Huskers earn first road win,
salvage Saturday split at LaTech
 Pierce |  Scheffert |
A strong outing from NU starter Brandon Pierce along with a three-run sixth inning helped the Huskers avoid a three-game sweep by the Bulldogs.
Pierce delivered his best start of the season in the win to improve to 1-2 on the year, as the righty gave the Huskers a season-high 6.0 innings. Pierce tied a career high with six strikeouts while giving up one run on four hits and no walks. The junior from Gunter, Texas, retired the Bulldogs in order three times and never faced more than four batters in an inning.
The Huskers (5-9, 0-0 Big Ten) received nearly all of their production out of their first five hitters in the lineup, including a 2-for-4 day from Austin Darby and two RBIs from Josh Scheffert.
The Huskers return to the road next weekend when they open a three-game series in California with the UC Irvine Anteaters.
Following a three-game set in Irvine, the Huskers will stay in the Los Angeles area and play a pair of games at Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20.
From California, the Huskers head straight to Champaign, Ill., for their Big Ten opener with Illinois on Friday, March 22.
After putting just two runners on base through the first five innings, including one hit, the Husker bats broke through with three runs on four hits in the top of the sixth inning. Wes Edrington led off with walk, stole second and moved to third on a bunt single by Michael Pritchard. Darby followed with a single that scored Edrington, giving Nebraska a 1-0 lead, its first lead of the weekend. Chad Christensen then dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Pritchard and Darby into scoring position, and nearly beat the throw to load the bases. With one down, Scheffert blasted a double into the left-field gap to give the Huskers a 3-0 lead. Pat Kelly followed with a bloop single to right, before La Tech retried the next two Husker hitters to end the frame.
The Bulldogs cut Nebraska's lead to one, 3-2, in the seventh with a pair of runs on three hits. After Pierce gave up a leadoff single to Jacob Derouen, Caleb Hawkins came in and produced a strikeout before giving up a single to Bre'Shon Kimbell. With runners on the corners, Ryan Gebhardt came through with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to score Derouren. Corey White then blasted a double into the left field corner to score Kimbell. With the tying run in scoring position, head coach Darin Erstad brought in Josh Roeder, who retired pinch-hitter Austin Hedges with one pitch to end the inning.
Nebraska came back and had a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs in the eighth, but reliever Dakota Doss struck out Kash Kalkowski to stop Nebraska from adding any insurance. Roeder came back to the mound in the bottom of the eighth and sent the Bulldogs down in order, preserving Nebraska's 3-2 lead heading into the ninth.
Dylan Vogt closed the door with a perfect ninth inning, as he retired La Tech's 4-5-6 hitters in order to earn his third save of the season.
R H E ------------------------------------------- Nebraska ........... 000 003 000 - 3 6 0 Louisiana Tech ..... 000 000 200 - 2 6 0 -------------------------------------------
Game 1: Husker Offense Struggles in 2-1 Loss
Nebraska had the game-tying run at third base with one out in the top of the ninth inning but could not get the hit it needed to extend the first game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at J.C. Love Field. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs posted two runs in the bottom of the first inning, and it was all they needed, as they held onto a 2-1 win to capture the series after taking the series opener Friday night.
Christian DeLeon when 8.0 innings in his second straight start but took the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season. The junior righty gave up just a pair of runs on six hits and no walks.
The Huskers loaded the bases to start the game but could not plate a run. Following a pair of two-out singles from Chad Christensen and Josh Scheffert, Pat Kelly worked a full-count walk to load the bases for Kash Kalkowski. The senior first baseman took a cut at the first pitch he saw from La Tech starter Trevor Petersen and grounded out to first to end the NU first inning.
DeLeon took the mound and retired Bulldog leadoff hitter Austin Hedges but then gave up four straight singles up the middle, resulting in a 2-0 lead for the Bulldogs. With a pair of runners on and one down, Jacob Derouen grounded into a 6-3 double play to end the first.
After the rocky first inning, DeLeon settled in and allowed just three base runners the rest of the game, including 1-2-3 innings in the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth.
Nebraska's offense could not take advantage of DeLeon's work, though, as NU went down in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. The Huskers cut into the La Tech lead in the eighth when Jake Placzek pinch hit for Taylor Fish and drew a leadoff walk. Michael Pritchard moved Placzek into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and following a fly-out from Austin Darby, Christensen delivered a two-out single down the leftfield line that plated Placzek. James Ferguson retired Scheffert to keep Christensen from coming around to tie the game.
Kelly led off the ninth with a single and Kalkowski was hit to put a pair of runners on with no outs. Sanguinetti did his part with a sacrifice bunt that moved both his teammates into scoring position. Corey Stringer pinch hit for Bryan Peters and struck out, before Tanner Lubach grounded out to end the game.
R H E ------------------------------------------- Nebraska ........... 000 000 010 - 1 6 0 Louisiana Tech ..... 200 000 00X - 2 6 0 -------------------------------------------