Nebraska baseball drops 9-3 decision in Ohio State series finale

A slow start, 10 runners left on base and a ninth-inning grand slam spelled Nebraska baseball’s first Big Ten loss of the season on Sunday afternoon.

The Huskers (22-7, 5-1) quickly fell behind 5-0 and despite some stability provided by left-hander Will Walsh, failed to muster the clutch hits necessary to complete a comeback in a 9-3 defeat. Ohio State salvaged the weekend after losing the first two games 3-0 and 7-3.

Head coach Will Bolt found his squad chasing runs early for the second time this week.

“Ohio state played great today but I’m also very frustrated with our killer instinct,” Bolt said. “You’ve got a chance to finish the week off the right way, you’ve got a chance to finish the weekend off the right way. We didn’t set the tone on the mound, and then we have two non-competitive at-bats to start the first inning right behind that.”

Here’s more on the Huskers’ first misstep in conference play and a look at a up and down week at the plate.

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Hard contact was the name of the game for Ohio State from the jump. Buckeye leadoff man Isaac Cadena laced a triple off the wall in right to open the first. He scored on a groundout and a Mitchell Okuley RBI double with two outs added another run. A leadoff solo home run into the wind in right kept the OSU party rolling and the Buckeyes tacked on two more runs with a two-out single that made it 5-0.

Starter Drew Christo exited the game in the third in favor of Walsh. Sunday marked the right-hander’s shortest start of the season.

“It’s usually the first inning, that’s kinda been the thing,” Bolt said of Christo’s recent struggles. “He’s been able to settle in at times but he’s not getting us off to a good start in the first inning at times. Had a chance to bury a breaking ball with two strikes and start off on the right foot and hangs it and they hit a triple off the wall. It’s just that mindset at the start of the game to go and set the tone for the team.”

Freshman Case Sanderson provided a big-time spark in the home half of the third. His first collegiate home run drove in Riley Silva who reached base on his conference-leading 16th hit by pitch of the season. Sanderson made the first defensive start of his career in Sunday’s series finale.

“Honestly I knew I hit it pretty well,” Sanderson said of his swing. “But, I figured since it got in the air that it might have a shot there.”

Josh Overbeek opened the fourth by drawing a full-count walk and Nebraska quickly threatened yet again. After the Husker third baseman swiped second, Rhett Stokes plated Overbeek with a RBI double to right that pulled NU within 5-3.

Clutch hits suddenly became very scarce for Husker bats.

Nebraska put runners on first and second in the fifth and the eighth with one out and failed to scratch across a run in either instance. Each inning ended in a full-count looking strikeout. Silva’s leadoff single in the seventh was spoiled by a 1-6-3 double play just three pitches later.

“That’s the frustrating part,” Bolt said. “We set up a couple innings and the innings end on backwards Ks. That part of it can’t happen and that’s very, very disappointing.”

Right-handed reliever Blaine Wynk was a thorn in the Huskers’ side. He worked 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, stranded three Nebraska runners and struck out three more over the course of his outing.

Ohio State delivered a kill shot in the ninth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Okuley mashed a grand slam to stretch the Buckeye advantage to 9-3 and put the game well out of reach. The blast was his first of the year and the second grand slam allowed by Tucker Timmerman.

In the wake of the loss, Walsh remained confident in Nebraska’s ability to bounce back. The Huskers are 4-1 after a loss this year.

“We’re a very resilient team,” Walsh said. “This loss isn’t going to bring us down too much. We’re going to come out on attack on Tuesday against KU and we’re gonna kick somebody’s ass.”

A middling week at the plate

Nebraska failed to strike first in three of its four games this week. The Huskers went 1-2 in that stretch and finished a measly 1-for-11 (.091) with runners in scoring position against Ohio State on Sunday. NU bats watched strike three go by in a trio of instances but each came with runners on base, including the game’s final out.

“We weren’t the aggressors today and it was really just tough for us,” Sanderson said. “We came out a little slow and it stuck with us throughout the game. We weren’t attacking the ball the way we usually do.”

For the week, Nebraska was 9-for-47 (.191) with runners in scoring position.

“In two of the four games, Tuesday and today, we were chasing five runs and we were passive at the plate,” Bolt said. “Even though we didn’t score a ton of runs on Friday, I thought we had a good approach and we hit a lot of balls hard on a tough day to hit against a good left-hander. I thought we had good at-bats yesterday as well.”

The Huskers are 14-2 when they score first this season and 6-5 when the opponent draws first blood. Regaining that edge will be a key storyline throughout the month of April and as Nebraska prepares to head on the road for four games next week.

“That was the message to the team is that, ‘We’re not going to be anything without that mentality. Without that mentality of being the aggressors and setting the tone,'” Bolt said. “We didn’t do it twice this week and it came back to bite us.”

What’s next for Nebraska baseball?

Nebraska baseball travels to Lawrence, Kansas, for a midweek showdown with Kansas on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to the game on the Huskers Radio Network.

The Huskers are expected to start southpaw Will Walsh against the 15-14 Jayhawks.