Huskers Fall to Stanford on Monday
Nebraska wrapped up action on opening weekend with an 11-6 setback against Stanford on Monday afternoon at Salt Rivers Field at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Nebraska (3-1) scored six runs on 13 hits and an error, while Stanford (2-2) totaled 11 runs, 14 hits and an error.
Mac Moyer led the Huskers at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Jett Buck and Joshua Overbeek had two hits and a double each, while Dylan Carey added a pair of hits.
Cole Kitchens drove in a pair of runs with a two-RBI double, while Will Jesske had a two-run homer.
Colin Nowaczyk dropped to 0-1 on the season after surrendering six runs on five hits in one inning of work. Tucker Timmerman allowed three runs across four hits in 1.2 innings, before Braxton Stewart and Auden Pankonin teamed up to pitch 1.1 scoreless frames.
Pryce Bender pitched a team-high three innings, allowing a run on just one hit. Kevin Mannell allowed a run on two hits and recorded two outs, while Caleb Clark and Ryan Harrahill combined to pitch 1.1 scoreless innings.
Stanford went to work early, plating six runs off five hits in the top of the first inning. Four straight hits to begin the game had the Cardinal out front 2-0. A sacrifice fly made it 3-0, before a two-RBI double down the left-field line and an RBI groundout to second base grew the lead to six.
The Husker offense threatened with a pair of baserunners in the first and loaded the bases in the second but couldn’t scratch across a run to cut into the early deficit.
The Cardinal added three runs to the lead behind three doubles in the top of the third to make it a 9-0 game.
Nebraska answered immediately with four runs on five hits in the bottom of the third. Overbeek’s double and a single up the middle from Carey had runners on first and third with one out, before Kitchens’ two-RBI double into the gap in right-center field scored NU’s first runs of the day.
Kitchens later scored on a two-run homer off the bat of Jesske that brought the Big Red within 9-4 through three innings.
The Huskers tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to trim the deficit to 9-6. Drew Grego began the inning with a single through the right side, while Moyer’s double to right field put runners on second and third with one out.
A wild pitch scored Grego from third base, and Jeter Worthley’s RBI groundout to the shortstop plated Moyer and made it a 9-6 game going into the sixth inning.
The Cardinal expanded the lead to 11-6 with two insurance runs in the eighth inning. A leadoff double opened the inning, before a wild pitch with one out scored Stanford’s 10th run of the afternoon. The Cardinal had two baserunners with a single and a plunked batter, while an RBI double grew the lead to five.
Nebraska returns to play next weekend at the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Big Red open next weekend’s action against No. 15 Louisville at 3 p.m.