Huskers Stun Maine with Five-Run Ninth
Rhett Stokes delivered the walk-off two-RBI single to cap off a five-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to help Nebraska complete the sweep of Maine with an 8-7 win on Saturday afternoon, as the Huskers overcame a seven-run sixth inning by the Black Bears.
Nebraska (14-5) scored eight runs on 11 hits, while Maine (2-16) totaled seven runs, 10 hits and four errors.
The Big Red completed its nine-game homestand with a perfect 9-0 mark, matching its second-longest win streak under head coach Will Bolt.
Case Sanderson led the Big Red with a 3-for-5 performance and three RBI, and Stokes went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and the walk-off hit. Jett Buck was 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Joshua Overbeek finished 2-for-4 with a homer. Devin Nunez added a hit and an RBI.
Gavin Blachowicz worked 5.2 innings with nine strikeouts and allowed three runs across seven hits and a walk. Pryce Bender gave up four runs on two hits and a pair of walks without recording an out, while Grant Cleavinger and Tucker Timmerman stabilized the bullpen with two combined shutout innings.
Jalen Worthley improved to 1-0 on the year after dealing 1.1 scoreless innings with a strikeout.
Nebraska grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second after Overbeek’s 410-moonshot cleared the Black Bears’ bullpen in right field for his first homer of the season.
The Black Bears erupted for seven runs on four hits in the top of the sixth to blow the game open 7-1. An RBI single and three-RBI triple gave Maine a 4-1 advantage before a three-run homer into the berm in left field had the Black Bears out front 7-1.
Nebraska answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth when Sanderson reached on an error and came around to score on Nunez’s RBI single to right field to bring the Huskers within 7-2 through six innings.
A fielding error and a balk had Dylan Carey on second with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, while Sanderson’s RBI single to center scored Carey from second and trimmed the deficit to four with two innings to play.
The two teams exchanged scoreless frames in the eighth, while Worthley sat down the Black Bears in order in the top of the ninth to send a 7-3 game into the bottom of the ninth.
Mac Moyer reached on a throwing error and Grego was hit by a pitch before Carey drew a bases-loading walk. Sanderson then singled to right-center field to score two, and Buck’s RBI single through the left side pulled Nebraska within one at 7-6.
A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, and the Huskers loaded the bases for the second time in the inning after Overbeek drew a full-count walk with no outs. Stokes stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out and lined the first pitch he saw to right-center field for a two-RBI single to send the Huskers home with their ninth consecutive win.
Nebraska returns to play with pair of midweek contests at Wichita State on Tuesday-Wednesday, March 17-18 in Wichita, Kan.