BYU Sweeps Double Header from Nebraska Baseball

Nebraska lost a pair of 1 run games on Friday to the visiting BYU Cougars. Errors and the propensity to give up home runs ended up costing the Huskers, as the Cougars came from behind in each game.

After winning the series opener by pitching a combined 1 hitter, the Huskers sent Shay Schanaman out to the mound to try and follow up that performance. He lived up to the billing and ended up throwing all 7 innings of the shortened first game of the double header. He was aided by some good defense, especially a great play by Core Jackson racing over to get a blooped ball

It was the defense, however that would eventually do in Nebraska, After getting the lead in the 4th, thanks to a Max Anderson home run, and Garret Anglim scoring on a wild pitch, Nebraska gave the lead right back in the top of the 5th.

With 1 out, and 1 on, a miscommunication between the Husker SS and 2B attempting to turn a double play led to everyone being safe on the error. A base hit followed by a throwing error from LF where no one was backing up the throw tied the game at 2, and a sac fly on the next pitch gave the Cougars the lead for good 3-2, with all 3 runs being unearned.

Game 2 of the double header featured more offense than the previous games between the 2 teams. Nebraska scored a run in each of the first 3 innings, while BYU had a 2 run HR from their 9 hitter, with one of the runs being unearned after an error by Husker 2B Brice Matthews.

Husker Starting pitcher Emmitt Olson then settled down and continued the streak of solid outings by Husker starting pitchers vs the Cougars, only giving up the 1 earned run through 5 innings of work. After he was pulled, BYU went right to work on the Nebraska bullpen, scoring on an RBI single and 2 RBI double, both on 0-2 counts, to take the lead 5-3.

After pushing the lead to 6-3 in the 7th, the BYU pitching finally started to falter. Cam Chick hit a 2 run home run, followed shortly by an RBI triple from Max Anderson, who had his best day at the plate in some time, to tie the game at 6-6.

Nebraska would then turn the game over to current closer Braxton Bragg in the 8th. The first batter he faced was the number 9 hitter for BYU, who hit a home run to push the lead to 7-6. While Bragg breezed through the remaining Cougar batters, the Big Red offense couldn’t muster up much of a threat in the final 2 innings.

Nebraska and BYU finish up the 4 game series on Saturday in Lincoln, with first pitch scheduled for 11:05 am.