, Povich forced a double play that got him out of the inning. Another opportunity for Michigan State came in the third inning when two ground outs advanced a runner to third, but Povich forced another ground out to get out of the inning.

Jake Bunz took the mound and continued the impressive pitching. Bunz struck out three of the seven batters he faced and only gave up one hit. The pitching in this game was huge when the offense wasn’t as dominant as they have been in other games.

NU had two batters that were hit by pitches, and both scored. When the Spartans allowed runners on base, the Big Red took advantage. Joe Acker was hit in the fourth inning to lead it off, and he was driven in by Spencer Schwellenbach. In the next inning, Griffin Everitt was hit with two outs and Acker drove him in.

Not only did Nebraska take advantage of mistakes, but they limited damage when they made mistakes. In the sixth inning, the Huskers made two errors, but a double play saw them escape unharmed.

NU will play game two of the three-game series tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. Game three is scheduled to start at 11:05 a.m. on Sunday.

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