Roskam grand-slam propels Huskers to a 7-6 win
Nebraska (11-8) uses a Luke Roskam grand slam to slay the Demons in a 7-6 victory on Sunday afternoon.
Nebraska hasn’t’ lost a game on Sunday since May 8, 2016 against Michigan State. The streak continued on Sunday afternoon.
Northwestern State pitcher Ridge Heisler has been a clubhouse leader for the Demons this season. He’s only allowed four earned runs in total this season in 28.1 IP. But the Huskers were able to pounce on him early and take control of the game.
After NU pitcher Matt Warren retired the six batters he faced, he got into a tricky situation in the top of the third when bases were loaded. Warren was able to force a ground-out to end the opportunity and the Huskers offense carried that momentum into the bottom of the third.
It all started with sophomore center fielder Joe Acker and senior Zac Repinski hit back-to-back singles. Heisler proceeded to throw a wild pitch that advanced the runners to second and third base. Sophomore outfielder Mojo Hagge grounded out to second, but that allowed Acker to score the game’s opening run. Senior outfielder Scott Schreiber followed that up with a RBI-single of his own to make it a 2-0 lead.
“I like how Joe Acker is coming off and giving us good at-bats at the bottom of the order,” head coach Darin Erstad said. “When he’s down at the bottom of the order, that’s all we need to do. Play high-level defense, which he does and have quality at-bats.”
The run was capped off when Roskam took a 2-2 count and rocketed a grand-slam to right center field to give the Huskers a 6-0 lead over the Demons.
“Yesterday they tried to go inside on me a lot,” Roskam said. “The one I fouled off was an inside pitch, so I figured it was going to be an inside fastball or a curve ball and I just reacted to the fastball, got the barrel on it and it went out.”
Northwestern State wouldn’t go away as they used a RBI-double and a sac-fly to put up two runs in the fourth inning. The damage wouldn’t stop there as the Demons continue to battle back in the fifth inning when JP Lagreco struck a RBI-single to right field to cut the lead to 6-3. Demon outfielder Tyler Smith followed that up with a two-run shot to make it a 6-5 Husker lead.
Warren forced a foul out on the next play and his day was done after five innings. His final line was 5 IP, allowed six hits, five earned runs and struck out three. Junior relief pitcher Zac Engleken came in and threw two scoreless innings and only allowed one hit.
“I think (Warren) was a little angrier,” Erstad said. “They did a nice job of fighting, but his stuff did hold a little bit better and that was good to see.”
Hagge used NU shortstop Angelo Altavilla sac-fly to plate another run in the seventh inning that made it a 7-5 lead heading into the top of the eighth. Husker pitcher Paul Tillotson came in and struck out the side.
The Demons didn’t go down without a fight. Northwestern State's Kelsey Richard was able to smash a one-out solo homerun to make it a 7-6 game, but Hohensee regained his composure and sealed the deal for Nebraska. It’s his fourth save of the year and Warren’s third win of the year.
“We’ve been hitting a little bit and have shown signs of power,” Nebraska relief pitcher Jake Hohensee said. “It’s nice to put everything together. We had a clean fielding game, few hits there and we needed that extra run in the late inning. It was a good team win.”
The Huskers fly out to Tulsa on Monday morning as they will take on Oral Roberts (11-6) for a two-game mid-week series. There is no official word on the starters as of right now. The first pitch time is going to be on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.
“When you play error free baseball and walk two guys, it gives you a fighting chance,” Erstad said.