Nebraska grinds out 4-0 win over Iowa

The Husker baseball (5-1) team picked up their fifth straight win of the season with a hard fought 4-0 win over Iowa (2-4).

Chance Hroch was the starter for Nebraska and picked up his second win of the season. In his first start against Purdue, Hroch threw for six innings and gave up nine hits and two runs. This time around, the senior improved on his last outing and pitched six innings for just five hits and no runs.

The NU bats struggled to get started, but in the fifth inning, it took just one at-bat to break the deadlock. Brice Matthews led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo shot to right field giving the Big Red their first lead of the day.

The offensive momentum continued into the next inning where the Huskers got some luck with an error between two hits that loaded the bases, and a walk drove in one run. Joe Acker drove in two more after that and put Nebraska up by four.

After extending the lead, the bullpen came into play and did what they needed to do. Sayer Diederich came in to relieve Hroch and pitched one inning with no hits or runs allowed. In the eighth inning it was Max Schreiber who gave up just one hit for no runs in the one inning he pitched. In to close the game out was Cam Wynne who got into some trouble with three walks that loaded the bases.

With two outs and runners on each bag, Spencer Schwellenbach came in to finish it for the Huskers. The junior got down in the count 3-0, but fought his way back and struck out the final batter to move NU to 5-1 on the season.

The offense was not bolstering in this matchup like it has been earlier this season. However, the Big Red found a way to put hits together in order to put runs on the board.

A solo home run from Brice Matthews in the fifth inning broke the deadlock, and the next inning, two hits and an error loaded the bases for Joe Acker to drive in a couple more runs. These four hits made up half of the NU hits, but because they rallied them together, they were able to cash them in for some runs.

Chance Hroch continued to impress in his second start even more than he did in his first. The senior gave up just five hits and no runs while striking out seven Hawkeyes. This start helped improve his record to 2-0 and his ERA to 1.00.

Hroch was not the only impressive pitcher. Both Sayer Diederich and Max Schreiber pitched one inning and Schreiber gave up just one hit while Diederich gave up none. Relief pitching helped Nebraska get this shutout, and especially Spencer Schwellenbach who only pitched one out, but it was the final out of the game with the bases loaded.

The Huskers take on Ohio State tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and Iowa at 2:00 p.m. These two games will wrap up the weekend series in Minneapolis for Nebraska.

Both games can be streamed on BTN+ and heard on the Husker Sports Network.