One crooked number in a rubber match can decide a weekend series. Nebraska put one of them together and never looked back in an 11-5 win over Minnesota on Sunday afternoon at Haymarket Park.
An 8-run outburst in the home half of the 4th inning proved to be the difference on yet another windy day in Lincoln. The Huskers sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring eight runs on five hits, two walks, two hit batters, a passed ball, and an error. It was NU’s highest-scoring inning since…Saturday’s 7th inning, when they also scored eight times.
Sunday’s matchup started off innocently enough with Nebraska (24-16-1 overall, 9-6 Big Ten) manufacturing a single run. Star second baseman Max Anderson reached second base on a fielder’s choice and error, moved to third after sophomore left fielder Gabe Swansen put one in play that was booted by the Gopher third baseman, and then scored on a wild pitch.
Meanwhile, sophomore left-hander Will Walsh was denying Minnesota (12-30, 5-10) from the mound. Walsh dealt six innings and allowed three runs, but none until the 6th. He struck out five, walked just one, and earned his second quality start in five outings.
The fateful 4th frame began with Swansen getting plunked. After a foul out, freshman third baseman Dylan Carey and junior first baseman Ben Columbus drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. A passed ball scored Swansen, and sophomore catcher Josh Caron knocked in Carey with a single. That set the stage for junior right fielder Cole Evans, who snuck the first pitch he saw over the fence and just inside the foul pole in left for a three-run homerun, increasing the Husker lead to 6-0.
Star shortstop Brice Matthews was then hit by a pitch, and then scored on senior center fielder Casey Burnham’s single when Minnesota’s right fielder misplayed the ball into an error. Burnham came home after stealing third and scoring on Anderson’s sacrifice fly. Swansen then finished off the Gophers with a first-pitch solo shot to right, making it 9-0 Nebraska.
Minnesota would score three in the 6th, then another in the 8th off of NU sophomore reliever Corbin Hawkins. That run was unearned, but the Golden Gophers had cut the lead down to 9-4.
The top of Nebraska’s lineup struck back in the bottom of the 8th. Burnham reached via HBP, his 17th of the season, followed by Anderson crushing his team-leading 16th long ball of the year, this one to dead center.
Freshman reliever and Lincoln East product Jalen Worthley gave up one run in the 9th, but finished off an 11-5 victory that also sealed the weekend series in favor of the Huskers.
Despite going 0-for-4 on the day, Matthews continued his 44-game on-base streak with a walk in the 4th inning. He and Anderson both dipped below .400 with only one hit between them Sunday. The duo combined for seven hits on Saturday as each crept back above the .400 line. Heading into May, Matthews is sitting at .392, while Anderson is batting .389.
After a crushing, come-from-ahead loss Friday, the Huskers hit the gas pedal. From the disastrous 5-run 9th in Friday’s opener until Sunday’s 6th inning, NU rattled off 29 runs straight before allowing another Gopher run. That’s 29 runs for Nebraska’s bats paired with 14 scoreless innings posted by their pitching and defense.
Next weekend will be a critical road series with first-place Maryland. The Terrapins have sole possession of the top spot in the Big Ten at 11-4, while NU is in a 3-way tie for third at 9-6 with Michigan, who they defeated 2-games-to-1 in Ann Arbor, and Indiana, who they will not play in the regular season. Before that, the Huskers will host North Dakota State on Wednesday at 6:05pm.