Courtesy of Husker Athletics
The Husker offense hit 9-of-17 with two outs and the pitching staff silenced the nation’s third-ranked scoring offense, as Nebraska picked up an 8-1 win at Wichita State on Tuesday night at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kan.
Nebraska (15-5) scored eight runs on 13 hits and an error, while Wichita State (15-7) totaled one run, seven hits and three errors.
Jeter Worthley led the Big Red with a 3-for-4 night with three runs scored, and Case Sanderson went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two stolen bases. Mac Moyer was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, and Jett Buck finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. Drew Grego added an RBI on a 1-for-2 night, while Dylan Carey, Devin Nunez and Rhett Stokes had a hit each.
Cooper Katskee improved to 3-0 on the season, allowing one run on four hits with four punchouts across five innings. Kevin Mannell tossed a scoreless sixth, Colin Nowaczyk worked 1.1 scoreless frames and J’Shawn Unger earned his second saved of the season with 1.2 shutout innings to close it out.
Nebraska broke through in the third with three runs. Worthley singled and Moyer followed with a single to left-center before Buck lined a single through the left side to score Worthley. Carey drew a bases-loading walk, and Sanderson laced a two-RBI single to plate Buck and Moyer to give the Huskers a 3-0 lead.
Wichita State got one back in the fourth with a sacrifice fly after a leadoff triple to center field to make it a 3-1 game through four innings.
Buck’s RBI single in the fifth scored Moyer, who had reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced on a throwing error, to push the lead back to three heading to the sixth.
Worthley singled to lead off the seventh and scored on an error by the WSU second baseman after Carey singled, stretching Nebraska’s lead to 5-1.
Wichita State threatened in the bottom of the eighth, bringing the tying run to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Unger struck out the nation’s leader in slugging percentage on four pitches to get the second out, while a second punchout in a row kept the Shockers off the board and sent a 5-1 game to the ninth.
The Huskers put the game away with three runs in the ninth. Moyer singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Sanderson delivered an RBI single to left to score Moyer. Sanderson stole second and scored on a throwing error after Nunez singled, and Grego capped the scoring with an RBI single through the left side to make it 8-1.
Nebraska and Wichita State conclude the two-game midweek set tomorrow at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
