Ninth-inning nightmares: Nebraska melts down again in 10-5 loss to Indiana

Nebraska’s Wednesday-night loss to South Dakota State played out like a bizarre B-movie. A horrific late twist and titanic collapse put the Huskers on the business side of a tragic ending.

Consider Friday’s series-opening train wreck against Indiana a rerun.

In the first game of a must-win series, the Huskers took a two-run lead to the top of the ninth. Sixth-year senior Kyle Perry took the ball. Nebraska lost 10-5. The Hoosiers plated seven in the game’s final inning and dropped the Huskers to 30-18 overall and 12-7 in Big Ten play.

Nebraska is 10-13 since the start of April after the team’s 20-5 start to the season.

“We did everything right to go win a game on Friday night for eight innings and we just didn’t finish on the mound,” Bolt said. “That’s a tough one to swallow. They took it from us there with some big two-strike hits.”

Here’s more on a back-breaking defeat for the Big Red.

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Nebraska broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning in dramatic fashion. With runners on the corners and one out, Josh Overbeek sent a chopper to second and Clay Bradford ducked around a tag to score the go-ahead run. Then a Rhett Stokes sacrifice fly in right-field foul ground made it 5-3.

“They answer the two-spot that we had, they score and we come back and just scrap,” Bolt said. “That looked like a typical win for the Huskers where we scrap our way to two runs with an infield groundball and a SAC fly.”

A two-run cushion wasn’t enough.

Indiana, a team that scored 15 runs in the seventh inning or later against Purdue last weekend, put a seven-spot on the Huskers in the ninth. Three different NU arms pitched in the frame. All three allowed RBI hits.

The Hoosiers batted around and scored the go-ahead run on a failed pickoff attempt to second. Then four more runs came across on a pair of two-RBI knocks from freshman Joey Brenczewski and junior Carter Mathison. In the blink of an eye, it was a 10-5 Indiana lead.

“We had the bases loaded picked,” Bolt said. “He’s out. He’s out at second base if we play catch and get off the field unscathed there and we have a chance to go win.”

Nebraska went quietly in the home half of the ninth with a pair of looking strikeouts. For the second time in as many games, the Huskers were left stunned.

“That one hurts, man,” catcher Josh Caron said. “We really battled for eight innings. Played a great game up to the top of the ninth there and just couldn’t finish. I think moving forward we’ve just got to come together as a group and keep moving forward.”

Lost in the game’s ninth-inning implosion was a bounce-back start for Brett Sears, who is still seeking his eighth win of the season. He shook off a leadoff Devin Taylor home run in the first to post his 10th quality start of the year. The senior right-hander went seven innings while allowing one earned run and striking out six on 107 pitches.

“Brett battled out there,” Caron said. “He did what we needed to win and got off to a great start for us. There were a lot of times where that outing could have gotten a little sideways on him and I think he just pulled his hat down and kept executing pitches so, proud of him.”

Sears recorded the final out of the seventh himself in foul territory on the third-base side.

“I just knew if I didn’t catch it, I was gonna have to make another pitch,” Sears said. “So I was like, ‘I’m just gonna go catch it.'”

Caron led the Huskers at the dish with two hits, three RBIs and a home run. Perry, who was charged with two earned runs, surrendered the lead and fell to 1-2 on the year.

What to do about the bullpen

Nebraska’s pitching numbers in the eighth and ninth over the last two games are outstandingly abominable.

The Huskers have allowed 16 runs on 15 hits in that four-inning stretch. That equates to a 29.25 ERA and 4.75 WHIP. Six of those hits came when NU pitchers were ahead in the count and five were with two strikes.

Four of the Nebraska arms who pitched in those games will be honored on Senior Day on Saturday. That leaves a fairly key question. Who is there left to trust?

“There’s guys who have been in the grease already,” Bolt said. “There’s guys who have been there. Olsen came in in a big spot because he’s got stuff. He’s got stuff and a chance to punch out. We’re gonna rely on these guys. They’re gonna have to do it like they have so many times this year. Maybe some other guys are gonna have to emerge that we haven’t seen in a little while.”

The Huskers’ bullpen plan went off script in the eighth.

“I wanted Jalen Worthley to finish the game,” Bolt said. “He’s done it on Friday nights several times. They were seeing him good tonight. They were all over the barrel on him and so we made a move.”

Worthley was charged with an earned run via a solo home run and one other hit in two thirds of an inning. He’s allowed an earned run in three of his last four appearances. Every Nebraska arm with multiple saves except Rans Sanders pitched on Friday.

What’s next for Nebraska baseball?

Nebraska looks to even the series with Indiana Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CT. The Huskers will honor 11 seniors before the game. Fans can watch on the Big Ten Network. The weekend concludes Sunday at 12:05 p.m. CT and the contest will also be televised on BTN.