Huskers win 11-10 sloppy game, split series with Oral Roberts
Nebraska was doubled up in hits by Oral Roberts 14-7 in a sloppily played game, but they held on to split the series by winning 11-10. Jesse Wilkening had three hits on the day to lead Huskers.
Nebraska scored one run in the top of the first. NU’s first two batters, Zac Repinski and Mojo Hagge, reached on a hit-by-pitch and walk, respectively. Repinski scored on a groundout double play. The Golden Eagles went down in order in the bottom of the opening frame.
In the top of the second, the Huskers added four runs to build a 5-0 advantage. Jesse Wilkening hit a leadoff single and advanced to second when Luke Roskam walked. After back-to-back strikeouts, ORU allowed two consecutive walks to score one run. Hagge drove in two runs with his single to right field. In the bottom of the second, ORU scored one run on three hits, but left two runners stranded.
"We were just taking advantage of their free passes they were giving us," NU head coach Darin Erstad said. "You know, just like yesterday when we started some rallies for them, they started some rallies for us.
"We'll take every bit of it. I've said it a million times that it's who screws up less in the game of college baseball. If you eliminate free passes and play defense, you give yourself a fighting chance and we were on the right hand of that today."
Hagge drew a leadoff walk in the fifth and advanced on a pair of groundouts before Wilkening’s RBI single brought him home. In the bottom of the fifth, ORU scored five runs to tie the score at 6-6. Spencer Henson hit a grand slam to center field during the inning.
NU managed a pair of baserunners in the sixth, but neither scored. Jaxon Hallmark walked before Zac Luckey reached on a fielder’s choice, but both were safe with a defensive error. The runners got to second and third but were left stranded. ORU took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth when the Golden Eagles scored two runs on two hits.
Nebraska scored three runs in the seventh to reclaim the lead at 9-8. Hagge was hit-by-pitch in the leadoff spot before Altavilla was walked. Hagge scored on a wild pitch before Wilkening singled to put runners on the corners. Roskam’s sacrifice fly scored Altavilla to tie the game. Hallmark singled to put runners on the corners again. Wilkening scored on a balk to give NU the lead. Oral Roberts went down in order in the seventh.
NU added two runs in the eighth. Joe Acker walked in the leadoff spot before Repinski singled. A sacrifice bunt advanced them. Acker scored on a wild pitch before Altavilla walked. Repinski scored on Scott Schreiber’s groundout. ORU scored two runs in the eighth to trim the lead to 11-10.
Coach Erstad was pleased by how his team responded after Oral Roberts came back to tie, and eventually lead, the game.
"Yeah, it's a good quality to have to keep fighting," Erstad stated. "Which just really started, in my opinion, yesterday when we were getting smoked and we kept having quality at-bats. We got the bases loaded and they had to bring one of their main arms in out of the pen to face some of our righties.
"And, you know, usually if you just kind of lay back and don't get anything started, they can save that guy. Well, you know, they would have probably liked him later in the game today, so just grinding out your at-bats and scoring is what we really harped on. We did it yesterday and we did it again tonight."
Junior lefty Nate Fisher made his fourth start of the season and threw 4.0 innings, giving up one run. Ethan Frazier (0.1 inning), Paul Tillotson (0.2), Max Schreiber (2.0), Zack Engelken (0.2) and Jake Hohensee (1.1) each made relief appearances.
Jake Hohensee retired all three batters in the bottom of the ninth and surpassed 100 career strikeouts in earning his fifth save of the season. Max Schreiber got the got the victory after pitching two quality innings of relief.
"He looked great and his fastball had a lot of movement on it," Coach Erstad said of Schreiber. "You could tell he was attacking, which was great to see. His breaking stuff is a work in progress, but when you can move your fastball like that, you've got a fighting chance. That kid's grown up a lot in the last month or so, so we're encouraged with the direction it's headed."
Coach Erstad is starting to see some traits in his team he believes will serve them well for the remainder of the season.
"I know they're going to fight," Erstad observed. "They're competitive kids. We've just got to continue to find a way to limit free passes and get guys on the mound who can be consistent with their stuff. You know, some days they look good and they're just not repeating it. So, we're just going to have to figure out how to fix that."
The Huskers open Big Ten play at home on Friday as the first contest of a three-game series against Minnesota at Hawks Field. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:35 p.m. (CT).