Frank leads Nebraska to a 2-0 win over Northwestern State in first start

The Husker baseball (2-6) team starts a four-game weekend series with a bang as they defeated Northwestern State (3-6) 2-0 behind right-handed pitcher Koty Frank in an electric first start.

Frank faced a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the 2nd as first-baseman Gray Rowlett crushed a double and then stole third base. The right-handed pitched walked Gabe Colaianni and Cam Sibley on a bunt that got away from catcher Griffin Everitt that was ruled to have hit Sibley.

With the bases loaded, Nebraska's infielders earned a double play with shortstop Brice Matthews flipping it to Efry Cervantes at second who gunned it to Colby Gomes at first.

At the plate, the Demon's defense sat down the first eight Huskers. Left-handed pitcher Cal Carver, who grew up in Lincoln, Neb. until he was 10 years old, had a solid outing with eight strikeouts, seven hits and two runs.

Cervantes sparked the offense in the top of the 3rd with a double to left field but was thrown out at third for a double play after Matthews hit a single to shortstop.

Frank went to work in the remaining innings. He and NU's defense retired seven consecutive batters as Frank threw four strikeouts in three innings.

Nebraska's bats woke up in the top of the 6th when Matthews, who went 2-for-4 during the game, hit a single to left field and stole second. Everitt then launched a ball over the left-field fence for a 2-run home run, his first homer of the season.

While Cam Chick and Leighton Banjoff hit singled in the same inning, Nebraska couldn't get any more runs in.

In the bottom of the 7th, Frank struck out Miguel Vega and Colainni but walked Sibley. With his pitching count at 90, interim coach Lance Harvell replaced Frank with left-handed pitcher Emmett Olson.

Olson got a quick out as Larson Fontenot popped up a ball to Matthews, who caught it for the third out. The pitcher followed Frank's tone and struck out three batters in 2.1 innings, going 1-2-3 in the 8th and 9th innings.

Harvell was heading the Huskers in the first game of the doubleheader as Head Coach Will Bolt was ejected at the end of the TCU game after a controversial call that ended the game. Bolt was required to not coach the next game by rule.

The Huskers earned their second win of the season after dropping three games to TCU in the previous weekend series and losing three of four to Sam Houston in the opening weekend.

Frank got the ball to start for the first time as a Husker. Before Frank, Nebraska's starting pitchers have struggled to go deep into the game. Kyle Perry had NU's longest start by a pitcher with 4.1 innings in the first game against TCU.

Now, Frank holds the longest outing for the Huskers and potentially lockdown down a starting job. Based on the pitching Nebraska has displayed this season, Frank will likely battle for a starting job each week.

The right-hander sparked Nebraska by winning the first game of the series and his strike-throwing was contagious to Olson, who has been one of NU's best relief pitchers.

Frank told the media on Wednesday that he's not much of a strike-thrower but will entice batters to hit easily fieldable balls for fielders to get outs. Third-baseman Max Anderson confirmed the infield was prepared for that aspect of Frank's pitching.

Nebraska's defense didn't have an error. The one potential mistake was when Matthews double-clutched a grounder and didn't throw out the running at first fast enough.

Outfielders Banjoff and Luke Sartori both had great catches. Sartori laid out in center field, losing his sunglasses and hat, to get the first out of the 3rd inning. In the bottom of the 9th, Banjoff also laid out for a ball but caught it perfectly with his glove facing out with the ball visible.

Hopefully, Nebraska's defense can carry over its momentum into the three remaining games of the series.

The Huskers take on UT Arlington at 3 p.m. on Friday in the second game of their doubleheader as Perry gets the start. Bolt will be allowed to coach the second game.

NU returns to Clay Gould Ball Park at the University of Texas at Arlington on Saturday to play Northwestern State again at 11 a.m. and UT Arlington at 3 p.m.

All of the games can be heard on Huskers Radio Network.