Huskers Stumble at UCLA on Saturday
Nebraska suffered an 11-3 setback at UCLA on Saturday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles.
Nebraska (7-10, 1-4 Big Ten) scored three runs on eight hits and an error, while UCLA (15-4, 4-1 Big Ten) totaled 11 runs, 13 hits and an error.
Robby Bolin paced the Husker offense with a 3-for-4 afternoon with an RBI. Tyler Stone had an RBI double, while Case Sanderson, Riley Silva, Dylan Carey and Devin Nunez tallied a hit each.
Ty Horn fell to 0-3 on the season after allowing six runs, three earned, on six hits across four innings while striking out a season-high six batters and walking two. Jalen Worthley surrendered three runs on two hits with a strikeout and a walk in 0.2 innings.
Pryce Bender pitched 2.1 shutout innings, while Ryan Harrahill and Blake Encarnacion combined to pitch the final inning.
The Huskers plated the game’s first run of the afternoon to grab an early 1-0 lead in the opening frame. Max Buettenback was plunked on an 0-2 count and raced around the bases on Stone’s third extra-base hit of the weekend. Stone lifted a 2-0 pitch off the left-center wall for an RBI double to break the scoreless deadlock.
Horn struck out the side in the bottom of the first and worked around two singles in the second inning with a pair of punchouts to keep the Huskers’ 1-0 lead through two innings.
Consecutive singles from Carey and Nunez, joined with a Bruin error had runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the fourth, but a groundout to second prevented the NU offense from adding on to the lead.
UCLA plated three runs on one hit and an error to take a 3-1 lead through four innings. A leadoff two-base fielding error and a two-out walk had runners on first and third, while a three-run homer to right-center off the bat of AJ Salgado gave the Bruins a two-run lead.
The Huskers threatened in the fifth with consecutive one-out singles from Bolin and Sanderson, but a flyout and strikeout kept the Big Red off the board.
The Bruins erupted for six runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth to blow the game open at 9-1. A leadoff solo homer started the scoring for UCLA, while a single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with no outs.
An RBI single through the left side, followed by an RBI groundout to first tacked on two more runs to the UCLA lead. Salgado’s second three-run homer of the afternoon made it a 9-1 game through five innings.
Nebraska stranded two baserunners in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, while UCLA left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to keep it a 9-1 game going into the final two innings.
A pair of walks, followed by a two-out RBI single to center off the bat of Bolin plated Nebraska’s second run of the afternoon in the top of the eighth inning. Hayden Lewis was hit by the pitch to load the bases with two outs, but the Huskers weren’t able to add any more runs in the inning.
UCLA responded immediately with two runs on four hits in the bottom half of the eighth to send an 11-2 game into the top of the ninth. A one-out double, followed by an RBI single through the left side scored the first run in the inning, while a second RBI single through the left side tacked on another run.
Silva opened the ninth with a single to center and later came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Carey to make it an 11-3 game.
Nebraska and UCLA conclude the weekend series Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles. First pitch of the series finale between the Huskers and Bruins is set for 3 p.m. CT on B1G+.