South Dakota State stuns Nebraska with eight-run comeback at Haymarket Park
One week after Nebraska’s midweek pitching put hosting a regional squarely on the table, a different cast of Husker arms dropped NU from that conversation in the blink of an eye.
Nebraska blew a 6-2 lead in the eighth en route to a 10-6 defeat at the hands out South Dakota State on Wednesday night. It’s the Huskers fourth loss to the Jackrabbits ever. NU finished the year 1-6 in midweek games since the beginning of April.
At RPI No. 249, South Dakota State represents the Huskers’ worst loss of the season by a wide margin. The Jackrabbits were swept by Northern Colorado over the weekend.
“It obviously stinks,” Nebraska head coach Will Bolt said postgame. “You leave the door a little bit cracked and they’ve got a good offensive lineup. You’ve got a chance to go finish that thing off, you’ve got a four-run lead with two innings to go, that should be enough to finish the game. It wasn’t. Credit to them, they were on the right side of some pretty big swings tonight.”
Here’s more on one more devastating midweek flush with miscues.
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For a moment, it looked as if Nebraska was set to pull away. The Huskers led 3-2 entering the bottom of the fifth and added runs in the next three innings to take a 6-2 advantage into the eighth. NU had plenty of momentum and a strong cushion for upperclassman righties Rans Sanders and Casey Daiss. Five different Huskers had recorded RBIs.
“We put pressure on them in every inning and we scored six runs, but just one, not multiple runs in an inning,” Bolt said.
Then, the tide turned.
There were warning signs. Nebraska left the bases loaded in the first after filling the bags with one out. Only a run came across. In the seventh, the Jackrabbits loaded the bases with two outs in the before Kyle Perry closed the door.
The dam began to crack in the eighth. A hot-shot single to third and an error by Carey on a potential double-play ball at short set the table for Thatcher Kozal, who launched a Rans Sanders offering to deep right and made it 6-5. Casey Daiss was the next Husker to get the ball out of the pen. He got Nebraska out of the eighth and recorded the first out of the ninth before disaster struck.
The Jackrabbits delivered four straight singles to take the lead at 7-6. With two more aboard, Kozal went yard again to the same spot in right. His second blast of the night blew the game open at 10-6.
Kozal finsiehd the night 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs and six RBIs. He entered the evening with a .200 batting average, three blasts and six RBIs.
Nebraska had all of it’s top bullpen arms available and couldn’t get the job done.
“You could second guess any move that was made in the pen tonight,” Bolt said.
Gabe Swansen’s leadoff single gave the Huskers a bit of hope. Nebraska loaded the bases with two outs and brought the tying run to the plate in Josh Caron. But, the junior catcher struck out on a half-hearted swing to seal the win for South Dakota State.
Making sense of a horrendous loss
Of all of Nebraska’s midweek defeats this year, this is by far the most confusing. The Huskers had an extra day to prepare, a stocked bullpen and plenty of opportunities to blow the game open. NU closed out the game 1-for-14 (.071) with runners in scoring position and stranded 14 runners on base.
The Huskers midweek malaise is something that the players are certainly aware of.
“It’s definitely a focus thing,” Overbeek said. “We play on the weekends and you get three games against a team, and to go on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and play teams that are closer to you, and (they) really treat us and games against us like a World Series, it definitely creeps into your brain a bit.”
In the end, much of Nebraska’s issues on Tuesdays and Wednesdays come down to agression.
“That’s something we have to go out and take full responsibility to not ask for the big hit, not ask for the game to give us a call or bounce our way,” Overbeek said. “You’ve gotta go out and be prepared and be ready to go. When the opportunity presents itself, to take it and run with it and not turn back. We let these guys hang around tonight.”
“When you’re asking for the game to give you something, it usually doesn’t go your way.”
What’s next for Nebraska baseball?
Nebraska wraps up its home slate by hosting Indiana for a three-game set this weekend. The Hoosiers and Huskers are tied for second in the Big Ten standings with a shared record of 12-6. All three games will be televised, starting with Friday’s series opener at 6:05 p.m. CT on Nebraska Public Media.
The final two contests can be found on the Big Ten Network on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CT and Sunday at 12:05 p.m. CT.
