The Groundhog Day 'Skers: Nebraska BSB rinses, repeats, sweeps Charleston
We could probably just start fast forwarding to the ninth inning of these Nebraska baseball games, right?
The Huskers played the part of Bill Murray in their own version of "Groundhog Day" last week against Grand Canyon and again this week against College of Charleston. It all culminated in winning six of seven against the two nonconference foes following Sunday's series finale against CofC.
Nebraska went rinse, repeat, sweep against Charleston this week, finishing up by plating two runs in the top of the ninth inning in Sunday's Game 3 finale and then getting another shut-the-door performance from their bullpen en route to a 5-3 win. The Sunday victory completed the Huskers' third consecutive rally over the Cougars after having faced a deficit of at least three runs in all three matchups.
The Huskers dug themselves an early 3-0 hole through three innings Sunday after starter Will Walsh surrendered a two-out, two-run homer in the first and then a two-out RBI single in the third.
But Nebraska chipped away behind a solo homer by Tyler Stone and an RBI single by Will Jesske in the fourth, then another RBI by Jesske on a fielder's choice in the fifth.
That set up a third straight ninth-inning barrage from Nebraska, this time getting plenty of help from the opponent's defense.
Cayden Brumbaugh was 0-for-4 at the dish heading into the final inning, but his leadoff double in the ninth kicked things off. Then, the Huskers took advantage of two errors by Charleston's infield to score both runs.
Riley Silva laid down a bunt after Brumbaugh's two-bagger, and Charleston committed a throwing error that allowed Brumbaugh to score and pushed Silva to second. He then advanced to third on a wild pitch, and he scored after Cole Evans' grounder to short was met with a throwing error and the 5-3 lead.
Nebraska couldn't capitalize on some potential insurance after a Dylan Carey double that put runners on second and third. Kyle Perry, though, came on in relief to record the final two outs on swinging strikes after Charleston sent the winning run to the plate with one out and runners on the corners.
Sunday's win gave the Huskers a 3-0 sweep over CofC – their first sweep of the season and second straight series win after winning three of four over Grand Canyon last week. Both opponents were previously unbeaten with Grand Canyon at 4-0 and College of Charleston at 7-0.
Then, both ran into the 'Skers. Both series had their own flavor, but both series featured Nebraska winning with the same formula in all three victories over GCU and winning with the same formula in all three victories over CofC. They were just two different formulas in each road swing:
1) offensive explosion against Grand Canyon
2) late-inning heroics against College of Charleston
Against Grand Canyon, the Huskers scored at least seven runs in all three wins by scores of 7-2, 11-1 and 10-8 (they also scored five in their lone loss to GCU, 7-5).
In the series against Charleston – originally a four-game road set as well before it flipped to a best-of-three following the Friday game's weather-induced cancellation – the Cougars built leads of at least three runs in all three but had to watch the Huskers rally in all three.
In Game 1 on Thursday, the Huskers battled back from a 5-1 deficit to plate four runs in the ninth for a 6-5 win in 10 innings.
In Game 2 on Saturday, they battled back from a 4-1 deficit to plate four runs across the eighth and ninth innings for a 5-4 win.
In Game 3 on Sunday, they battled back from a 3-0 deficit after three innings to plate five runs across the next six innings – including two runs in the top of the ninth – for a 5-3 win.
That 5-3 win on Sunday kept the momentum train rolling for the Huskers (7-3), who have now won six of their last seven games. They handed Charleston (7-3) its first three losses of the season.
The Cougars had previously only played in two games decided by two runs or fewer, winning both by one run. Now, they own three losses of two runs or less after running into Nebraska.
Since we're going with the Groundhog Day theme, we'll do our own version of it and say the same thing we said after Games 1 and 2: Nebraska again did it again with small ball.
In Game 3, though, the Huskers combined it with the perfect dose of slugging with Stone's homer and Brumbaugh's double supplementing the Huskers' four drawn walks, two hit batsman and six singles (out of their 10 hits). Carey also hit two doubles, though the Huskers did not plate any runs off either hit.
The Huskers' offense initially went through the same type of early-innings swoon that it had endured in Games 1 and 2 (in regard to actually scoring runs) against Charleston. They had a total of three baserunners (on two hits and a walk) through three innings but had nothing to show for it on the board after stranding a runner at third in one frame and at second in another.
They soon got it going in the fourth, though, which was earlier than in the first two games when they had just one run through eight innings (Game 1) and didn't score until the sixth (Game 2).
Mason McConnaughey replaced Walsh in the middle of the fourth inning and got Nebraska out of a jam clean. The Cougars put runners on first and second with one out after Walsh had allowed a leadoff double and surrendered a walk against the final batter he faced.
McConnaughey induced a foul out and fired a strikeout to end the threat and to give Walsh a final line of 3.1 innings, three runs allowed (all earned) on five hits with two strikeouts and one walk on 55 total pitches. It was a great outing in relief for McConnaughey (2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K), who got himself out of jams in back-to-back innings by inducing inning-ending groundouts in the fifth and sixth.
He left in the seventh after surrendering a leadoff walk. He was replaced by Caleb Clark – Sunday's originally scheduled starter whose outing was pushed back after Friday's canceled game turned it into a three-game series instead of four – who put the runner on second with a walk but recorded the next two outs before Tucker Timmerman took the mound.
Timmerman came into the game and did what he has typically done through the early part of this year. He recorded five consecutive outs (including three strikeouts) to first keep the Huskers tied up with Charleston, 3-3, ahead of the two-run ninth. He then sent the Cougars' leadoff man down in the bottom of the ninth before being pulled being after surrendering a single and committing a throwing error that put runners on first and second.
Timmerman had a rough outing in relief against Grand Canyon as he plunked a batter, surrendered a walk and then gave up a grand slam. Excluding that game, he has been nails. The true freshman out of Beatrice has not allowed a run across 5.1 IP in his other five appearances, and he has allowed just five baserunners (3 H, 1 BB) while firing five strikeouts in that span.
His work, the strong starts by Drew Christo on Thursday and Brett Sears on Friday and the team-wide ability to stay poised in the pressure cooker paved the way for a three-game sweep that will have them happy on the plane ride home today as they return to Lincoln to stay a while.
The Huskers will host their home opener this week with a three-game series against South Alabama (9-2) starting on Friday (4:05 p.m. CT) and continuing Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (12:05 p.m.) with all three games available on BTN+ and Huskers Radio Network.
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