What had all the potential of being an offensive shootout came down to pitching, strategy, and, ultimately, one swing of the bat.
Top seed Maryland hit a home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to walk-off 4-seed Nebraska 2-1 Thursday night. The Terrapins advance to Saturday’s semifinal while Nebraska drops to the elimination bracket.
Nebraska got on the board first in the top of the second inning. After Josh Caron was hit by the pitch and Ben Columbus walked, Dylan Carey laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both runners up a bag. Cole Evans then put a ball in play to the second baseman, scoring Caron.
Maryland answered with a run in the fifth inning, but was threatening with bases loaded before Jace Kaminska grabbed a strikeout to end the inning.
Kaminska’s start included one run on six hits, with five strikeouts and a pair of walks over 6.0 innings.
A lightning delay cause the game to go on hold for an hour and 33 minutes. Once back to action, both teams made quick work on the defensive side to close out the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.
Nebraska failed to plate a run in the top of the tenth. Then in the bottom half, Nick Lorusso took a Shay Schanaman pitch deep to left field to end the game on a walk-off home run.
NU must now fight through the elimination bracket to keep any regional hopes alive. The Huskers take on Michigan State Friday at 7 p.m. CDT, with the winner advancing to face the Terrapins Saturday.