Nebraska baseball shut out in pitcher's duel, drops series opener to Iowa
Nebraska baseball (15-19, 4-9) fell short to Iowa (22-10, 13-3) in Friday’s series opener, 0-1. The Huskers were shut out for the first time this season, striking out 14 times in the loss.
Will Walsh (4.36 ERA) had a stellar night, allowing just two hits in seven innings of work. The left-hander gave up the game’s lone run on a solo shot in the second inning, which ultimately proved to be the difference.
Hawkeye starter Cade Obermueller (2.51 ERA) won the pitcher’s duel, extending his streak to 26 consecutive shutout frames. He struck out 11 batters in a 112-pitch outing.
Here is a recap of the loss:
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Huskers collapse at the plate
After two strong offensive weeks, Nebraska tallied just three hits on Friday night.
The Husker bats melted down against Obermueller — one of the Big Ten’s top arms — and wasted the few scoring opportunities he gave them. Nebraska finished the night 0-for-15 with runners on base and 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
The Hawkeye ace struck out 11 batters, seven of which came with runners on base. He tallied back-to-back punch-outs to scape both the sixth and seventh frames after the Husker’s leadoff man got on base.
Even after Obermueller’s night came to an end, right-handed reliever Anthony Watts (4.63 ERA) struck out three more Huskers in the final two innings. Cael Frost struck out swinging on the last at-bat of the night, a fitting end to an abysmal offensive outing.
Case Sanderson and Dylan Carey each struck out three times and went a combined 0-for-8 at the plate. They stranded four of Nebraska’s eight total runners left on base.
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Walsh’s outing squandered
Walsh took the loss on Friday, but outside of a second-inning solo home run, the left-hander had arguably a better outing than Obermueller on the mound.
He needed just 91 pitches to get through seven frames and gave up just two hits. Walsh only walked one batter to Obermueller’s two and didn’t hit any Hawkeyes with a pitch.
Shortstop Kooper Schulte was the hero for Iowa, continuing his hot streak after earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors last week. He smacked a 2-1 pitch 424 feet over the left-field fence, giving the Hawkeyes an early 1-0 lead and ultimately the win.
Walsh retired 12 straight after giving up the solo shot, including three strikeouts, but it was too little too late. One run was all Iowa needed to secure the series-opening win.
