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baseball Edit

Huskers fall 6-5 in series finale against Illinois

Nebraska baseball fell to Illinois 6-5 on Sunday afternoon in the weekend's series finale.

Sunday's game marks the second-straight series loss to a Big Ten opponent for the Huskers as they now sit at 12-6 in conference play.

Illinois got things rolling first at Haymarket Park, with their first run crossing home plate in the top of the third inning. Their bats stayed hot as they added two more runs in the fourth.

In the sixth, two more Illini hits resulted in another run, making the score 4-0 in advantage of the Huskers' visiting Big Ten opponent. But Nebraska wouldn't be put down easily and the team showed signs of life in the bottom of that same inning.

A single from senior Mojo Hagge brought junior Luke Roskam across home plate to give the Huskers their first run of the day.

Nebraska's offensive production continued into the seventh inning with three more Husker runs tying the game at 4-4.

But the productive seventh inning that tied the game wouldn't be enough as two more runs gave Illinois the 6-4 advantage heading into the bottom of the final inning. The Huskers showed signs of a rally with sophomore Aaron Palensky scoring on an RBI single from freshman Cam Chick. But the comeback attempt fell short as the final out of the inning sealed the series win for Illinois.

Game 3 ended with the Huskers combining for five runs on nine hits in 34 at-bats. NU also left 11 runners on base at the conclusion of nine innings played.

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Seventh inning production sparks rally which falls short

After five innings of cold bats, the Huskers found their offensive rhythm late in the six, with a hit from senior Mojo Hagge sparking things for the team.

The run, scored by junior Luke Roskam, gave the Huskers momentum heading into the seventh inning.

Senior Mike Waldron took to the mound to help get Nebraska out of the inning, not allowing any runs or hits in his four batters faced. The quick outs allowed the Huskers to head back to the plate to continue the success they began the inning before.

The seventh started with senior Alex Henwood and sophomore Aaron Palensky making it on base after both were walked early in the bottom of the inning. Both runners stole their next base to get in scoring position for the Huskers with only one out recorded. Roskam then advanced to first on a walk to load the bases, further shifting momentum in favor of NU.

Junior Joe Acker was next at the plate and drilled a single to center field to bring both Palenskey and Henwood in to score and decrease the team's deficit to one run.

But Nebraska wasn't done.

Freshman Cam Chick added onto the production with an RBI single, allowing Roskam to cross home plate to tie the game at four runs apiece.

The productive two innings sparked a rally that couldn't carry over to the eighth and ninth as the Huskers fell by one run at the conclusion of the game.

Pitching rundown

The Huskers traditional series closer in Reece Eddins started on the mound on Sunday morning. Over 4.1 innings pitched the senior allowed three runs on three hits while also walking two batters.

Early in the fifth inning, freshman Shay Schanaman relieved Eddins at the mound after letting runners reach the corners with only one out. Schanaman was able to get the Huskers out of the inning without allowing another run to cross home plate.

Schanaman stayed on the mound for a total of 1.2 innings and in that time allowed one run on two hits. The freshman pitcher also struck out two batters without recording a walk.

At the top of the seventh inning, senior Mike Waldron took to the mound to pitch one full inning for NU. The senior didn't allow any runs, but allowed one hit in the inning. At the top of the eighth, Waldron was retired as freshman Colby Gomes entered the game.

Gomes put in a full two innings of work on Sunday afternoon after taking over for Waldron at the mound in the eighth. In the top of the eighth, the freshman didn't allow a run or a hit.

In the ninth, though, Illinois hit a single to start the inning before hitting a double which extended the Illini lead to 6-4. Gomes got out of the inning leaving one runner on base, but the damage was already done as the Huskers would fall to Illinois by one run.

Quotable: Junior Mojo Hagge on team's fight

“It says a lot about this team. We’re not going to give up, we’re here to play, and it doesn’t matter what the score is we’re going to compete."
— Mojo Hagge

Up next: Northwestern University

The Huskers get some much-needed rest this week as they don't play again until the weekend.

On May 4, NU will head to Evanston, Illinois, to face off with Northwestern in another Big Ten Conference series. The series begins on Saturday afternoon and will wrap up on Monday.

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