Iowa walks-off to steal game one over Huskers, 3-2

It was tied 2-2 from the 6th inning on. Iowa has made moments like this before, and a lingering feeling was in the pit of Husker fans' stomachs.

Nebraska's worst fears were realized, as Iowa hit a two-out RBI single to snag game one away from what was a solid defensive performance for the Huskers. Nebraska drops to 21-12 and 10-3 in the Big Ten, with all three conference losses coming by way of walk-off.

Coming into the 9th, Nebraska had held off charges from Iowa and kept the score tied. Robbie Palkert was on the mound to finish the last five outs, taking over in the 8th.

It looked like the Huskers were going to escape another damaging inning. Things started off with Iowa's Tanner Wetrich, who singled to start. Justin Jenkins was down 0-2 and placed a decent bunt, yet Luke Roskam still threw out the lead runner at second. Tanner Padgett was next and threatened a walk-off homer, but struck out swinging to put two away. Jenkins stole second as soon as strike three came in, putting a runner in scoring position with two outs. Zeb Adreon, who had the first hit of the game for the Hawkeyes, came through again as he dropped one into shallow right. The throw was over Roskam's head, and thus another bitter mark in the loss column for Nebraska.

Overall, Nebraska performed well enough to keep it close against tough pitchers. Still, there were too many empty innings to really come out feeling good for the rest of the series.

Nine runners were left on base, including a bases loaded 5th where Mojo Hagge couldn't capitalize. Spencer Schwellenbach and Aaron Palensky both came up just 1-for-5 on the day, along with Colby Gomes and Alex Henwood who both went 0-for-3.

For a little while, there might have been a perfect game alert brewing. Matt Waldron has a spotless first two innings, until the third. He had one out to go and Zeb Adreon doubled down the right field line, which sparked a rally from Iowa which gave the Hawkeyes an early lead.

Despite that, Waldron's 4th and 5th were both spotless. Getting 14 outs with no problem shows how much of a centerpiece he is in the rotation. The 6th got shaky, where he had a balk and another earned run, but he still saved the inning with a clutch K with two runners on.

He finished with two earned runs on eight hits, six strikeouts and no walks on 114 pitches.

Robbie Palkert officially took the loss because of how things unfolded, and it seems to be another blow in what has been an up-and-down season for him.

Nebraska takes on Iowa again tomorrow in game two of this series, starting at 2:05 p.m. CT. You can watch on Big Ten Network or on Husker Sports Network.

PROJECTED STARTERS: LHP Nate Fisher (4-1, 2.28 ERA) vs LHP Cam Baumann (2-2, 5.31 ERA)