Husker pitching folds down the stretch in 14-8 loss
The Nebraska (6-6) offense came out hot, but the pitching and defense faltered down the stretch against Cal Poly (6-7) in a 14-8 loss on Thursday afternoon.
Nebraska pitching ended with three hit batters, walked 10 batters and only recorded four strikeouts in 203 pitches by six different pitchers. The Huskers now have five pitchers with over an 11.50 ERA. NU also had three errors in today’s game, which brings the total to 19 errors on the season.
“This is as bad as its been,” head coach Darin Erstad said. “Respecting the game of baseball, you need to take care of that little round thing and we obviously didn’t do that at a very high level today.”
“The season goes on and you need to grind it out,” senior DH Zac Repinski said. “It’s important that the young guys are able to grow up. Being an upperclassman you need to make sure you can teach them things and allow them to grow and give them some advice.”
Nebraska junior catcher Jesse Wilkening continues to light it up from home plate. After sophomore left fielder Mojo Hagge was walked and Repinski hit a single, Wilkening hit a two-RBI single to give NU a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Cal Poly would respond as freshman infielder Tate Samuelson hit his second homerun of the season to cut the lead 2-1. Cal Poly senior outfielder Colby Barrick advance to first after being hit by a pitch. Poly would record back-to-back singles to tie the game up at two. The Mustangs junior outfielder Alex McKenna would ground out to shortstop, but Cal Poly would take a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the second.
NU would respond in the as senior shortstop Brison Cronenbold and Hagge would record back-to-back singles. Repinski would blast a two-RBI double to left field to take a 4-3 lead. Husker junior third baseman Angelo Altavilla was walked and then Wilkening comes up big-time with a RBI single up the middle. Repinski finished the day 4-for-5 from the plate with two RBI.
“I’ve been feeling good. I feel like I’m seeing the ball really well,” Repinski said. “Right now, it’s more important that we can scrabble together some wins.”
Nebraska junior pitcher Matt Waldron’s day was done to start off the fourth inning. He ended his day with 3 IP, 3 ER, two walks and two strikeouts. Freshman pitcher Keegan Watson replaced him.
After the Huskers put up another run in the fourth, the Mustangs would strike back in the fifth inning. Junior infielder Kyle Marinconz singled to start off the inning. Watson would follow that up by throwing a wild pitch and then Samuelson grounded out to second, but that allowed Marinconz to score.
NU wouldn’t go down easy as back-to-back singles by Repinski and Altavilla gave the Huskers some energy. Senior outfielder Scott Schreiber came up big as he smashed a two-RBI double down the left field line to give NU an 8-4 lead.
Things unraveled in the top of the seventh inning as the Mustangs were able to take advantage of NU junior pitcher Mike Waldron and get bases-loaded with only one out. Waldron proceeded to walk the next batter, which brought in another run for Cal Poly. The Mustangs were able to tack on three more runs the next at-bat after throwing errors by first baseman Luke Roskam and shortstop Cronenbold.
After having 12 hits in the first six innings of the game, NU didn’t have a hit in the last three innings. Meanwhile, the Mustangs put up 10 runs in the last three innings.
“There’s some guys that don’t have experience,” Erstad said. “That’s the hand we are dealt right now. We need to find a way to make it work and we are going to do it.”
Husker pitchers combined to throw 203 pitches during Thursday’s loss. This is NU’s first time losing a home opener since 1978.
Nebraska returns to action on Friday at 1:35 p.m with Luis Alvarado (0-1, 16.1 IP, 20 K) on the mound.
“I’m not going to concede anything. We are going to find a way to win games and find a way to get these guys to pitch on a consistent basis,” Erstad said.