Huskers flatten Nevada to complete rare sweep
LINCOLN, Neb. - On the first full weekend of picturesque weather at Haymarket Park this season, Nebraska adopted a fittingly beautiful brand of baseball.
After clinching the series Friday, the Huskers struck early and often Saturday to emphatically complete a series sweep of Mountain West-leading Nevada.
Luis Alvarado allowed just two hits in 8.0 innings and Scott Schreiber knocked his 16th home run of the year to pace Nebraska to the 12-5 win and first series sweep of the year. The Huskers built leads of 8-0 and 12-1 before a spurt from Nevada in the ninth, but the result was never in doubt after the first two innings.
“I thought they looked relaxed,” head coach Darin Erstad said. “When you're ahead, you can be more relaxed, and I thought overall it was solid.”
The Huskers set a season high in attendance for the second straight day, and the bats gave the crowd of 5,163 something to cheer about early and often. NU drove in two runs in the first off the bats of Luke Roskam and Gunner Hellstrom to build a 2-0 lead.
Following Alvarado’s second hitless frame, the offense broke the game open in the bottom of the second inning. A single and a walk set the stage for a Mojo Hagge RBI to make it 3-0. In the very next at-bat with two runners on, Schreiber fought off 10 pitches before belting his 42nd career home run, passing Erstad to move into fifth on Nebraska’s all-time list.
Comfortable with a 6-0 lead, Alvarado turned up the pressure on a Nevada hitting lineup averaging near .300. Nebraska’s senior right-hander whipped in fastball after fastball, touching 92 miles per hour as late as the eighth inning. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before a leadoff single by Jaylan McLaughlin broke up the career day.
Alvarado’s line finished at 94 pitches with just one run allowed on two hits. The senior struck out three, hit two and did not allow a walk.
“I was feeling pretty good warming up,” Alvarado said. “(The offense) gave me a chance to be more comfortable and use more fastballs - that's my go-to pitch - and that's thanks to them.”
By the time Nevada finally got on the board with a solo shot in the top of the seventh, Nebraska had put up eight runs. In the bottom of the seventh, the Huskers poured it on even more, loading up the bases and driving in four runs to extend to a 12-1 lead.
The Wolf Pack provided some fireworks in the top of the ninth, but by that time, Nebraska’s senior pitcher had returned to the dugout and a sizable portion of the crowd had made the trek to the parking lot.
The win marked Nebraska’s first sweep since a walk-off win over Rutgers last season. It also matched a season-high three-game winning streak from early March.
“It's obviously a good confidence boost,” Schreiber said. "We were able to play all three facets of the game these last three games pretty well, see our potential, see what we can do. Hopefully we can just build off this and continue to get better each and every day."
Sputtering at 4-9 in the Big Ten, a series sweep over a good Nevada team may have surprised even the Husker players. With three weekends to go in conference play, the Huskers may need to recapture the same lightning they showed this weekend if they want to paint Omaha red for the Big Ten tournament.
With finals week on the horizon, Nebraska will not play a midweek game until May 8. The Huskers return to action next Friday for a series with Maryland at Haymarket Park.