Nebraska baseball bounces back in series finale win over Washington

Nebraska baseball (5-8, 1-2) avoided a weekend sweep with a 6-2 victory over Washington (7-9, 2-1) on Sunday. The Huskers bounced back from a disastrous doubleheader on Saturday with their first Big Ten win of the year.

Left-hander Jackson Brockett started on the mound and pitched 4.2 strong innings, escaping multiple jams. Drew Christo relieved Brockett in the fifth and gave Nebraska three stellar frames while fanning six. The Huskers’ pitching came up clutch all day, stranding 13 runners and leaving the bases loaded twice.

Case Sanderson and Cayden Brumbaugh led the way at the plate, combining for five hits and two RBIs. Dylan Carey only tallied one hit, but it came on a 3-run shot that blew the game open.

Here is a recap of the victory:

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Brockett escapes multiple jams

In his first start of the season last weekend, Brockett lasted just two innings in a loss to Kansas State. Sunday was a completely different story for the left-hander.

Brockett set the tone early. He got out of a first-inning jam, stranding two Washington runners in scoring position with a tough putout.

In the third inning, Brockett walked the leadoff man but responded by retiring back-to-back hitters. With two outs, Malakhi Knight reached on a throwing error by third baseman Joshua Overbeek. Facing two runners on base once again, Brockett served up a clutch strikeout and caught Sam DeCarlo looking.

“That was as competitive as I’ve ever seen [Brockett] in a game, including throwing a no-hitter,” Bolt said postgame. “We had a chance to crumble a couple times there with multiple runners on base, some of their best hitters at the plate because we don’t play defense behind him and he just he just stayed out there and just kept competing for his team.”

Washington tallied two quick singles in the fourth inning, putting Brockett in a pinch with only one out. He responded by forcing two straight flyouts to center to escape yet another frame.

Brockett scattered five hits on the day but didn’t allow a run and struck out four.

Huge fifth-inning swing

Brockett finally began to fade in the top of the fifth inning, walking one before a second batter reached on Overbeek’s second throwing error of the day. He hit DeCarlo with a pitch on the next at-bat, loading the bases.

Christo relieved Brockett in a precarious spot but came up clutch with a strikeout to escape the inning. The right-hander pumped his fists as he walked to the dugout, flooded with emotion.

“We’ve already put him in bases-loaded situations. That was his third time now,” Bolt said of Christo. “He got a big punch out against K-State in that spot so we felt confident that he was going to come in. Had a presence about him and just on attack. When he’s got both breaking balls rolling like he did today, just kind of let him go.”

Nebraska made Washington pay at the plate.

Brumbaugh was hit by a pitch before Cael Frost reached on a fielder’s choice. An errant throw to second base put both Brumbaugh and Frost in scoring position for Carey. It took just one pitch for the junior to blow the game open. He smacked a 3-run bomb to left center, giving Nebraska a 4-0 lead.

 “There was nothing really all that cool about what we did offensively,” Bolt said. “It was just pretty tough hard-nosed, move the baseball, advance runners. That was a big difference maker there in setting up some of those innings.”

A quick swing of momentum in the fifth ultimately made the difference on Sunday.

Christo gets swagger back

Christo struggled mightily in his first four appearances this season. Entering Sunday’s contest, the veteran pitcher had allowed 10 runs in just 5.2 innings. He was the culprit of multiple crooked innings which cost Nebraska games.

Christo got his swagger back on Sunday. Following a clutch strikeout in the fifth, the right-hander retired six straight batters. He finished the day with six strikeouts in three innings of relief work.

“We threw a lot of sliders, the pitch was feeling good,” Christo said postgame. “We knew coming into the weekend that they’re a really right-handed hitting team so the slider is always going to play well. Obviously [Brockett] came in and did the same thing, too, with his slider. So we just felt comfortable with it and wanted to ride it until they could hit it.”

Nebraska carried Christo’s energy to the plate, adding to their lead in the eighth. Devin Nunez blasted a solo home run to lead off the inning and Rhett Stokes followed with a single. Sanderson tallied his second RBI of the day with a double to the left-field gap. He finished the day 2-of-4 at the plate along with a walk.

“It’s all contagious,” Bolt said. “You want to show emotion, but not be emotional and we’ve talked about that before. Drew just kind of got the team fired up. Brockett, same thing.”

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