Early on the Huskers struggled both in the field and at the plate, falling behind quickly and never recovered from their early hole.
Freshman pitcher Jackson Brockett started on the mound for the Huskers, entering the game with a 4.82 ERA in 28 innings pitched. In Brockett’s last appearance he allowed just one hit in two innings pitched.
The first inning finished with zero damage to either side, with both teams leaving runners on base.
In the top of the second, the Spartans kept the bat on the ball. Sophomore first baseman Brock Vradenburg crushed one high over the left field fence, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
Sophomore shortstop Brice Matthews singled in the top of the second for the Huskers but was left stranded on base.
The Spartans kept the pressure on Nebraska in the third.
With one on and two outs, Spartans junior left fielder Casey Mayes singled to right field, pushing across a Spartan runner to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. The ensuing Spartan batter tripled to left center field, scoring Mayes from second to make the lead 3-0. Senior left fielder Cam Chick singled in the Huskers half of the third but was also stranded on base like Matthews.
Nebraska baseball manager Will Bolt opted for a change in the top of the fourth, bringing in senior pitcher Shay Schanaman. Schanaman carried the load for the Huskers up until the eighth inning, where he surrendered a singular run.
In the sixth inning, the Huskers were put down in order as senior first baseman Colby Gomes struck out to end the inning. The seventh was nearly identical to the sixth for the Huskers, outside of the Spartans walking a lone batter.
The Spartans scored their lone run off Schanaman in the eighth via a double and a throwing error to first base from freshman catcher Josh Caron, extending the lead to 4-0.
The Husker offense struggled heavily throughout the game, delivering just three hits through five innings. With both sides of the ball unable to perform, the Huskers put up little resistance.
“I really didn’t think he had anything too great,” senior designated hitter Griffin Everitt said postgame. “It was just kind of one of those days where it seemed like everything we were hitting was just right at ‘em.''
Down to its final three outs, Nebraska gave everything it had in the ninth.
After sophomore third baseman Max Anderson grounded out to start the inning, the Huskers found life off singles from Gomes and junior outfielder Leighton Banjoff. The ensuing Husker batter, Matthews, was then walked to load the bases for Caron, down four runs.
Unfortunately for the Husker faithful, Caron struck out swinging for the second out of the inning. Nebraska’s next batter, freshman second baseman Core Jackson, was hit by a pitch, advancing Gomes home for Nebraska’s first run of the game.
The Huskers looked to Chick to keep the inning alive. After getting behind in the count, Chick struck out looking and the Huskers fell 4-1.
“I felt like we still took good at-bats as the game went on… it sucks it ended that way,” Everitt said.
The loss pushes the Huskers to 21-30 overall on the season and puts them on the brink of being out of reach of the Big Ten tournament.
Game two against the Spartans will be back at Haymarket Park on Friday at 6:32 p.m.