Nebraska drops game three of the series to Columbia 3-2

The Huskers (3-8, 0-0) could not put things together, and let the second game of the Saturday doubleheader slip 3-2 to the Lions (1-6, 0-0).

Cade Povich was the starter for the Big Red, and he got off to a strong start. The sophomore LHP pitched the first six innings without giving up a run, and only gave up four total hits in those innings. In the seventh inning however, Povich gave up an early home run, followed by a base hit and a hit by pitch. After this, he left the mound to make way for Braxton Bragg. The freshman reliever pitched only 0.1 innings, giving up two hits. Two more relievers were used to finish out the game, Paul Tillotson, and Shay Schanaman. Both pitchers gave up no runs, and only Tillotson gave up a hit.

On the offensive side of the ball, NU struggled to get much going. Unlike the first game of the doubleheader, the Huskers only had six hits. Along with this, in only one inning did the Big Red have more than one hit. Only four Nebraska players accounted for a hit, and sophomore Spencer Schwellenbach had three.

Compared to the first game of the day, the Huskers hit much worse. With only six hits, they accounted for less than half the amount they had just hours earlier. Sophomore Cam Chick went 0-3 in the second game, compared to his impressive 3-5 earlier.

The bats seemed to cool off too much when they needed to do the opposite. In the sixth inning, when NU had loaded the bases and could extend their lead, junior Jaxon Hallmark hit a ground ball that turned into a double play. It was moments like these that killed the momentum for Nebraska.

Sophomore Cade Povich was having a very solid outing, then in the seventh inning, one swing brought the Lions back into the game. After five and a half scoreless innings, when NU took the first lead of the game, they needed to keep it. This home run hurt the momentum.

Reliever Braxton Bragg struggled to find his groove, giving up two runs on two hits. While the Big Red did not make tons of mistakes pitching, the mistakes that they did make were the difference in this game.

Nebraska takes on Columbia in the final game of the four-game series on Sunday at 11:05 a.m. CST. The Huskers will be looking to win the series with a third win against the Lions. The game will be live on the radio on Husker Sports Network, and streamed on BTN+.