After a tough loss in the season opener, the Nebraska baseball team (1-1) bounced back to beat Purdue (1-1) 7-2 in the seven inning Game 2 of the four-game series.
Graduate transfer Chance Hroch started off his Husker career strong. The senior pitched his first five innings without giving up a run and only gave up five hits. The sixth inning was a little shakier for Hroch, where he gave up three hits for two runs, but by that point, the Big Red offense had done their job.
The Nebraska bats looked like they might have the same struggles they had in Game 1 when they left four men stranded in the first two innings. However, in the third inning the hits kept coming. After junior Cam Chick was hit by a pitch to load the bases, freshman Max Anderson ripped one to left field and scored two. A base hit from Luke Roskam scored one more, followed by an error in right field that scored another. Joe Acker then hit a single up the middle that scored two more.
The third inning was the difference in this game, and to add onto that, the Huskers tacked on another run in the top of the sixth inning. The Boilermakers started finding a way to hit off of Chance Hroch in the bottom of the sixth, as two triples helped them score two runs. In the seventh inning, junior Cam Wynne came in for Hroch to close it out with runners on first and second. Wynne struck out two and helped retire the side and seal the first Nebraska win of the season.
Big third inning
The third inning was when the Big Red finally combined to put some runs on the board. Some mistakes from Purdue led to Nebraska loading the bases and next up to the plate was freshman Max Anderson.
Before this at-bat, Anderson had not missed a beat in his first two games for NU, and this was no different. The freshman sent a base hit to left field and scored two runs. The next guy to the plate was Luke Roskam who scored another with a base hit, followed by a Purdue error that scored another.
Joe Acker capped off the scoring for the inning with a base hit that scored two. This inning made the difference and allowed the Huskers to hold a lead the rest of the game.
Impressive pitching
Chance Hroch came out strong in his first game in a Nebraska jersey. The graduate transfer from New Mexico State pitched six of the seven innings, and started the seventh, but was pulled after giving up two base hits.
In his first start, Hroch threw 82 pitches and gave up nine hits, struck out three and walked just one.
Cam Wynne came in during the seventh inning to close the game out, and his heat was too much for the Boilermakers. The junior struck out the first two batters he faced and forced a ground ball to force the third out. His close finished the game out and gave Nebraska its first win of the season.