For the second straight game, the Nebraska baseball team bludgeoned Pepperdine’s pitching staff to finish off a midweek sweep as the Huskers (9-11) defeated the Waves, 11-4, Wednesday in Malibu, Calif. The Cornhuskers notched back-to-back wins with 20 runs after totalling just eight runs in a three-game sweep at UCLA.
Much like Tuesday night, when Nebraska scored the first five runs of the game, NU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 3.5 innings of the game. A Cael Frost groundout drove in a run to get Nebraska on the board in the second. Then in the third, Joshua Overbeek drove in a run with a groundout. Then in the fourth, back-to-back home runs by Tyler Stone and Dylan Carey pushed the lead to 4-0.
The Waves tallied a pair of runs in the fourth. But in the fifth, Devin Nunez drove in a run with a single to center. A Cayden Brumbaugh sacrifice fly pushed the lead back to four runs. Then in the sixth, Hogan Helligso drove in a run with a single to make it 7-2. After Pepperdine scored in the seventh, Helligso drove in a run with a double play. After a home run by the Waves in the bottom of the eighth, Nebraska responded with a two-run homer by Carey, his second roundtripper of the game. Helligso capped the scoring with an RBI single.
Gavin Blachowicz (2-0) earned the win out of the Huskers bullpen, throwing 2.1 shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out two. Nate Tichy (0-2) took the loss for Pepperdine, allowing two runs, one earned in two innings pitched.
Carey paced the Nebraska offense, hitting 3-for-4 with three RBI and two home runs. Stone was 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and an RBI. Joey Damelio led the Waves’ offense, hitting 2-for-4 with a home run.
After a day off, Nebraska returns to conference play with a three-game series at USC. Pregame coverage Friday at 8 p.m., with first pitch at 8:30 p.m. on KLIN.