Huskers fall just short; NU swept by Creighton for first time
OMAHA, Neb. - It may have been a home run in just about any other ballpark in college baseball.
Instead, Jesse Wilkening’s deep fly ball to left fell just before the warning track in college baseball's mecca, TD Ameritrade Park.
A spirited Nebraska rally sputtered by mere inches as the Huskers couldn’t erase a late three-run deficit, falling 5-4 to Creighton and victim to a three-game sweep for the first time in series history.
The Interstate 80 rivalry had seen 139 games without a Bluejays sweep. The red team has dominated the series with a .620 winning percentage. But in 2018, it was Creighton that finally brought out the brooms against the traditional power in Lincoln.
“It does sting a little bit - getting swept by anyone stings a little bit,” said Husker outfielder Mojo Hagge, an Omaha native. “This year, I don't want to say they dominated us because they didn't; we've been competitive with them every time. So I think it was just good for us as a team to come out and compete.”
Looking for a cleaner effort than last month’s 12-9 loss against the Jays, the Huskers responded to adversity early and often. Facing a 1-0 deficit, Nebraska got its first hit courtesy of a Luke Roskam leadoff double in the second inning. Two batters later, freshman Jaxon Hallmark roped a single up the middle to score Roskam from third and tie the game at 1.
In a game that featured all eight Creighton hits going to the left side, the Huskers utilized the middle of the field to keep up.
Doing just enough to stay in a defensive struggle, two of Nebraska’s three hits through the first seven innings came on balls hit to right center, including Gunner Hellstrom’s game-tying sac fly in the sixth.
“Gunner’s been doing it at the plate since he started playing,” head coach Darin Erstad said. “At the end of the day, you do want to play well, you do want to win every game, but I like the way [the freshmen] are going about their business.”
For the strong play of Nebraska’s newcomers as the rally mounted, one lump for a freshman pitcher came in the eighth inning. Inheriting into a two-on, no-out situation (from Ben Klenke) in a tie ball game, Max Schreiber struggled with the middle of the Creighton lineup, committing a balk and allowing a lead-snatching sac fly before a 2-RBI single.
Trailing 5-2 in the eighth, however, the Huskers wouldn’t go down quietly. A leadoff walk paved the way a single and an RBI double by Wilkening. Hellstrom’s second RBI of the day brought in Scott Schreiber and made it a one-run game.
Nebraska put the pressure on again in the bottom of the ninth inning, drawing a leadoff walk and sacrificing Alex Henwood over to second base in a 5-4 deficit. Hagge singled up the middle to put runners on the corners with one out, but a three-pitch strikeout of Schreiber took the sac fly out of play.
On the very first pitch he saw, Wilkening smoked a slider to the pull side, but the catch on the warning track ended the furious Husker comeback.
“Jesse absolutely smoked that ball - their balls fell, ours didn't,” Erstad said. “Obviously you want to win every game, but we had good at bats and a chance there at the end. Didn't happen, now we've got to move on.”
With all non-conference games complete, Nebraska now turns its whole focus to the final two weeks of conference play. The Huskers host nationally ranked Indiana before hitting the road to face Illinois, likely needing two series wins to stay in the hunt for the Big Ten tournament.
Friday’s first pitch between the Huskers and Hoosiers is set for 6:35 p.m. at Haymarket Park.