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Bears blank Huskers, 4-0
Lincoln — After putting 12 runs on the board Saturday, the Nebraska baseball team could not find a rhythm Sunday afternoon in a 4-0 loss to the No. 21 California Golden Bears. The Bears hold a 2-1 advantage in the four-game series that concludes Monday with a 12:05 p.m. first pitch at Hawks Field.
The Huskers (9-6, 0-0 Big Ten) put the ball in play off Cal's pitching staff, with only three strikeouts on the afternoon, but continually hit it at the Cal defense and totaled only three hits. The Bears got big hits when they needed them, as all four of their runs were driven in with two outs.
Tom Lemke made his third start of the season for the Huskers and went a season-high 6.2 innings, while giving up three runs, all earned, on nine hits. Kyle Porter threw four innings of no-hit baseball for the Bears in his second start of the season, before five relievers combined to throw the final five innings.
For the third straight game, the Bears jumped out to an early lead, with one run in the second and another in the third. Cal led off both innings with a double, and each hitter scored on a two-out single. Lemke kept the Bears at bay over the next three innings before Cal knocked him out of the game in the seventh following a two-out RBI single from Darrel Matthews.
Cal added a fourth run in the top of the ninth on a two-out single by Matthews that was followed by a double from Chadd Krist.
The Huskers will look for a series split Monday when they send junior Tyler Niederklein to the mound for his first start of the season after leading the team with an 8-3 record last year. Sophomore Mike Theofanopoulos is scheduled to take the mound for the Bears. The lefty enters the game with a 3.12 ERA and a 0-1 record in three starts this season.