Matt Warren's gem propels Huskers to crucial series win
LINCOLN, Neb. - Matt Warren had two weeks to think about it.
After being pulled from the lineup against Nevada and seeing a TBA on the Sunday line of this week’s schedule, the Husker senior returned to a starting role for the first time since April 22.
Nebraska’s pitch-mixing right-hander delivered, crafting a 6.2-inning scoreless masterpiece to will the Huskers to a 5-2 win over Maryland.
With the victory, NU clinched its first Big Ten series of the season, improved to 6-10 in conference play and eclipsed Maryland for 10th in the standings. The Huskers now sit a game and a half back of eighth-place Michigan State with two weekends left until the Big Ten tournament.
For the Huskers, both the style and delivery of Sunday’s win was a departure from the high-drama, mistake-filled norm of the 2018 season.
“We finished it off in a must-win for us,” head coach Darin Erstad said. “There’s not many buttons to really push - I mean, we’re on life support.”
In a pitcher’s duel through three innings, Warren and Maryland veteran Taylor Bloom mowed down the batting orders, with the Huskers failing to get a baserunner through the first cycle.
With one out in the fourth inning, Scott Schreiber flipped that script. A line drive over the right field wall gave the Husker senior his 18th homer of the year and tied him with Lincoln native Alex Gordon at fourth on the all-time list.
The Schreiber bomb catalyzed the rest of the offense, which got things rolling from then on. Two more baserunners reached in the fourth before Nebraska had its best inning in the fifth, scoring two on a Ben Klenke double and another on a Jesse Wilkening sac fly.
“We knew we had to win that game to keep our hopes alive for the tournament,” Klenke said. “We came out and took care of what we needed to.”
With a 4-0 lead, it was the job of the Husker pitching staff to close it out. Warren finished his day with two outs in the seventh inning, putting a bow on a sparkling final line: 6.2 innings, no runs, a walk and four strikeouts on 66 pitches.
With one out in the eighth, a bases-loaded jam made way for senior closer Jake Hohensee to take the mound. After working to a 2-2 count, the hard-throwing right-hander whipped in a pitch that Kevin Biondic lined straight into the glove of third baseman Luke Roskam. Roskam snared it out of the air and dove on third, catching Randy Bednar off the bag for Nebraska’s fourth double play of the game.
“You guys saw all the place the defense made today, so it’s all on those guys,” Warren said. “I owe them everything in the world after that.”
One year after going undefeated on Sundays, the Huskers had reached a drought of six straight Sundays without a win. In erasing the skid, Nebraska added five straight runs to extend a string of 21 straight going back to Saturday’s second inning.
“It’s a lot better than any loss on a Sunday, that’s for sure,” Warren said. “It’s always good to come away with the series and win on Sunday and go home happy for the rest of the weekend.”
Winners of five of the last six games, Nebraska is in position to make a run at the conference tournament with two weekends remaining. At 6-10 in the Big Ten, the Huskers trail Michigan State (8-9) and Rutgers (7-11), both of which lost series this weekend.
No. 15 Indiana (9-7) comes to Lincoln for the final home series next weekend, and if the Huskers can sweep, they would unseat perhaps the Big Ten’s best team in the conference tournament field with one weekend remaining. Iowa (9-7) and Maryland (6-11) remain close peers in the standings, but Nebraska salvaged a split with the Hawkeyes and now have a tiebreaker over the Terps.
Nebraska returns to action at Creighton Tuesday, looking for its first win over the Bluejays this season. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at TD Ameritrade Park.