Nebraska baseball evens series with Creighton thanks to bullpen's stellar outing
Nebraska baseball (17-20, 5-10) took care of Creighton (20-12, 3-3) on Tuesday, 6-3, to even the rivalry series at one game apiece. The Husker bats squandered countless opportunities but eight stellar innings from the bullpen lifted them to victory.
Right-hander Ryan Harrahill (3.97 ERA) started for Nebraska but lasted just one frame, giving up two hits and two runs in 16 pitches. The Huskers used five relief pitchers who allowed just five combined hits and one earned run while striking out 10.
Nebraska stranded 15 runners on base but scored a run in five different innings. Dylan Carey led the way at the plate, racking up three hits and two crucial RBIs.
Here is a recap of the victory:
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Squandered opportunities early
Nebraska struggled to drive runs home on Tuesday. Trailing 2-0 in the top of the second, Joshua Overbeek smacked an RBI single to center, scoring the Huskers’ first run of the night. Cael Frost was tagged out while gunning for third base, foreshadowing the base-running issues to come.
Riley Silva and Hogan Helligso earned free passes to load the bases, but Case Sanderson popped up on a 3-1 pitch to end the threat and stand three.
Carey tied the game in the third inning with an RBI double down the right-field line. Nebraska stranded two more in scoring position, however, as Frost and Overbeek struck out.
Nebraska left nine on base through five frames, six of which were in scoring position. The second and fourth innings ended on pop ups with the Husker batter ahead in the count. Before the sixth inning, Nebraska was 10-of-15 on advancement opportunities but had only tallied three runs.
Bullpen handles Bluejay bats
Harrahill lasted just one frame as Nebraska appeared due for another mid-week pitching collapse. Creighton took a 2-0 lead after the first and the Huskers dipped into the bullpen.
However, five Nebraska relievers completely stifled their in-state rivals, allowing just five hits and one earned run over eight innings of work. Creighton hit 2-for-15 with runners on base and .219 on the night.
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Pryce Bender gave up the lone run on a solo shot in the fourth but the Bluejays fell silent over the final five frames. Bender threw 2.2 strong innings and struck out three.
Gavin Blachowicz bought the Husker bullpen time after taking over for Harrahill and tossed two clean frames. Grant Cleavinger and Casey Daiss came up clutch, polishing off the sixth and seventh innings with massive strikeouts, before Luke Broderick earned the save with two scoreless frames and three strikeouts of his own.
Base-running nightmares
Nebraska’s struggles on the base paths continued in the fifth inning.
Tyler Stone singled to lead off the frame before Carey was hit by a pitch. Frost reached on a throwing error, plating Stone and tying the game again, 3-3. Overbeek followed with a single, but while he was stealing second, Frost took off for home and was thrown out. Helligso flew out one at-bat later to squander yet another scoring opportunity.
In the seventh inning, a spell of bad luck cost Nebraska once again. With one on and one out, Helligso doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Sanderson grounded into an unfortunate fielder’s choice at shortstop and Overbeek was gunned down at home. Another fielder’s choice on the next at-bat ended the inning and the scoring threat.
Huskers break through in the sixth
Nebraska finally tallied more than one run in the sixth frame.
Sanderson hit a leadoff triple off the center-field wall and Brumbaugh brought him home with an RBI single up the middle. Stone advanced the runners with a groundout to first and Carey capitalized. With two in scoring position, his sacrifice fly plated another run and gave Nebraska a 5-3 lead.
The Huskers added an insurance run in the eighth thanks to back-to-back two-out doubles from Carey and Robby Bolin, but it was a crucial sixth inning that made the difference on Tuesday.
