Wichita State 6, Nebraska 3: Husker Bats Continue To Be Ice Cold

A day after giving up two grand slams, Nebraska gave up three home runs in a 6-3 loss to the Wichita State Shockers. Nate Fisher was tagged for the loss after giving up five runs in just 2.1 innings pitched. Nebraska went just 2-16 with runners on base after going 2-18 yesterday.

Neither team had much going in the first two innings before the Shockers exploded in their half of the third. Wichita State would send 10 men to the plate, with both Greyson Jenista and Alec Bohm hitting home runs as the big blows. Matt Waldron would come in and replace Fisher and get the final two outs of the inning.

Nebraska managed to get on the board in the fourth when Mojo Hagge scored after tripling and scampering home on a Scott Schreiber ground out. Nebraska missed opportunities for a big inning starting when Schreiber checked his swing on a 2-0 pitch and got his RBI. Jesse Wilkening thought he had ball four on a pitch outside, but it was called a strike and he would ground out. After back to back hits from Luke Roskam and Jaxon Hallmark, Nebraska stranded them with a strikeout of Jeff Athey.

Another home run from Wichita State would push the lead back to five at 6-1. Waldron would settle down though and get out of the fifth with no more damage.

Again, the Huskers would attempt to rally with the first two Huskers reaching in the sixth. Schreiber singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. Wilkening earned a walk to bring up Roskam, Hallmark, and Athey. They would be unable to produce anything with a flyout and a pair of strikeouts.

Zack Engelken would work scoreless innings in the sixth, seventh, and eighth keeping the Huskers in the game.

In the ninth, Nebraska mounted a rally when Hallmark started the inning with a walk. Athey would hit his first career home run when the wind carried a ball out to left to cut the deficit to 6-3. Ben Klenke singled to get the Huskers just one batter away from bringing the tying run to the plate. A lineout from Angelo Altavilla, and a lazy fly from Hagge would put the Huskers away.

Nebraska now drops back to 5-5 (0-0 Big Ten) while Wichita State improves to 8-0 (0-0 American). Nebraska and Wichita State are close to each other, Wichita State just has the power advantage with the wind blowing out. If the Huskers can start hitting with runners in scoring position (0-16 in the first two games), then it is possible for them to hand the Shockers their first loss.

Tomorrow, the Huskers and Shockers meet for the series finale. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM CT. Matt Warren gets the ball for the Huskers while Connor Lungwitz gets the ball for the Shockers.