Nebraska baseball drops both games of doubleheader to Washington

Nebraska baseball (4-8, 0-2) lost both games of a doubleheader to Washington (7-8, 2-0) on Saturday. The Huskers fell 11-5 in their home opener before squandering a strong start in the second contest of the afternoon.

LHP Will Walsh and RHP Ty Horn both picked up losses, though the former pitched six stellar innings. The Huskers tallied 16 hits on the day but stranded 14 runners and let multiple opportunities slip through their fingertips.

Here is a recap of the doubleheader:

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Crooked innings strike again

Two disastrous frames cost Nebraska the first game of the day. Washington set the tone early, getting through eight batters in the top of the first inning. Horn hit a batter before Casen Taggart dropped a single just inside the left-field line. With two runners on, Trevor Kole smacked a 2-RBI double. Kole tallied four hits and four RBIs in the contest.

The Huskies weren’t finished. Horn walked another batter, and with two outs, Braeden Terry hit a 3-run bomb that snuck over the field wall. Washington took a 5-run lead just 20 minutes into the afternoon.

Nebraska imploded once again in the fifth. Horn put two runners on to begin the frame before LHP Jalen Worthley relieved him with minimal warmup time. With no outs, Worthley quickly loaded the bases before giving up back-to-back RBI doubles to spot the Huskies four more runs.

RHP Casey Daiss took over for Worthley before the inning ended. Yet another RBI double put Washington up 10-4. After defensive implosions against LSU and Kansas State last weekend, the crooked inning continues to bite Nebraska.

“I would like to see a little more pissed off mindset, is what I told the group,” Bolt said postgame “I said you guys are a little bit too nice to each other I think sometimes. The culture is pretty strong, it can withhold and upstand a little bit of tough talk.”

Walsh’s strong start spoiled

In stark contrast to the first outing of the day, Will Walsh had a stellar start in game two. He came out firing with two strikeouts in the first inning and carried that momentum into a seven-inning day.

Walsh gave up a double to Sam DeCarlo in the second, but responded by retiring 11 straight batters. He finished the game with nine strikeouts and only scattered three hits.

“That’s what a fifth-year senior is going to be expected to do,” Bolt said postgame. “Do what the team needs them to do. It was an amazing start for us, especially coming off how well they swung the bats in the first game. Gave us every chance to win.”

Early on, Husky right-hander Jackson Thomas refused to be outplayed. Thomas had a no-hitter bid until the fifth inning and struck out four of the first seven batters he faced. Cayden Brumbaugh finally broke through in the sixth inning. He smacked a 2-run home run to left field to give the Huskers their first lead of the day.

Six strong frames were spoiled in the seventh, though. Walsh hit the leadoff batter before another reached on a throwing error. Malakhi Knight made the Huskers pay with a no-doubter blast to left to erase the 2-0 lead. It was all downhill from there for Nebraska.

“Will’s pitching incredible, playing great defense, and a hit by pitch turns into a three spot because we don’t make a play,” Bolt said. “There’s been a lot of that. In the first game it’s a hit by pitch turns into a five spot.”

Defensive implosion late

In the second game of the day, Washington entered the seventh inning with two hits and no runs. Just two frames later, the Huskies led 6-2.

Following Walsh’s 3-run bomb, the eighth inning was even uglier for Nebraska. The Huskers completely imploded defensively. After a leadoff solo home run, a pair of crushing throwing errors allowed two more Husky runs to score.

“We’ve been top-10, probably, nationally up to this point defensively and somehow we just decide to forget how to play catch at the end of that game,” Bolt said. “So just not a lot of mental toughness going on in the group collectively, playing together and playing with one heartbeat.”

The Huskers squandered a strong start and a 2-0 lead to drop the second game of the day, falling to 4-8 on the year.

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