Huskers take care of business in a sweep of the Spartans

The Nebraska baseball team (11-7, 3-0) got their first conference sweep since 2017, defeating the visiting Michigan State Spartans (3-18, 0-3) by a score of 6-2. After getting two wins against the Spartans on Friday, the Huskers came out on Sunday looking to come away with a 3-0 record in conference play.

The scoring got started in the bottom of the fourth for the Huskers when Cam Chick lined a ball into right field, scoring Colby Gomes and giving Nebraska the early 1-0 lead. The inning was capped off by a two-RBI triple from center fielder Joe Acker, giving the Huskers a 3-0 advantage heading into the fifth.

Nebraska would add three more runs in the fifth after a pair of RBI singles from Jaxon Hallmark and Joe Acker made the score 5-0. A wild pitch from Michigan State allowed Hallmark to score and that would be all the offense the Huskers could come up with the rest of the way.

The Spartans didn't roll over after the Huskers took the lead, however. A two-run home run by pinch hitter Casey Mayes cut the Husker lead down to four and the Spartans threatened again in the ninth inning. With two runners on and the tying run on deck, freshman pitcher Shay Schanaman came on to get the save and preserve the sweep for Nebraska.

Infielder Cam Chick provided the spark that the Huskers needed in the 6-2 win. Chick recorded an RBI single in the fourth inning as well as a run scored in both the fourth and fifth. The two runs scored by Chick puts him at 13 on the year, good enough for third on the team behind Mojo Hagge and Aaron Palensky, who both have 14.

Head coach Darin Erstad has been impressed with Chick and the way he has shown a lot of fight in some early adversity. "You could just see he was going a gazillion miles an hour early on," Erstad recalled. "Then, we took him out of the lineup. It's very easy for a young kid to pout, not work, start pointing fingers and all he did was get to work. He just kept working on defense, kept working on hitting and then, he was ready for his opportunity when it came."

The opening conference series against Michigan State showed just how dangerous this bullpen can be when it's pitchers are on. Between the three starters - Matt Waldron, Nate Fischer, and Reece Eddins - they went for a combined 21.1 IP, allowing only two runs on eight hits and 13 strikeouts. What might even be more impressive is the fact that only one Spartan batter was walked by the three of the starters the entire weekend.

Eddins says he and his teammates enjoy the competition between the starters and points to series like this that can bring out the best in each other. "It's just a big team effort to try and put out the best that we can do," Eddins explained.

We'll always kind of just give each other crap, or whatever, and just have fun with it. We're always pulling for one another so, it's awesome. It's a good team feeling."

The win on Sunday for Eddins improves his record to 1-2 on the year with an ERA of 6.19.

The Nebraska baseball team returns to action this Tuesday against in-state rival Creighton Bluejays (10-5). First pitch for the midweek game is scheduled for 8:00 PM.

Keep a close eye on the day and time of this one, as a win by the Husker basketball team this evening could adjust the scheduling of the game, although no official word has been given.