Nebraska baseball sweeps Penn State to round out final home series
The Nebraska baseball team (29-20-1) took care of Penn State (24-22) on Sunday, beating the Nittany Lions 8-5. This win rounded out the Huskers final home series for the Big Red with a three-game sweep.
The Big Red faced some adversity in this game as PSU brought the game within one run two different times. However, the offense responded well, scoring multiple runs after both of those occasions.
Game recap
It was Senior Day for the Huskers as they honored 10 seniors. However, it was the redshirt sophomore Will Walsh who earned the start on the mound.
In the first inning, the defense behind Walsh lapsed. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, a routine ground ball to Brice Matthews was mishandled and PSU opened the scoring.
However, the offense quickly made up for the mistake. In the bottom half of the first, Max Anderson, Gabe Swansen drove in runs to take the lead. Josh Caron followed up with a solo homer and NU led 3-1.
The Huskers’ offense tacked on another run in the second when Casey Burnham cashed in on a hit-by-pitch.
It was the fourth inning that the Nittany Lions put some pressure on the Big Red. A base hit to start the inning was followed up by a home run, and it was a 4-3 ballgame.
Once again, the offense responded well as Gabe Swansen matched it with a two-run shot of his own in the fifth.
Corbin Hawkins took over on the mound in the fifth and dealt two clean innings for Nebraska. In the seventh inning however, the Nittany Lions went to work and brought home two runs, making it 6-5.
As seen before, the NU offense matched those two runs an inning later. To nobody’s surprise it was Gabe Swansen again. The sophomore drove in two runs with the bases loaded and gave the defense some insurance runs.
Kyle Perry was on the bump for the ninth inning and retired the first three batters to complete the sweep of Penn State.
A complete weekend from the Huskers
Coming into the weekend, there was some uncertainty about the postseason hopes of the Big Red. Following this game, NU sits comfortably in a position to play in the Big Ten tournament. That is courtesy of a complete weekend of baseball from Nebraska.
Friday the Huskers dominated the Nittany Lions 19-5 and left no doubt. A sign of things to come for the weekend. Saturday, NU was forced to play defense and stepped up to the task, winning 5-2. Sunday it was a game where Penn State threw punches and the offense had to respond, and did.
It was 27 innings of clean baseball from Nebraska. Heading into the final series of the year, the Big Red should have some confidence about the baseball they are playing.
A huge day from Swansen
Gabe Swansen came to play in this game. Not only did he bring home runs, but he did so in huge moments.
In the fifth inning, after PSU had nearly tied the game an inning before, Swansen stepped into the batter’s box with one on and nobody out. The sophomore sent a ball over the right field wall to extend the Huskers’ lead.
That wasn’t the only big moment. Facing a similar situation, ahead by a run, Swansen stepped up to the plate after Anderson was intentionally walked ahead of him. Feeling slightly disrespected, the sophomore showed PSU why that was a mistake and brought home two runs for the Big Red.
Heading into the final series of the year and the postseason, Nebraska has a young player who doesn’t crack under pressure.
What’s next?
The Huskers have one final series next weekend as they head to Purdue. The three-game series starts on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. Friday’s game starts at 5:00 p.m. as well, followed by the series finale at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. All three games will stream on B1G+ (LINK HERE) and are on the Huskers Radio Network (LINK HERE)
