Huskers use big seventh inning to slay Wolf Pack 9-5
Nebraska (18-22, 4-9) used an explosive seventh inning to overcome a crafty Nevada (21-17, 14-6) team on Thursday night.
The offense has been carried by senior Scott Schreiber and junior Jesse Wilkening for much of the year. No Husker batter besides them entered tonight’s game batting over .278. However, tonight was a different story as the Huskers had a balanced offensive attack.
As has been the case for much of the season, the opposition struck first. Nevada started with a single to left-center field and was brought home thanks to a double by senior DH Mike Echavia. The Wolf Pack would get one more run plated to make it a 2-0 lead right out of the gate.
Another problem for the Huskers this season has been early-game offense and that trend continued on Thursday night. Nebraska went three innings with no hits and only getting one man on base. It looked like this game was going to be a microcosm of NU’s season. But the Huskers responded.
After starting pitcher Reece Eddins was replaced with junior Mike Waldron, NU started to get in its groove. Eddins finished with 2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER and two strikeouts.
Although Waldron gave up a run in the third inning, he was solid in his outing. He would retire 11 of his last 13 batters, but exited after allowing a solo home run in the seventh inning. It was arguably one of Nebraska’s best outings from a bullpen pitcher this year.
Wilkening got things started in the fourth with a double and freshman catcher Gunner Hellstrom recorded a single. Sophomore Luke Roskam grounded into a double-play, but NU would plate one. Freshman Jaxon Hallmark and freshman Connor Cross would record back-to-back singles and Hallmark would score on a wild pitch to make it a 3-3 game.
“He’s been having quality at-bats,” head coach Darin Erstad said. “I thought he squared up some balls here last series and didn’t get rewarded for it to right field. For a young guy there’s going to be some growing pains, but he’s got a chance.”
Nebraska would explode in the seventh inning as the Nevada pitchers couldn’t find the strike zone and the NU batters couldn’t miss. The Wolf Pack would walk four batters in the inning and Schreiber, Wilkening and Hallmark all recorded singles. The six-run inning was capped off when sophomore Mojo Hagge doubled down the left field line that brought in two more runners. Junior Angelo Altavilla was tagged out at home, but the Huskers held a 9-4 lead.
“Coming back was awesome,” Wilkening said. “The dugout was electric. It was so much fun. It was a great time; everybody was jumping around.”
Nevada would tack on one more run in the eighth inning, but the Nebraska bullpen was razor sharp. They retired 17 of the last 22 batters faced and it was one of the best performances of the season.
“Mike was huge for us to give us that length there,” Erstad said. “He pitched really well and for Paul (Tillotson) and Jake (Hohensee) gave us the same thing. Mike was a big piece right in the middle.”
Huskers return on Friday at 6:30 when they take on Nevada for game two of the weekend series. Matt Waldron (4-2) will be getting the start for the Huskers and Nevada hasn’t released who will be starting. The game can be seen on BTN Plus and can be heard on the Huskers IMG Sports Network.
“It’s big for us to get a win, but it’s important for us to come back and show we can do it two more times," Waldron said.