Courtesy of Husker Athletics
No. 24 Nebraska fell behind early and couldn’t come back, as the Huskers fell 9-3 vs. Ohio State in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
Nebraska (22-7, 5-1 B1G) totaled three runs on nine hits and an error, while Ohio State (13-14, 3-3 B1G) totaled nine runs on nine hits.
Josh Caron went 3-for-4 with a double, while Case Sanderson was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Rhett Stokes turned in an RBI double, and Riley Silva, Tyler Stone and Joshua Overbeek each had a base knock.
Drew Christo dropped to 1-2 on the season after allowing four runs on three hits with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work. Will Walsh worked 4.1 innings in relief, surrendering one run on three hits while striking out five Buckeyes. Kyle Perry allowed one run in two innings, before Rans Sanders and Tucker Timmerman combined to allow three runs and record one out.
A leadoff triple, followed by an RBI groundout to shortstop had the Buckeyes ahead 1-0 in the opening frame. Ohio State doubled its lead with Mitchell Okuley’s two-out RBI double off the wall right field.
Ohio State expanded its lead to five with three runs on a pair of hits in the third to hold a 5-0 advantage over the Big Red. A solo homer into the berm in right-center off the bat of Henry Kaczmar made it a 3-0 game. A plunked batter and a four-pitch walk, followed by a wild pitch placed runners on second and third with one out for the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes’ Joseph Mershon drew ball three on a 2-2 pitch and appeared to strike out via the pitch clock rule after thinking it was ball four and not being set in the batter’s box in time. Following a conference among the umpires, Mershon was rewarded to continue the at-bat and sent the 3-2 pitch back up the middle for a two-RBI single to give the visitors a 5-0 lead.
Nebraska got a pair of the runs back in the bottom of the third to climb back within three runs. Silva was plunked on a 1-0 pitch, before Sanderson drilled a 390-foot two-run homer in the left-center berm for his first career home run.
Walsh worked around a leadoff walk in the fourth, while the NU offense plated another run in the bottom half to make it a two-run game. Overbeek began the Husker fourth with a walk on full count and swiped second, setting up Stokes’ RBI double to the alley in right-center field.
The Huskers threatened to score for the third consecutive inning after Cole Evans reached on a fielder’s choice and Caron’s single up the middle to put runners on first and second with two outs. A two-out strikeout prevented the Big Red from cutting into the deficit.
Back-to-back one-out singles from Caron and Overbeek had runners on first and second for the Huskers in the eighth. With the go-ahead run at the plate, the NU offense couldn’t plate another run after a flyout and strikeout put an end to the Huskers’ threat with one inning to play.
A bunt single and consecutive walks loaded the bases for the Buckeyes with two outs in the ninth, while a grand slam to center ballooned the lead to 9-3 for OSU to avoid the series sweep.
No. 24 Nebraska hits the road for a midweek matchup at Kansas on Tuesday, April 9. First pitch between the Huskers and Jayhawks is set for 6 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, Kan.
