Huskers leave 14 runners stranded in second-round loss to Iowa
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Nebraska got a strong combined pitching effort from Derek Burkamper and Matt Waldron, but Iowa left-hander Ryan Erickson dealt one knockout blow after another for 7.2 innings to shut out the Huskers 2-0 in Friday's second round of the Big Ten tournament.
Nebraska (35-19-1, 1-1 Big Ten tourney) wasn’t able to capitalize on 12 hits, being held scoreless for the first time since a 1-0 loss to Oklahoma State on March 3. The Huskers will turn around and play fourth-seeded Maryland in an elimination game tonight at approximately 8:30 p.m. CT.
NU threatened to tack runs on the board in the first three innings, getting multiple runners on base and in scoring position. Perhaps the best chance came in the third, when Jake Meyers and Angelo Altavilla hit back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners with no outs.
But Scott Schreiber, who has been lethal all year against lefties, started a streak of three straight empty at-bats with a strikeout before Ben Miller and Luis Alvarado were retired on a strikeout and a fielder’s choice, respectively. The empty inning stranded the fourth and fifth of Nebraska’s tournament-high 14 runners left on base.
In the bottom of the third, Iowa made Nebraska pay for coming up empty in the top frame. Left fielder Chris Whelan blasted the only home run of the day out of the park in left, aided by a healthy wind over Alvarado’s head. Just as Iowa had given him a lead, Erickson began to deal, limiting the Huskers to just a hit per inning over the next four frames.
The Hawkeyes would add some insurance in the bottom of the fifth, forging a two-out rally to single in the second earned run off Burkamper. Nebraska’s senior finished with a final line of six hits, two runs, three strikeouts, and four walks over 5.0 innings in what will likely be the final Big Ten start of his career.
“Derek pitched fantastic,” Nebraska head coach Darin Erstad said after the game. “Great angles, good life on his fastball, breaking ball was sharp, worked ahead in the count for the most part, and there was really no pressure at any time. He controlled the game.
“They got one up the middle off the end of the bat and hit a pitch up and in and out of the park, and that was it. But other than that, I thought he did a great job.”
Unless Iowa wins the conference tournament, Friday will almost certainly be the last start of Erickson’s career. He finished it in marvelous fashion, scattering 10 hits and allowing no runs over 7.2 innings, striking out six. But Nebraska was just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“He did a good job of mixing it up,” Nebraska outfielder Jake Meyers said. “We had opportunities … It’s frustrating, but it happens. Like Coach said, we’ve got to bounce back. (The next game) is a big one.”
After a two-out rally was thwarted with the bases loaded in the eighth, Nebraska had another chance to tie it in the ninth. Leadoff pinch-hitter Luke Roskam advanced on a hit-by-pitch, but back-to-back fielder’s choice outs had the Huskers down to their final chance. Schreiber and Miller responded to the challenge with a pair of singles to load the bases.
With a chance to tie the game with a two-run single, Alvarado came to the plate to face Iowa pitching replacement Josh Martsching. But the Husker junior took a 1-1 pitch looking and just missed on a 1-2 fastball, giving Martsching his second save of the tournament.
The win was Iowa’s third of the year against Nebraska, making the Hawkeyes the only team to beat the Huskers three times in 2017.
“I know that we match up well because both of our teams play really hard,” Iowa coach Rick Heller said of Nebraska. “We’ve just been fortunate enough to get the breaks or get the hit, and it was the ball game pretty much just like that.”
Nebraska right-handed sophomore Ethan Frazier will take the mound against Maryland tonight, a change from the original plan to pitch Meyers. The winner of that elimination game will advance to face Northwestern on Saturday.