OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Courtesy: NU Media Relations
The Nebraska baseball team (22-14) fell to Creighton, 2-1, in the series rubber match at TD Ameritrade Park on Tuesday night.
Nebraska saw pitching appearances from Ethan Frazier (2.2 innings), Ben Klenke (1.0), Mike Waldron (2.1), Kyle Perry (0.0), Shay Schanaman (1.0) and Bo Blessie (1.0).
In the opening frame, the Huskers were retired in order with two flyouts to center field and a groundout. In the bottom of the first, the Bluejays went down 1-2-3 with two groundouts and a flyout.
All three Husker batters were retired in the top of the second with two strikeouts and a flyout. Creighton managed one baserunner in the bottom of the second, but he was caught stealing after a groundout and flyout.
Jaxon Hallmark ripped a one-out double in the top of the third and then advanced to third on a wild pitch before back-to-back outs left him stranded. The Bluejays strung together back-to-back base hits to put runners on the corners, but couldn’t bring them in as the game remained scoreless.
Aaron Palensky hit a leadoff single in the top of the fourth and Luke Roskam was hit-by-pitch, but both runners were left stranded in a scoreless frame. Creighton scored one run in the bottom of the fourth to take a 1-0 lead. The Bluejays scored their run with two outs after a walk and hit-by-pitch led to an RBI single.
In the fifth inning, both teams went down in order as the score remained a 1-0 lead for the Bluejays.
Nebraska scored one run in the top of the sixth to tie the score at 1-1. Spencer Schwellenbach laced a leadoff single before Palensky recorded a base hit of his own. A wild pitch advanced Schwellenbach to third base. He scored on Gunner Hellstrom’s sacrifice fly to center field. Roskam drew a walk to put runners on, but they were left stranded. In the bottom of the sixth, Jack Strunc hit a solo home run to give Creighton a 2-1 lead.
NU went down in order in the top of the seventh. Creighton loaded the bases on three walks in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn’t convert as the Bluejays’ lead stayed at 2-1.
The Huskers were sat down in order in the top of the eighth. The Bluejays loaded the bases again in the bottom of the eighth, but failed to score any runs.
In the top of the ninth, Joe Acker reached on a leadoff walk and stole second. Cam Chick drew a two-out walk to put two runners on, but a flyout ended the game.
The Huskers return home to host Illinois for a three-game series at Hawks Field this weekend. The games are set for Friday at 7:35 p.m. (CT) on Big Ten Network, Saturday at 2:05 p.m., on NET and Sunday at 11:05 a.m.
