Looking to get back in the win column and the fact that the rival Creighton Bluejays were coming to town provided all of the motivation Nebraska needed in the second game of their three-game season series at Haymarket Park.
Pryce Bender got the start against the boys from Omaha, but his night ended up being much shorter than anyone hoped. He struggled to get the ball low in the zone and thus gave up four hits and three runs in the one inning he pitched. Most significant was a two-run homer to Nate
McHugh that gave the Jays a quick 2-0 lead. The Jays tacked on another run to make it 3-0 after a half inning.
Tucker Timmerman came in for the second inning from Nebraska. With one out, Bluejay Nick Venteicher smacked a no-doubter solo homer to put Creighton up 4-0.
The story of the game tonight was the bottom third of the lineup making its return. After struggling over the weekend, Grego, Overbeek, and Stokes were the difference in the game tonight as they were responsible for all five of the Cornhusker runs.
In the bottom of the second, designated hitter Preston Freeman led off the inning with a walk and scored when Drew Grego hit an opposite way home run off starter Mac McClellan to cut the Bluejay lead in half, 4-2.
Creighton brought in Evan Stratton to face Nebraska in the third inning. He got a quick out on a come-backer from Case Sanderson but then walked both Dylan Carey and Jett Buck. Preston Freeman then flew out to centerfield to make it two on with two outs.
It was at this point that the game turned, thanks to those bottom three batters in the lineup. Grego singled to bring in Carey. Overbeek singled to bring in Buck. And then Stokes singled to bring in Grego. Nebraska was up 5-4 after three innings. Neither team would cross the plate again.
While you don’t see it in the stats, Dylan Carey made three outstanding defensive plays, covering ground and making outstanding off-balance throws to keep Creighton base runners from advancing and ending innings. After the second inning, three Jay baserunners reached second base, but none advanced any further.
Nebraska pitching also looked very solid after the rough start. Surprisingly Friday starter Ty Horn made an appearance in relief. It is not uncommon for a Friday starter to pitch on Tuesdays as part of their bullpen session, but Nebraska has rarely done it. Horn pitched three innings and threw 30 pitches. He also got the chippiness ramped up by staring down the Creighton dugout a couple of times.
Nebraska did put multiple runners on base in the fourth and eighth innings but were unable to push any additional runs across the plate. That included a well-executed hit-and-run by Jeter Worthley to move Mac Moyer with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. The freshman catcher has some very solid bat skills.
J’Shawn Unger came on in relief of Horn in the eighth inning and finished off the game without giving much hope to Creighton to get back in it. This was Unger’s seventh save in seven opportunities this season.
The win tonight marks the first season series win over Creighton since 2017. It also gets the bad taste out of the team’s mouth from this past weekend with some big games coming up this weekend.
Friday the top-five ranked USC Trojans come to town for three games. This is a huge series with a lot riding on it in terms of post-season implications. It’s time for Cornhusker fans to come out and be a factor. Coach Will Bolt in his post-game comments said he’d like to see 10,000 loud and enthusiastic fans dressed in red in the stadium.
Notes:
- Nebraska pitching only gave up one walk tonight, and that happened in the eighth inning. They also had one hit batter.
- Grego, Overbeek, and Stokes had five of the team’s seven hits and all five of the runs batted in.
- After the win tonight, Nebraska is 16-1 at Haymarket Park this season.
- There was a little over 6100 fans for tonight’s game in the best weather yet this season for a game in Lincoln. They were treated to a relatively quick two-hour-and-47-minute game. This is unique this season as most Nebraska games have gone well beyond the three-hour mark.
