Since Rick Heller became head coach of the Iowa Baseball team, the Hawkeyes have won seven of eight series in against Nebraska. If they want to make it eight of nine, they will have to do it with back-to-back wins on the weekend. The Huskers scored the final six runs of the game to erase a 4-1 deficit and won the series opener on Friday night by a final score of 7-4.
If the Hawkeye coaching staff could have drawn up a best case start to the game, they may not have been as ambitious as what played out. Right-hander Brett Sears is the frontrunner for Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, but the Iowa offense had him on the ropes in the first inning. Raider Tello clubbed an RBI triple into the right field corner to put the Hawkeyes in front after just eight pitches. Davis Cop followed with an RBI single of his own, while Kyle Huckstorf bounced an RBI single through the left side later in the inning to make it 3-0 before the Huskers got an at-bat.
In the fourth inning, it was Sam Petersen delivering the damage. His RBI single made it 4-1 Iowa. It marked the most runs (4) and hits (8) allowed by Brett Sears all season. Sears allowed four runs on eight hits over 5.0 innings, including four strikeouts to one walk. Five innings also is the shortest start for Sears this season. It was a successful day for the Hawkeye offense against the Nebraska ace.
Coach Rick Heller went with Marcus Morgan for his Friday night start of the season and through four innings, he was pretty good. He got into trouble in the third inning, with a bases loaded walk driving in the first Huskers run of the game. However, Morgan buckled down and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to limit the damage.
In the fifth inning, Nebraska broke through. After a leadoff walk and stolen base from Cayden Brumbaugh, a Riley Silva single threatened to chop into the Hawkeyes lead. Instead, Andy Nelson delivered a strike from right field to cut down Brumbaugh at the plate. The momentum was only shut down for a moment. In the ensuing at-bat, Marcus hit Ben Columbus with a pitch, putting two runners on base with Tyler Stone coming to the dish representing the tying run. Stone delivered a three-run home run to right field, tying the game at four runs apiece.
Down the stretch, the Huskers bullpen put together an MVP performance. Kyle Froehlich and Jalen Worthley combined for 4.0 scoreless innings, including four strikeouts and just one hit allowed. Over the last 20 at-bats of the game, Iowa picked up just one hit and it came off the bat of Sam Petersen in the top of the ninth.
Meanwhile, Nebraska took the lead for good in the seventh inning. With one out in the inning, Josh Caron sent a seemingly harmless fly ball into short right-center field. Andy Nelson chased it down, but could not haul it in. The error came back to bite the Hawkeyes, as Cole Evans drove an RBI double into centerfield a batter later to give the Huskers a 5-4 lead.
In the eighth, Nebraska added on a pair of insurance runs off of reliever Ben DeTaeye. Riley Silva made it 6-4 with an RBI double, while he would later score on a double steal play. A page out of the Rick Heller playbook. Iowa won the first four innings with four runs on eight hits, but the Huskers won the last five innings with six runs on five hits.
Andy Nelson, Sam Petersen and Kyle Huckstorf each finished with a pair of hits for the Hawkeyes, while Raider Tello extended his on-base streak to 29 games with his first inning triple. The Iowa pitching staff gave up ten free bases, throwing 96 of 174 (55.2%) pitches for strikes.
Up Next, the Hawkeyes will look to force a decisive game three on Saturday afternoon against the Huskers. Neither team has announced a start for the second game of the series. First pitch is set for 1:15pm CT and will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
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