2/22/2020 baseball Edit

Nebraska falls to San Diego State 4-2

Allie Snow • InsideNebraska

Staff Writer

Nebraska’s bullpen continued to struggle on Saturday night, as it gave up another lead to fall to San Diego State in Game 2 of the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament. The Huskers (1-4, 0-0 Big Ten) fell 4-2 to the Aztecs (5-1, Mountain West).

Five Huskers saw action out of the bullpen on Saturday night. Sophomore Colby Gomes started the night at the mound for NU before being relieved by sophomore Bo Blessie in the bottom of the sixth inning. His time at the mound was short-lived as junior Trey Kissack replaced Blessie in the bottom of the sixth inning. Freshman Caleb Feekin and junior Paul Tillotson ended the night for the Huskers.

It was Nebraska who produced the first hit of the game in the top of the sixth inning. Sophomore Spencer Schwellenbach’s single through the left side started things off. Junior Aaron Palensky brought him home with a double to left field. Senior Luke Roskam plated Palensky with a single to left field. The Huskers led 2-0 headed to the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Aztecs pulled away in the bottom of the sixth inning. SDSU scored four runs on two hits in the inning to take a 4-2 lead. NU’s bats stayed quiet the rest of the game, as the Huskers suffered their fourth straight loss.

Another blown lead

Same story, but different night as the Huskers bullpen gave up the lead for the third time in the last four games.

After two wild pitches and two walks by Blessie, the Aztecs were put into scoring position with bases loaded. Senior Ryan Orr reached on fielder’s choice and NU couldn’t turn two, resulting in an Aztec run. An SDSU single to right field tied the game 2-2.

Blessie continued to struggle with another wild pitch, and was replaced by Kissack shortly after. A two-RBI single from Sophomore Wyatt Hendrie put the Aztecs up 4-2 going into the seventh inning.

Mound couldn’t finish

Gomes had a strong start for the Huskers through five innings. He allowed one run on two hits and recorded one strikeout. The bullpen couldn’t back him up the rest of the night. Blessie, Kissack, Feekin and Tillotson allowed three runs on three hits combined. Tillotson closed out for NU with two strikeouts.

"We played just good enough to lose. That's not the standard we have here at Nebraska. We need to go out to play and expect to win, expect to make plays and expect to make pitches. If we show up and do that, we're going to have a chance to win. If we don't, it's going to be tough sledding. The challenge is there to go out and put together a complete game and finish this weekend off."

— Head coach Will Bolt

What's next

Nebraska concludes the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament on Sunday. The Huskers face Arizona (4-2, 0-0 Pac-12) at noon. The Wildcats are coming off a 4-1 loss to Iowa on Saturday. The game is available on TuneIn and the Husker Sports Network.