Grand slams, silent bats sink Huskers in Wichita

FINAL STATS

WICHITA, Kan. - By the time the offense fell victim to a line out double play with no outs in the seventh, the evidence was in place that this was not Nebraska’s day.

A fourth-inning grand slam by Mason O’Brien, a seventh-inning grandy bomb by Alec Bohm and a 2-for-18 clip with runners on base spelled the demise of the Huskers in a 9-1 loss to Wichita State Friday afternoon.

The clear and windy day saw a stiff breeze blowing out to left, but O’Brien’s homer snuck over the right field wall near the foul pole to erase an otherwise strong start by right-hander Luis Alvarado.

Despite giving up their second-fewest number of hits this season and walking just four batters, the Husker hurlers threw bad pitches at bad times. Wichita State knocked their 10th and 11th home runs of the season, while Nebraska finished 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

The offense narrowly missed scoring opportunities in the first, second and third innings and never got it going from there, falling on the sword in the loss and victim to Nebraska’s worst scoring margin after seven innings this season.

“We had a couple opportunities early - Jesse (Wilkening) smokes a ball, guy makes a nice play,” head coach Darin Erstad said. “We just didn’t get anything going, and then defensively … they took advantage of our mistakes, and then we had a couple young pitchers learn that you can’t pitch from behind and give up free bases.”

In the midst of a hot start, Alvarado surrendered just one hit in the first three innings and notched the first out of the fourth against Wichita State All-American Grayson Jenista. Nebraska’s right-hander forced a pop-up from Bohm in the next at bat, but in the first big mistake of his college career, true freshman Jaxon Hallmark dropped a basket catch while running in on the shallow ball from center field, giving the Shockers just their second base runner.

One pitch later, Dayton Dugas singled before Luke Ritter crowded the plate for a four-pitch walk, bringing up O’Brien for his second opportunity of the game. The junior slapped his second of three hits on a career day, sneaking one over the wall near the right field foul pole for a grand slam.

At the worst time, the Huskers fell victim to a hot streak from Wichita State pitcher Codi Heuer. The junior right-hander sat down 11 of 12 batters thanks to a flurry of inside fastballs. The middle innings crushed Nebraska’s morale as Wichita State padded its lead in the fifth to make it 5-0.

“We had a good at bat here, a good at bat there, but we’re not stringing them together,” Erstad said. “We haven’t gelled obviously as a unit, and we have to start stringing good at bats together and that’s not happening.”

Nebraska’s last major threat came in the seventh when Hallmark poked a leadoff single and Jeff Athey walked to give the Huskers two baserunners with no outs.

But in a cruel twist of fate, Zac Repinski lined a hot shot straight into the glove of shortstop Jordan Boyer, who flipped it to second before Hallmark could tag. The 6-4 double play smothered the threat and left Nebraska scoreless.

The Shockers took advantage again in the bottom of the seventh, this time preying on freshman pitchers Keegan Watson and Andrew Abrahamowicz.

A single, two walks, a wild pitch and a sac bunt loaded the bases for Bohm against Abrahamowicz, and on the fifth pitch, the Omaha Roncalli grad blasted a no-doubter to the thoroughfare beyond left field. It was the first time in at least the Darin Erstad era - and likely several decades - that Nebraska gave up two grand slams in a game.

“Those guys have got to grow up on the fly and they’re going to take their lumps,” Erstad said. “Is everything ahead of the curve for them? Absolutely, but that’s the hand we’re dealt right now.”

The Huskers finally brought in a run in the top of the eighth to cut it to 9-1, which would be the final score.

Despite the demoralizing loss, the veteran portion of Nebraska’s pitching staff remains largely intact heading into the final two games of the weekend. Alvarado threw 89 pitches in 5.2 innings and will likely be ready to bat Saturday and Sunday. Top relievers Matt Waldron, Paul Tillotson and Zack Engelken did not throw any bullpen pitches.

The Huskers return to action against the Shockers Saturday, looking to force a rubber match in the weekend series. First pitch from WSU freshman Liam Eddy is set for 2:00 p.m. at Eck Stadium.

1st - The good turned bad and the bad turned ugly.

At the start of a sunny and breezy day, the Huskers seemed loose, prepared and unintimidated by the 6-0 Shockers. The first inning featured a one-out walk by Mojo Hagge, but Hagge got a late jump stealing second and was picked off by veteran catcher Gunnar Troutwine on the play. The very next pitch, Scott Schreiber knocked a double to the gap in right center that would've scored Hagge, likely even from first.

Alvarado came out dealing once again, and it was after his second strikeout of the All-American Jenista that you began to think he was preparing for a special day. One costly error, a single and a walk later and the bases were loaded. That's kind of how things felt all day for Nebraska, as seemingly each and every positive was eventually erased with a flurry of negative plays.

Things came to a boiling point in the bottom of the eighth inning, when five catchable pop-ups fell harmlessly to the turf after misjudged glove attempts. Erstad was furious and retreated into the dugout. There was a long team meeting in the outfield after the game. Here's guessing some of it had to do with the eighth inning.

2nd - The "what if?" question perpetuated after a bad luck day.

For a game with such a lopsided final score, the turning points were extremely significant. There were a handful of instances you could point to and say, "If this happened, Nebraska would have had a fighter's chance to win this game."

In the first inning, the pick off of Hagge snuffed out what would have been a 1-0 Nebraska lead in the top of the first inning. In the second, a leadoff double was followed by two questionable strikeout calls, one on a pitch that looked to be above Hallmark's shoulders and another on a check swing that didn't come close to breaking the plane. In the third, Angelo Altavilla saw a ball catch the wind and sail out to left, only to be snagged inches away from clearing the wall. Later in the inning, Wilkening had a chance to grab the lead, but a web gem in the right center gap robbed the Huskers of an RBI double.

There was perhaps no greater "what if" than the pop up in the fourth inning. Had Hallmark caught the ball, Alvarado would have continued his hot streak with his sixth straight put out. Instead of two outs with nobody on, the Shockers took advantage of the one-out, runner-in-scoring-position situation to put themselves in line for the grand slam that broke the game open.

3rd - The lights seemed to go out in the middle innings.

Erstad denied that he could sense some deflation with his players after the grand slam, but it looked like the life was taken out of the offense when the 4 went on the scoreboard. After the fourth inning, six of the next seven Husker batters went down with quiet at bats - and while Heuer had a good day on the mound, it wasn't like Nebraska was facing a world beater.

These droughts are obviously accentuated by the losses, but Nebraska can't afford to go completely cold in the crucial innings while trying to rally. The four-run deficit was surmountable, and even the five-run hole didn't have the game out of reach. By the time the Huskers went empty on six straight plate appearances, this game was as good as over.

Bringing it home - Nebraska looks to bounce back again.

The Huskers are 3-0 after losses this season, but this will be their toughest test yet against Wichita State star freshman pitcher Liam Eddy. Erstad preaches resilience and a pitch-by-pitch approach, which helps the team have a short memory. Solid bullpen management on Friday sets Nebraska up well for the weekend, but the Huskers can't afford to get swept in an RPI-building opportunity.

Aside from Bohm's grand slam, the two Shocker All-Americans were off their game today, which may bode negatively for Saturday and Sunday. If Wichita State can manhandle Nebraska with their two best players not at their peak, the Shockers become even more dangerous when those two are swinging well. By the same token, Nebraska's best offensive players were largely a non-factor Friday. If Nebraska can get what's needed out of Schreiber, Wilkening and Roskam, it will have a much better chance to force a rubber match on Sunday.