Huskers suffer 17-9 loss in Game 2 against the Hawkeyes

The Nebraska baseball team dropped its second game of the series, 17-9, against Iowa on Saturday afternoon. The Huskers were steamrolled by the Hawkeyes in a game marked by pitching struggles and errors.

Senior pitcher Nate Fisher was the on the mound for NU, and immediately found success going nine up, nine down in the first three innings. Both teams traded runs, and were tied at three heading into the bottom of the fifth. It was all downhill from there, though, as the Huskers gave up eight runs in the second half of the fifth inning to give Iowa a monstrous, 11-3, lead.

Nebraska continued to struggle, as Iowa tacked on five more runs to make it a 16-5 game by the end of the sixth inning. NU got things under control in the last few innings of play, even making a surge in ninth with a three-run home run from senior Angelo Altavilla. The Huskers ended the 17-9 loss with nine runs on 12 hits and three errors committed.

The loss drops the Huskers to 21-13 overall and 10-4 in the Big Ten Conference.

Everything came crumbling down for the Huskers in the bottom of the fifth inning as Iowa's bats got hot and Nebraska's pitching went cold. The Hawkeyes scored eight runs on seven hits and got 11 consecutive men on base to take the 11-3 lead after five.

In the top half of the inning, NU found success at the plate tying the game up at three with two home runs from freshman Spencer Schwellenbach and sophomore Aaron Palensky.

In the second half of the inning, senior pitcher Nate Fisher secured a strikeout for out No. 1 as he continued his pitching success. The second out came quickly as well on a ground out to short stop. But things changed fast as the Hawkeyes hit a two-run double and a two-run home run before Fisher was relieved at the mound.

Senior Mike Waldron took over for his fellow senior but faced struggles of his own as Iowa scored four runs off of four hits in just five batters faced.

Waldron left the game with the Hawkeyes up 10-3, as freshman Max Schreiber entered the game to try and get the Huskers out of the inning. The freshman allowed one more run before recording a strikeout, but the damage was done as Iowa took a 11-3 lead after five.

The Huskers 17-6 loss in Iowa City was marked with pitching changes and struggles at the mound.

The six pitchers to make appearances in Saturday's game combined to allow 17 runs off of 17 hits as Iowa's bats were hot throughout the game.

Senior Nate Fisher pitched a flawless three first innings going nine up, nine down to start the game before allowing four runs to cross home plate in the fifth inning. Senior Mike Waldron relieved Fisher at the mound but allowed four runs on four hits before being replaced by freshman Max Schreiber who also allowed a Hawkeye to score.

Freshman Tyler Martin, junior Chad Luensmann and senior Ethan Frazier also made appearances on the mound and the three combined to allow six Iowa runs in 21 batters faced.

The Huskers will play Game 3 of the series against the Hawkeyes tomorrow in Iowa City. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.

Following this weekend's series, NU will play in-state opponent, Creighton, in a midweek game on Tuesday evening. The last meeting between the two resulted in a Husker loss on April 9.