Call it “Nightmare on S. Donahue Drive.” That’s the location of Plainsman Park in Auburn, Alabama, home of the seventh-ranked Auburn Tigers baseball team. Nebraska baseball spent the weekend there.
Friday night, the Huskers came back from a 4-0 deficit three innings in to win 9-8 in 10 innings. They scored three in the eighth to tie 5-5 and four in the 10th for their fifth victory of the season.
After that, Nebraska faltered, big time, losing 15-4 on the “mercy rule” after allowing three runs in the seventh inning Saturday, and 12-3 Sunday, avoiding the “mercy rule” by one run.
“We didn’t overcome an error early in that game,” Coach Will Bolt said on the Huskers Radio Network following Sunday’s game. An error by second baseman Jett Buck contributed to a four-run second inning for Auburn, though this isn’t meant to put the burden of the loss on Buck.
And the Huskers didn’t overcome not producing “with runners in scoring position,” said Bolt. And “needless to say, we didn’t throw enough strikes to win the games.”
Here’s an example, though again, it didn’t decide the outcome, it only reflected a problem. In the seventh and eighth innings Sunday, after Auburn had taken control, Husker pitchers walked 10 and hit two batters. Six of the 10 scored, with only one base-hit.
In the series, Nebraska pitchers walked 25 and hit seven.
Here’s another unusual statistic. Husker hitters struck out a combined 38 times, oddly enough including 18 in Friday night’s victory. Auburn pitchers didn’t walk anyone, but did hit two batters. Nebraska got the job done with 14 hits, including Will Jesske’s three-run home run in the 10th.
Jesske moved up to second in the batting order on Saturday but had only one at-bat before hamstring issue knocked him out of the lineup and kept him out of Sunday’s game.
Mac Moyer continued as the lead-off batter and went 5-for-14 in the series.
“He gave us great at-bats all weekend,” Bolt said.
Nebraska’s starting pitchers struggled. Ty Horn went 3.2 innings Friday, Carson Jasa one inning Saturday and Gavin Blachowicz two innings Sunday. The Huskers used 19 different pitchers.
Reliever Kevin Mandell was among the few bright spots Sunday, pitching four innings, allowing two singles and one earned run, with four strikeouts and no walks, though he hit one batter.
“He stabilized the game,” said Bolt.
When Mandell sat down, Auburn led 6-2.
Dylan Carey, who doubled in two of the three eighth-inning runs Friday night, went 5-for-13 in the series, with two doubles and three runs-batted-in.
In addition to Jesske hitting his third home run of the season, Buck and redshirt sophomore Nico Newhan hit home runs, both with a runner on to account for Saturday’s runs.
Newhan replaced the injured Jesske in the batting order.
Case Sanderson was 3-for-5 with three runs scored in Friday’s victory. Cole Kitchens was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs driven in.
After that come-from-behind victory, Bolt mentioned “gritty beats pretty” in his post-game comments on the Huskers Radio Network. But gritty couldn’t get the job done Saturday or Sunday.
“For us to move forward, we’ve got to be, obviously, better in those areas collectively, which we have been at various times throughout the first 10 games,” he said, referring to what was said earlier: playing solid defense, producing with runners in scoring position and throwing strikes.
The Huskers’ next nine games are scheduled for Haymarket Park, with Omaha Tuesday, South Dakota State Wednesday and the Big Ten-opening series against Michigan State on the weekend.
Husker fans aren’t expecting a “Nightmare on Line Drive Circle.”
