Nebraska baseball finishes Big Ten play perfect at home after sweeping Iowa
No. 25 Nebraska baseball (37-14, 20-7) completed the sweep over Iowa (29-21, 12-15) with an 8-6 win on Mother’s Day in its final regular-season home game of the season.
NU finishes conference play a perfect 15-0 for the first time since joining the Big Ten in 2011.
Husker Nation once again packed Haymarket Park with 7,948 fans on Sunday to mark 22,815 fans for the series — the most fans for Big Red baseball since 2006.
“We’ve obviously played great baseball in this ballpark, and the brand of baseball that we play… it’s relentless,” head coach Will Bolt said. “We’ve had some walk-off wins in this building, some 10-run-rules in this building.
“But all along the way, we’ve had a fan base that’s just been incredible. Back in early March, when they were freezing their tails off, we got thousands of people in the stands. We’ve got a pretty loyal fan base here.
“And as the weather warms up, they want to come watch the team get after it. This team gets after it.”
In his last guaranteed home game as a Husker, and tied 5-5, senior shortstop Dylan Carey drilled a two-out, two-RBI double in the seventh to hand NU a two-run lead. Drew Grego added insurance with an RBI single to cap off a three-run frame.
“I thought it was pretty fitting that he had the equalizer at the plate and then the last ground ball was hit to him,” Bolt said of Carey. “He has meant so much to our program in every way, and not just Nebraska baseball, but the athletic department and the city of Lincoln… you name it.
“He’s left his mark here. And so, I think that was one of my favorite swings I’ve ever seen him take.”
Jett Buck and Will Jesske each went yard with solo shots.
Lefty Colin Nowaczyk (2-1) provided 2 2/3 outstanding innings of relief. The Elkhorn (Neb.) native struck out five, including three consecutive to strand two Hawkeyes in the seventh.
Nowaczyk’s only asterisk came in the eighth after surrendering a two-out homer to Kooper Schulte, who knocked two dingers.
The sweep keeps the Big Red in the thick of its regional hosting aspirations, now sitting 15th in RPI.
Here is an instant recap from the series finale…
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Big Red barrels chip away through first three
The Big Red slugfest chipped away to score in each of the first three frames and build a 5-2 lead.
Nebraska picked up one in the first off Joshua Overbeek’s RBI walk, but left more to be desired after stranding the bases loaded. However, NU barrels put a significant slug on the ball from there.
Red-hot Trey Fikes crushed a lead-off double to left-center — his fifth hit of the weekend. Complementary baseball took over from there as Mac Moyer brought him home with an RBI sac-fly to even it at two apiece.
Moments later, Will Jesske obliterated a heater 98 mph for his fifth homer of the season to take the lead. That slug carried to the third as Jett Buck delivered another solo dinger. As the frame ensued, Fikes reached before Rhett Stokes made it 5-2 off an RBI single.
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However, Iowa reliever John Bleeker entered and shut down the Huskers for three straight scoreless innings. That included the bases loaded stranded in the seventh before Carey swung the momentum back toward Nebraska.
Blachowicz responds well to early woes
After surrendering a two-run first inning, Gavin Blachowicz punched back to post three shutout innings, which included nine straight retired Hawkeyes. The sophomore starter posted four innings off 85 pitches (48 strikes) to rack up six strikeouts to his three walks issued.
He yielded a lead-off homer on the second pitch of the game before a double on a 10-pitch at-bat and an RBI single before escaping.
Interestingly enough, Blachowicz struck out the side in the first, but the consistent high-pitch count continues to cause concern.
In the fourth, the Olathe, Kansas, native ran into trouble after three consecutive one-out walks to load the bases. Yet Blachowicz responded by striking out his sixth Hawkeye and forcing a ground ball to escape unscathed.
Nowaczyk shines out of bullpen
Chase Olson relieved Blachowicz to start the fifth and significantly struggled to find command. It marked Olson’s first appearance since April 5, and it showed. The redshirt freshman lefty issued three free passes before Ryan Harrahill took over and allowed a two-out two-RBI single to even it back up, 5-5.
Nowaczyk worked a 1-2-3 sixth, which included two strikeouts to start the frame. The redshirt freshman lefty worked through a traffic jam with three consecutive strikeouts in the seventh after issuing a lead-off walk and a single — that included a throwing error on Moyer — to strand two Hawkeyes in scoring position.
The Nebraska pitcher surrendered a solo shot in the eighth, but his stellar outing likely earns him high-leverage opportunities going forward.
Tucker Timmerman (SV: 1) recorded the final four outs to notch the save.
Nebraska returns to the ball diamond on Tuesday for another series finale against in-state rival Creighton in Omaha. Watch on Nebraska Public Media or listen on the Huskers Radio Network. The Huskers won the first two over the Bluejays.
