Baseball: Schreiber, Alvarado Lead Huskers To 7-3 Win Against Buckeyes

The Nebraska Baseball team (14-12, 2-2 Big Ten) broke a two game losing streak, taking the series opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes. After falling behind 3-0, Nebraska scored seven unanswered runs and shut down the potent Buckeye offense for a Friday night victory.

Senior starter Luis Alvarado was shaky early, allowing three runs in the first two innings. He would finish the night by throwing 5.2 scoreless innings after the Buckeyes scored early.

In the first, Ohio State scored. Brady Cherry singled with two outs to put a runner on base for Noah McGowan. McGowan, a hitting machine doubled into the right field corner to score Cherry easily. On the play, McGowan was thrown out at third on a nice relay from Hallmark to Scott Schreiber to Luke Roskam.

After the Huskers failed to score in the second, Ohio State tacked on a pair in their half. Conner Pohl lead off the inning with a single and scored when Nate Romans homered to center.

The Huskers looked like their offense was going to continue to go cold until the fourth. Schreiber took the first pitch from Connor Curlis and deposited it over the well in left field for a solo home run. Roskam walked and Zac Repinski doubled to put two more runners in scoring position. A slow rolling grounder from Hallmark and a hit from Gunner Hellstrom tied the game at three.

Alvarado worked around a base hit in the fourth to bring the Huskers back up in the fifth. Joe Acker took a full count pitch and hit it through the left side of the infield for a single. Angelo Altavilla would sacrifice to Pohl who would throw it down the right field line. Acker came all the way around from first to score and Altavilla ended up at third with no one out. Schreiber singled to score Altavilla and give the Huskers a 5-3 lead.

Ohio State had a threat in the sixth. After getting Pohl swinging, Tyler Cowles and Romans were both hit by pitches. Alvarado buckled down and got Jacob Barnwell to hit into a inning ending 4-6-3 double play on the next pitch.

Alvarado was outstanding as he worked into the eighth inning. Not looking long for the game in the first two innings, Luis worked ahead of hitters later in the game and began locating his fastball exceptionally well. He did not allow a base hit until Pohl got one with two outs. With Cowles representing the tying run, Nebraska went to the bullpen to get Jake Hohensee. Hohensee went to a full count on Cowles before freezing him with an outside fastball.

Yianni Pavlopoulos started the ninth for the Buckeyes. He walked Hallmark on four straight pitches to start. He went 3-2 on pinch hitter Alex Henwood before Ohio State went to the bullpen to get Kyle Michalik. Michalik froze Henwood for strike three but Hallmark swipped second base. Mojo Hagge took a big rip and gapped one into left center for a triple to plate the insurance run. Ben Klenke singled into right to score Hagge and open the lead to 7-3. After Altavilla singled, a twin killing from Schreiber ended the inning.

Hohensee came back out for the ninth inning. He got the first two batters with a strikeout and a lazy fly ball. A single put one on. A ground ball looked to end the game when Repinski threw to Altavilla but the runner was ruled safe at second. On replay it showed that he was clearly out. Hohensee walked the next batter to bring up the tying run in the form of Cherry. On three pitches, Hohensee struck out Cherry to close the game.

Nebraska wins a series opener for the first time since the season opening game against UC-Riverside. The Huskers look to clinch a series against a good Ohio State team tomorrow when Matt Waldron gets the ball. First pitch has been moved up to 1:05 due to weather concerns.