Finally, a big weekend for Big Red baseball.
Nebraska (12-14, 4-2 Big Ten) went up to Columbus on a three game losing streak, having lost five of the last six contests. But the bats came to life and the defense stayed steady in a sweep of Ohio State (8-16, 0-4 Big Ten) by scores of 5-3, 10-5, and 17-5.
The Huskers had to grind out the victory Friday.
After scoring a run in each of the first two innings, the Huskers led 2-0 going into the seventh inning. That’s when Shay Schanaman was pulled from the game after 6.1 innings, giving up just one run before his exit. Schanaman struck out eight and walked three.
NU added another run in the eighth and two more in the ninth inning. Ohio State made things interesting with two runs in the bottom of the ninth but couldn’t close the gap entirely.
Griffin Everitt notched two hits on the day while Cam Chick had a solo home run and scored twice.
The bats jumped to life in game two on Saturday. Tied 3-3 after three innings, the Huskers scored three runs in the fourth and four in the sixth to pull away for good.
Koty Frank dealt 4.1 innings, giving up five runs, four of them earned, on six hits. Tyler Martin came in for 3.2 innings of work, giving up no runs on one hit while striking out four. Braxton Bragg struck out two in his 1.0 inning on the bump.
Eight Huskers got hits, including two for both Everitt and Luke Sartori. Everitt notched a home run as part of his two RBI day. Max Anderson also hit a home run while leading NU with four RBIs.
Game three on Sunday was all Nebraska.
NU got the scoring started in the first inning with a pair of runs then promptly gave up three in the bottom of the inning. But the Buckeyes had no answers the rest of the way, despite wracking up 11 hits.
Nebraska smacked the ball around to the rune of 16 hits, posting three runs in the fourth inning, two in the fifth, three in the seventh, and seven in the ninth. That final frame included a grand slam from Sartori, who finished the day with two hits, three runs scored, and four RBIs.
Six Huskers notched multi-hit days, with eight different players getting hits.
Nebraska heads to Omaha Wednesday. The Huskers are 1-1 against the Mavs so far this season.