Huskers drop a rough third game to Beavers, 17-1

The Arizona warmth did nothing to warm up the bats of the Huskers, as some solid hitting from Oregon State and subpar pitching from the Nebraska pen pushed the final score to 17-1. The Beavers remain undefeated at 7-0, while Nebraska drops to 3-4.

The first few innings were close between the Huskers and Beavers, but it was two back-to-back solid innings from the defending national champions that put the game out of reach and sucked the life out of the Big Red bench. Kyler McMahan (4-for-5 today) started things off in the 3rd with a double, then preseason player of the year Adley Rutschman singled through the left gap to make it 2-0. Beau Philip doubled for his second RBI right after, and the avalanche ensued. Five in the 3rd and four in the 4th made it a double-digit game.

Oregon State was solid all the way through, with 17 runs on 18 hits. Five doubles and plenty of opportunities for extra bases on Husker mistakes made the game quite easy for them. The Beavers also heated back up in the 8th, putting up a four-spot. Beau Philip and Joe Casey both had 2 RBIs. Oregon state batted .480 when runners were in scoring position, compared to a lackluster .143 for the Big Red, a critical showing of why this game was so out of reach.

After the top of the 1st, where the Huskers couldn’t convert with bases loaded and two outs, there wasn’t much to hold onto. Cam Chick had the only RBI today, and nobody in the lineup went for more than one hit.

Spencer Schwellenbach had another tough day, going 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. Angelo Altavilla shared in the frustration, striking out twice and ending the game empty in four at-bats.

Greg Sharpe and Ben McLaughlin put it best: “This game can make you feel alone out there.”

A lot of Husker pitchers felt alone and astray as the five Huskers who went on the mound all had struggles. It started with Fisher who got through only three innings, allowing six runs on eight hits with three walks. His first two innings weren’t terrible, but the third is where things fell apart. He was able to get out of a squeeze with a strikeout to leave three on base.

Byron Hood came in for a short stint, only three batters. He had two earned runs after two walks. Max Schreiber came in to finish the 4th, where he allowed two more runs, one on a wild pitch.

Ethan Frazier had the better of the Huskers on the mound, with a three up, three down 5th. He only allowed one hit in the sixth, but because of a balk, Oregon State got another run. Two wild pitches in a row ended his night. It certainly kept with a theme of poor execution across the board.

Paul Tillotson was the final pitcher and he struggled through the last two innings. Three earned runs, a hit by pitch, and a bad error that gave the Beavers another run spelled doom, but he was bailed out on a 5-4-3 double play. Nate Fisher officially earned the loss, putting him at 1-1 on the season.

Sam Tweedt earned the win with six innings pitched for the Beavers. Five strikeouts for him including immaculate 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings pushed him to his first win. Jake Pfennigs and Andrew Walling closed out the final three.

The Huskers will finish off the series tomorrow on another fair day in Arizona, looking to prevent the sweep. First pitch is set early, a 10 am CST start. Once again, you can listen on the Husker Sports Network (AM 590, 1400).

PROBABLE GAME 4 PITCHERS: RHP Colby Gomes (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Grant Gambrell (0-0)