Nebraska baseball leaves too many stranded as South Dakota State prevails 8-3

The Nebraska baseball team (22-15-1) fell 8-3 in a midweek matchup to South Dakota State (18-17) as the bats were cold and the defense wasn’t on top of their game.

The offense struggled to get rolling in the clutch. A total of 12 runners stranded and no big hits with runners in scoring positions led to the Big Red’s downfall. Defensively, NU allowed a huge second inning where SDSU scored four runs and Nebraska never recovered.

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“Abysmal mindset. Especially after really competing hard last night.”

-Nebraska head coach Will Bolt

Game Recap

It was the sophomore Jackson Brockett on the mound for Nebraska to start this game. The lefty threw a clean first inning, but the same cannot be said for the second.

In the top half of the second inning, the Jackrabbits put two baserunners on to start the inning. Drew Beazley followed up with a triple and broke the game open, putting SDSU in front 2-0.

After Beazley was driven in, Ryan McDonald hit a solo shot over the left field wall and gave the Jackrabbits a 4-0 lead.

Things were bleak for the Big Red offense early on in this game. Through five innings, Nebraska recorded just three hits and scored no runs.

During that time, Brett Sears had taken over on the mound. The junior went to work and struck out six batters from the third to the fifth inning. However, after striking out his seventh batter in the sixth inning, SDSU jumped on him.

In the top of the sixth, the Jackrabbits recorded three hits that drove in two runs and extend their lead to 6-0. South Dakota State tacked on one more in the seventh with Kyle Perry on the mound.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Husker offense started to show some promise. With two outs, the Big Red drove in three runs, but the rally ended there.

SDSU tacked on a run in the top of the ninth, and that ended things 8-3.

Got into a hole early

The Huskers found themselves in a hole early on and had nobody to blame but themselves. Defensively it was a lapse in the second inning that started the struggles.

Three hits, one being a home run saw NU in a 4-0 hole early on. It’s safe to say this was not the best outing from Jackson Brockett. The sophomore pitched just two innings, allowing four runs on four hits.

However, the defensive struggles was not the only thing falling short in this game. The response to trailing was nothing to be proud of. After going down 4-0, Nebraska recorded just two hits in the next three innings and advanced just one baserunner to third base.

Throughout the duration of the game the Huskers showed more offensive promise. However, the early deficit was too hefty to overcome.

Offense sparked too late

The Husker offense was not up to their own standards in this game. To start, they recorded just two hits in the first four innings of the game. Things didn’t get much better throughout as the offense recorded just two more hits in the next two innings.

It wasn’t until the seventh inning when NU scored its first run. With two runners on, Casey Burnham drove in a run with a base hit. Charlie Fischer and Gabe Swansen did the same, but that was all the spark the offense had. By that point, the game was wrapped up.

What’s next?

The Huskers will face off against Minnesota this weekend in a three-game series at Haymarket Park. Friday’s game will start at 7:02 p.m. Saturday’s starts at 2:05 p.m. Sunday’s game starts at 1:05 p.m. All three games will be live on Big Ten Network (LINK HERE). Both Saturday’s and Sunday’s games will stream on B1G+ (LINK HERE). All three games are over the radio on the Huskers Radio Network (LINK HERE).