Nebraska completes sweep of Loyola Marymount

Turns out the most effective tool to slay a lion is a broom.

The Huskers completed a four-game sweep of Loyola Marymount with a 5-4 victory Sunday afternoon. Nebraska (9-6) has now won six straight games and remains undefeated at home.

"They were really angry. They came out and played with a lot of intensity and emotion," Darin Erstad said of the Lions. "I thought we came out with the right mentality to go for the four-game sweep. It was a real good battle on both sides."

Nebraska's bats got into gear quickly as Ben Miller lined a delivery over the right field wall for a solo shot. Jake Schleppenbach used a sacrifice fly to bring in Luis Alvarado in the second, then Scott Schreiber blasted a two-run homer, his sixth of the season, in the third.

That established a 4-1 lead, but the normally steady Jake McSteen never really found his footing in his first career start. He wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, but allowed a towering three-run home run in the fourth that tied the game.

The freshman gave up six hits and four earned runs in 4.1 innings. He struck out three and consistently dealt with runners on base throughout his outing.

"You get hurt when you're up in the zone," Erstad said. "Jake just got a few balls up in the zone and they hit a couple out. But overall, we threw strikes, and you give yourself a fighting chance when you limit the free passes and we did that again today. That's a good formula for success when you're playing solid defense behind that."

Miller gave the Huskers the lead back with a ringing double to center that scored Jake Placzek from first. But NU failed to pad its lead, leaving the bases loaded.

Fortunately the bullpen ensured no insurance runs would be needed. Reece Eddins (1.1 innings), Jeff Chesnut (0.1), Max Knutson (1.0) and Garett King (1.0) got the Huskers to the ninth, where Chad Luensmann earned the save for the second straight game.

"We have a lot of faith in a lot of guys out there (in the bullpen), and that's a good problem to have," Erstad said.

Nebraska's early season power binge continued with the two home runs. The Huskers have already hit 17 homers this season after leaving the yard just 22 times in 57 games last season.

With no midweek games this week, the Huskers are next in action Friday in a home series with Wichita State.

"Obviously this gives us some confidence," Schreiber said. "But we just need to come practice each and every day and work even harder so we can build off of this."

***Third baseman Jake Placzek: Sunday's effort was the prototypical Placzek game. He only had one hit, but he also walked twice, was hit by a pitch and scored a pair of runs. The senior entered the game with a .429 on-base percentage, the second-highest mark on the team.

***There was a scary moment in the bottom of the fourth. A line drive screamed into the right field berm, bounced once and hit a young child in the head. After he was attended to for about ten minutes, the boy was taken away on a stretcher. The Lincoln Journal Star is reporting that he's conscious and should be OK.

***Luensmann earned a save in each of the last two games, but Erstad said he's not officially the team's closer. The bullpen roles remain very fluid.

***The attendance was 2,664.