Huskers drop series at Indiana
 Burleson |
Senior catcher Cory Burleson led the Huskers with a career-high-tying four RBIs on two hits, while Josh Scheffert and Austin Darby also had two hits each.
Sophomore Michael Pritchard increased his hitting streak to 24 games with a one-out single in the top of the third. The hit moved Pritchard one game ahead of Curtis Ledbetter (2003), as Pritchard now has the fourth-longest streak in NU history since 1958 and is one game behind Derek Dukart's 25-game streak from 1994.
The Huskers will wrap up their three-game season series with Creighton at TD Ameritrade Park at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
NU has won the first two meetings of the season, and the game will be shown across the state on NET.
The Huskers get back to conference action next weekend when they host Minnesota at Hawks Field.
Rich Sanguinetti scored the first run of the game in the top of the first on Richard Stock's team-leading third triple of the year with two outs after reaching on a double. IU responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame on three straight one-out singles, before Dillon Dooney flied out and Micah Johnson was caught trying to steal home.
The Hoosiers then knocked NU starter Zach Hirsch out of the game in the second after the lefty gave up four runs on four straight two-out hits, including two triples and a double. Dylan Vogt came into the game and retired Michael Basil to put an end to the damage with IU up 6-1.
After Vogt faced just three Hoosiers in the bottom of the third, as Burleson threw out Dooney at second on a steal attempt after he led off the inning with a single, the Huskers plated three runs in the top of the fourth on four hits to cut IU's lead to 6-4. NU produced three straight one-out singles to load the bases for Pat Kelly, who drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Burleson followed with his first hit of the series, as he drove in two with a double into the left-center-field gap.
Indiana got two of the runs back in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out double by Basil after Vogt loaded the bases with a pair of walks. Vogt struck out Dooney to end the inning, but IU was back up four, 8-4.
The Huskers had their 3-4-5 hitters up in the fifth, but IU starter Chad Martin retired NU in order after giving up at least one hit in each of the first four innings. The NU bats got going in the sixth with two runs on two hits, including a two-RBI single by Burleson.
Freshman Aaron Bummer took the mound in the bottom of the sixth for NU and retired IU's 2-3-4 hitters in order, including a strikeout to end the inning. Bummer then got the first two Hoosiers in the seventh before giving up a pair of two-out singles that pushed IU's lead to three at 9-6.
Nebraska had the tying run at the plate in the eighth with two outs but couldn't get anything going. NU then went down in order in the ninth to end the weekend.
R H E --------------------------------------------------- Nebraska........... 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 - 6 11 2 Indiana............ 2 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 X - 9 16 1 ---------------------------------------------------
May 6, 2012 (Game 1)
Walks, miscues cost NU in 7-5 loss
 Pritchard |
Brandon Pierce dropped his second straight start to fall to 5-3 on the year as the Husker sophomore gave up five runs on five hits and four walks over 4.2 innings for Nebraska (29-17, 9-8 Big Ten). IU's Kyle Hart moved to .500 with the win as he gave up three runs on six hits and no walks over 5.0 innings. He is now 4-4 for IU.
The Huskers' Michael Pritchard extended his hitting streak to 23 games with a single in his first at bat, which tied Curtis Ledbetter (2003) for the fourth-longest hitting streak in school history since 1958. The sophomore went 3-for-4 for his first three-hit game since March 25, against Illinois. Chad Christensen and Kash Kalkowski each had two hits, while Christensen and Pat Kelly had home runs.
The Hoosiers (23-24, 10-7 Big Ten) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first without getting a hit. IU's first two hitters reached on a HBP and a walk, before Pierce retired Sam Travis on a fly out. Micah Johnson then hit a possible double-play ball to Christensen, but the NU shortstop could not field the ball cleanly and got only the out at second, which allowed Justin Cureton to score from third. Pierce then struck out Dillon Dooney to end the frame.
Kelly started the third inning by tying the game at 1-1 with a home run over the left-field wall for the freshman's fifth home run of the year. Hart bounced right back with a pair of strikeouts to Austin Darby and Kale Kiser before Pritchard picked up his second hit of the game with a two-out single. That set the table for Christensen to pick up his second home run of the weekend and his eighth of the year on a two-out no-doubter over the 370 sign in left-center field for his 23rd and 24th two-out RBIs of the season.
IU came back with a leadoff double from Chris Sujka in the bottom of the third and he moved to third on a flyout by Cureton. Sujka then tried to score on a hard shot to Josh Scheffert at third, who easily threw out Sujka at the plate.
After failing to score in the third, the Hoosiers tied the game, 3-3, in the fourth with two runs on two hits and one walk, including a pair of doubles. Indiana retook the lead in the fifth on a two-out single by Michael Basil with the bases loaded that scored two to put IU up 5-3.
The Huskers were set to go to the eighth trailing trailing by just two, 5-3, but Christensen lost a pop fly off the bat of Basil in shallow left-center field with two outs, allowing Travis to score. Basil later scored IU's seventh run of the game on a wild pitch by Ryan Hander.
After scoring once in the eighth, the Huskers needed three runs in the top of the ninth to keep the game going. NU was in business after Richard Stock led off with a single and Josh Scheffert reached on an error by Johnson at second. Rich Sanguinetti plated a run with sacrifice fly to cut IU's lead to two, 7-5, and the Huskers had the tying run at the plate with one down, but Jonny Hoffman got consecutive outs to pick up his fourth save of the year.
R H E --------------------------------------------------- Nebraska........... 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 - 5 10 1 Indiana............ 1 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 X - 7 9 2 ---------------------------------------------------