Nebraska fell 8-6 in a back-and-forth game vs. Michigan on Saturday afternoon in front of a season-high crowd of 6,561 at Hawks Field.
The Huskers (9-12, 1-1) scored six runs on nine hits and had one error, while the Wolverines (12-10, 1-1) totaled eight runs on eight hits.
Shay Schanaman pitched 5.1 innings in Saturday’s start, allowing five runs on five hits and striking our six Wolverines. Braxton Bragg dropped to 1-2 on the year after surrendering two runs, one earned, on one hit and striking out three in three innings. Emmett Olson replaced Bragg on the mound to get the final two outs, giving up an unearned run on two hits in the relief appearance.
Luke Jessen was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI, while Garrett Anglim had two hits and an RBI. Brice Matthews and Core Jackson had RBI singles and Max Anderson hit an RBI double, while Cam Chick drew three walks and scored a season-high two runs.
A walk and a hit batter put runners on first and second, before Jordon Rogers’ two-RBI double off the wall in right gave the Wolverines a 2-0 lead in the second.
Luke Sartori reached on a single through the left side in the third and advanced to second a wild pitch. Matthews followed with an RBI single to left on a 3-2 pitch to score Sartori and trim the Michigan lead in half.
Nebraska tied the game at two in the fourth when Griffin Everitt reached on a walk and Jessen drilled an RBI triple into the gap in left center.
Michigan jumped ahead 5-2 after Matt Frey’s solo homer and Tito Flores’ two-run home run in the sixth. The Huskers got one back in the bottom of the sixth with Anglim’s RBI single through the left side, plating Chick.
A walk and an RBI single in the seventh brought home Michigan’s sixth run of the game.
The Huskers tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with three runs on four hits, beginning with Anderson’s RBI double to right center that scored Chick and brought the Big Red within two. Jessen’s RBI single to center made it 6-5, before Jackson’s RBI single landed safely between second and third base against the Michigan defensive shift to score Anglim and tie the game at six.
The Wolverines loaded the bases with two outs after a Nebraska fielding error, infield single and walk, while Jimmy Obertop lifted an 0-2 pitch to the wall in left for a go-ahead two-RBI double in the ninth to clinch the 8-6 win.
The rubber match between Nebraska and Michigan is set for tomorrow at 11:02 a.m. at Hawks Field.
