Nebraska baseball sunk by opening innings in 9-3 loss at Wichita State

Nebraska baseball’s midweek series finale with Wichita State resulted in a complete dud in a 9-3 defeat on Wednesday night.

The Shockers led 9-0 through two innings and surrendered just five hits in the series-evening win. Prior to the Huskers two solo home runs in the ninth, NU was on pace to log its lowest hit total of the season. Nebraska instead matched its worst two hitting performances of the season. Head coach Will Bolts squad won both of those previous contests.

“Chasing four runs again in the first inning, I mean, you just can’t keep doing that,” Bolt said postgame on the Huskers Radio Network. “We had the chance to get off the field with two strikes and two outs and it turns into a four-spot because we don’t play catch on a routine groundball. Then obviously we don’t get off the field in the second inning. It didn’t have to get to five runs and it did.”

Here’s more on the loss and what it means for the Huskers’ two midweek matchups next week.

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It didn’t take long for Wichita State to start throwing haymakers.

The Shockers opened the first with back-to-back singles off Nebraska freshman starter Ryan Harrahill. The Elkhorn South product rallied with a strikeout and a fly out to left. Then things went squarely off the rails. An RBI single gave Wichita State the lead and was followed by a two-RBI triple and an error that allowed another run to score.

A 4-0 Shocker advantage grew further still in the second. Caleb Clark relieved Harrahill and promptly opened the inning by issuing a walk. Derek Williams drove in a run with a one-out single and a two-out walk and infield hit loaded the bases with two down. That’s when Kearney, Nebraska, native Seth Stroh entered the box and slugged a no-doubt grand slam which made it 9-0.

Nebraska’s bats struggled mightily against Shocker freshman Tyler Dobbs. The right-hander worked five scoreless innings while allowing just two Huskers to reach base following a leadoff double from Cayden Brumbaugh.

In the sixth, the Shockers made a pitching change and Nebraska managed its second hit of the night. Josh Overbeek doubled down the left-field line with a runner aboard to put two in scoring position with one out. The Huskers scratched across just one run via a Cole Evans RBI groundout and left Overbeek stranded at third.

Trailing 9-1 in the final inning, Nebraska got a late boost with a solo bomb for Clay Bradford and a inside the home run for Max Buettenback. The Huskers cut the deficit to six, but with two outs NU couldn’t muster anymore late-game magic.

Who starts the second midweek game next week?

Next week the Huskers will face Omaha and North Dakota in the midst of their upcoming eight-game home stands. Will Walsh will likely start one of those games. The other? Right now it seems completely up for grabs.

Perhaps one of the six different relivers that tossed scoreless innings in the wake of Clark’s unwieldy second could get a look.

“After that, there were a lot of good bullpen performances and some guys that made good pitches,” Bolt said. “They worked around a leadoff double and some traffic with a couple of the guys. The positive for me was the bullpen.”

Mason McConnaughey, Kyle Froehlich and Bobby Olsen all have starting experience. Jalen Worthley could be in the mix as well. Another option could be turning completely to the bullpen with an opener. The Mavericks and Bison own a combined five wins. As a result, sweeping the midweek next week is virtually a must.

A brutal night at the dish

Nebraska’s Wednesday showing had a lot of similarities to the series-opening loss to South Alabama last Friday. The Huskers took a hit early and couldn’t find a way to recover. NU also logged double-digit strikeouts in consecutive games for the third time this season. Dylan Carey picked up three of those punchouts on his own.

“There were a lot of unfocused, undisciplined at-bats from the offense,” Bolt said. “We just didn’t put up much of a fight that way.”

All five hits were extra-base knocks including a double from the newly returned Josh Overbeek in the sixth. Yet in spite of that, the Huskers failed to put the opposing defense under the same level of duress as they have at points this season.

“We’ve been pretty good at putting pressure on the opponent and we haven’t always knocked them down but there wasn’t a whole lot of pressure tonight,” Bolt said. “We had a chance in that first inning to set the tone of the game. Brumbaugh took a great swing, we got him to third base with one out and we go punchout-punchout and don’t move the baseball.”

What’s next for Nebraska baseball?

Nebraska will begin an eight-game home stand with a weekend series against Nicholls on Friday. The Colonels are seeking to avenge a series loss from 2023 and continue their red-hot 17-3 start. First pitch for the series opener is slated for 6:05 p.m. CT.

All three games of that series can be found on Big Ten Plus and heard on the Huskers Radio Network.