HUSKER BASEBALL: Nebraska Starts Fall Ball with Win over Omaha
LINCOLN–(NU Athletics Sept. 29)–Nebraska baseball began its fall slate with an 18-10 win against Omaha in an exhibition at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park on Friday night.
The Huskers scored 18 runs on 20 hits and one error, while the Mavericks totaled 10 runs on 11 hits and an error.
Dylan Carey led Nebraska at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two home runs, two RBI and a walk. Riley Silva was 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and a pair of sacrifice hits. Will Walsh, Garrett Anglim, Case Sanderson, Dylan Hufft and Rhett Stokes pieced together multi-hit games for the NU offense.
Drew Christo tossed two one-hit shutout innings with three strikeouts in the start. Kyle Froehlich pitched two innings, while Jalen Worthley, Will Rizzo and Casey Daiss threw one inning apiece. Tucker Timmerman dealt two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, followed by shutout one-inning appearances by Kyle Perry and Evan Borst.
Christo worked around a two-out single in the top of the first, while the NU offense plated the game’s first run without a hit in the bottom of the first. Brumbaugh worked a leadoff walk and advanced on a sacrifice bunt, before a passed ball and errant throw by the UNO catcher sent him home.
Christo retired the side in order with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to keep the Mavericks scoreless through a pair of innings.
The Big Red tacked onto its lead with four runs on four hits in the bottom of the second to make it a 5-0 game. Ben Columbus reached on an infield single, setting up Anglim’s one-out two-run homer to left-center. The inning ended early due to pitch count, and the Huskers were awarded two additional runs.
A two-out double down the left-field line scored Omaha’s first run of the night in the top of the third. The Mavericks doubled their run production with a leadoff solo homer to begin the fifth frame.
NU had runners on second and third with no outs after Brumbaugh drew a four-pitch walk and Riley Silva singled and advanced on the throw. The Big Red scored a run in the inning after Stone’s RBI groundout brought home Cayden Brumbaugh to make it 6-2 through five.
A sacrifice fly and additional run due to pitch count in the bottom of the sixth had the Huskers out front 8-3 after a solo homer in the top half of the inning by Omaha.
Omaha scored four runs on four hits in the top of the eighth to make it a one-run game heading into the bottom of the eighth. Carey smacked a solo home run down the left-field line to double the lead to 9-7 through eight innings.
The Huskers stretched the lead to five behind three runs on one hit in the ninth. Walsh and Anglim reached on walks, while an RBI single by Stokes and a wild pitch gave Nebraska a four-run advantage. The bottom of the ninth ended early due to pitch count, and the Huskers were awarded an extra run.
Carey expanded the NU lead to six with a towering, 406-foot solo homer down the left-field line in the bottom of the 10th.
Omaha trimmed the deficit in half with three runs on one hit in the 12th. A wild pitch and RBI single plated the first two runs, while Mavericks were awarded an additional run due to pitch count.
The Huskers got two runs back without a hit in the bottom of the 12th to extend the lead to 15-10. Hayden Lewis and Hufft reached on walks, before an RBI fielder’s choice from Clay Bradford and a wild pitch gave the Big Red the five-run lead.
Silva’s RBI sacrifice bunt plated Walsh in the 13th, while the Big Red tacked on two more runs in the 14th with RBI singles by Aaron Manias and Walsh.