Huskers Shock Creighton, 7-6, Sweep Season Series

A back and forth affair saw the Nebraska Cornhuskers defeat the Creighton Bluejays 7-6 on Tuesday night. Jake Schleppenbach provided the key hit as his bases loaded single put the Huskers up for good. Josh Roeder picked up career save number 31 to tie Brett Jensen for the school record.

Nebraska started out from behind as they spotted Creighton three early runs. A combination of passed balls, hit and runs, and timely hitting pushed 3 runs across for the Jays.

The Huskers would strike back for a pair of runs in the fifth. Ryan Boldt would walk to start the fourth and Blake Headley would follow with a double to put a pair of runners in scoring position with no outs. Ben Miller and Taylor Fish would each get a RBI as the Huskers pulled to within 3-2.

After Schleppenbach scored the tying run on a two out single from Boldt, Creighton would put up a two spot in the sixth. Creighton would take advantage of Jeff Chestnut and Colton Howell who had trouble locating the strike zone. Nebraska would find itself trailing late in the game, needing a comeback.

Nebraska would pull closer in the seventh inning with a single tally. Schleppenbach again would single, steal, and advance to third on an error. Wes Edrington would then ground out to pull the Huskers to within one. After Howell stranded a runner at third, Nebraska would finally break through.

Headley would lead off the eighth with a single. After a four pitch walk to Miller, Fish would sacrifice both runners into scoring position. The Jays elected to intentionally walk Austin Darby to load the bases. The Jays looked smart after Scott Schreiber struck out. The Huskers finally cashed in a bases loaded opportunity when Schleppenbach hit a rope past the diving second baseman to put the Huskers up 6-5.

After a scoreless eighth inning from Ben Miller, Nebraska would add an insurance run in the ninth and head to the bottom of the ninth up 7-5. Roeder would give up a pair of extra base hits and have the tying run 90 feet away with one out. Roeder would then induce a groundball to Edrington to hold the runner at third for the second out. A strikeout would seal the game for the Huskers as they swept Creighton for the first time since 2008.

Nebraska improves to 31-16 (6-9). Nebraska moves up to 13^th in RPI standings with the victory.