Huskers sputter against Yale ace, drop regional opener
For the first time all season, Nebraska decided to go with its best pitcher against an opposition’s Friday starter. But for a third consecutive regional opener, the bats couldn’t provide the run support to pull out a win.
Nebraska (35-21-1) fell into the elimination side of the Corvallis Regional with Friday’s 5-1 loss to Yale, a defeat to the tune of a rough start from lefty Jake Meyers and a complete game from Bulldog right-hander Scott Politz. For the first time since an early March loss to Oklahoma State, the Huskers failed to get multiple runners past second base.
“As a whole, we weren't good enough,” Nebraska head coach Darin Erstad said in his postgame radio show on the Husker Sports Network. "That's really frustrating."
Yale (33-16) ignited some of that frustration by applying heavy pressure from the start. The Bulldogs loaded the bases on three singles in the top of the first inning and drove two in on a single by first baseman Griffin Dey.
Meyers was able to limit the damage from there and scored the Huskers’ only run in the next frame, a short jog home after a Luis Alvarado RBI single that cut the lead to 2-1. But a leadoff home run in the top of the second pushed Yale’s lead back to two and kept the Huskers at bay.
Nebraska’s offensive threat seemed to end after the first inning. The Huskers didn’t record a hit with less than two outs in the final eight innings of the game, suffering from Politz’s ability to work the strike zone and decisions to swing in early counts.
“We had no answer for (Politz’s) little cutter thing away and we just kept rolling it over,” Erstad said. “It’s been one of our bugaboos for most of the season and it reared its ugly head today. It stings; it’s tough to handle.”
Meyers was able to settle down after the first time through the order, but the Bulldogs worked long counts against the Husker junior. Meyers had thrown 64 pitches through just 2.1 innings, and finished with 98 offerings after giving up five runs in one of the toughest outings of his career.
Robbie Palkert closed out the game after replacing Meyers in the sixth, lasting 3.1 innings (his second straight appearance with at least three innings) and allowing just three hits and no runs on his own line. But the Husker offense seemed to lose more and more confidence as the game wore on, managing just two hits over those final four innings and providing no run support to the junior reliever.
In three NCAA regional openers under Erstad, Nebraska has scored just two runs over 27 innings. The Huskers will look to get their first NCAA tournament win since 2014 when they take on the loser of Oregon State and Holy Cross. That elimination game is scheduled for 3 p.m. (CT) Saturday.
“I can’t say we get outcompeted very often,” Erstad said.
"We got outcompeted today."