Mistakes Cost Nebraska Baseball in 5-4 Loss to Rutgers

In what has become an all too familiar sight in recent memory, Rutgers yet again leaves Haymarket Park with a victory. They’ve done it the last 5 games in a row. And again Nebraska spent nearly the entire game playing from behind.

Emmet Olson took the mound for Nebraska in only his second start as a Husker. And the sophomore turned in his finest performance of his career thus far. Going 6.2 innings and striking out 5 batters, including 4 of the last 5 he faced. The lone blemish for Olson was a 3 run 2nd inning

The inning started out with an error by Husker short stop Brice Matthews, who had been playing perfectly after struggling to start the season. They used that momentum along with a double and a pair of singles to get out to a 3-0 lead. Olson would then go on a tear, not allowing a hit for 17 straight Rutgers batters, giving up only 1 walk and 1 hit batter.

The Nebraska bats failed to get to Scarlet Knights’ starter Nathan Florence. He gave up a hit to Cam Chick as the second batter he faced, but Chick was caught stealing. On a bad throw by the pitcher, Chick had the bag stolen, but when he went to slide, came up short of the bag. Florence then went the rest of his 5 innings without allowing another hit.

It wasn’t until the 7th inning that the Huskers mounted a threat. Catcher Griffin Everitt walked, and DH Nick Wimmers singled through the right side and set the stage for Colby Gomes with 2 outs. Gomes smashed a 1-2 pitch down the left field line for a 3 run home run. Luckily for Nebraska, the Big Ten doesn’t have replay available, as replays showed the ball bouncing off various parts of the wall before coming back into the field of play, and not clearing the wall. The game was tied 3-3.

Rutgers would answer right back in the 8th, taking a hit by pitch and then clobbering a 2 run home run to left to take the lead back 5-3. But Nebraska wasn’t done. Cam Chick hit another single, but on a double from Everitt was thrown out easily trying to get home. Three straight walks by multiple Rutgers relievers cut the lead to 5-4 after 8.

Nebraska would threaten again in the 9th, with another Cam Chick single followed by another walk to Max Anderson. But the game would end on a sharply hit ground ball to the Rutgers short stop for a final score of 5-4.

Nebraska looks to salvage the final game of the series on Sunday, at 12:05 at Hawkes Field.