Nebraska Baseball: Weekly Wrap-Up – Penn State Weekend
Brock Minert-Husker Corner
Darin Erstad’s Nebraska baseball (32-17, 13-5 Big Ten) team found itself on a roll this week. After their game against Creighton was postponed, the Huskers took out UNO 4-1 before sweeping Penn State (17-26, 5-12 Big Ten) by a combined score of 30-9.
The final game against the Nittany Lions ended in an 8-4 victory after the State College Sluggers showed some life early on. Penn State led 3-1 after the top of the third, but the Big Red bats that had shown themselves all weekend came out once more.
Nebraska recorded five runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning giving the Huskers a 6-3 lead, but the two teams brought in a run each later in the sixth. A Jake Placzek double in the seventh would bring Brandon Miller in for the final offensive output of the day for either squad.
The Husker bullpen got quite the workout as starter Kyle Kubat slumped quickly into the fourth. Bob Greco, Zach Hirsch and Josh Roeder all saw action after Kubat was pulled.
With the Big Red sitting at 32 wins, here’s how the rest of this week’s Big Ten action shook out:
| Big Ten | Overall | |||
| Team | Record | Pct. | Record | Pct. |
| 1. Indiana | 16-2 | .889 | 32-12 | .727 |
| 2. Nebraska | 13-5 | .722 | 32-17 | .653 |
| Illinois | 13-5 | .722 | 27-17 | .614 |
| 4. Michigan | 11-10 | .524 | 22-25-1 | .469 |
| 5. Minnesota | 9-9 | .500 | 22-19 | .537 |
| 6. Iowa | 8-9 | .471 | 26-16 | .619 |
| 7. Michigan State | 8-10 | .444 | 24-20 | .545 |
| 8. Ohio State | 7-10 | .412 | 26-21 | .553 |
| 9. Penn State | 5-12 | .294 | 17-26 | .395 |
| 10. Purdue | 5-13 | .278 | 12-32 | .273 |
| 11. Northwestern | 5-15 | .250 | 13-31 | .295 |
To no one’s surprise, Indiana swept their series with Purdue. Michigan State made Illinois sweat and even brought their second game to ten innings. Unfortunately for Nebraska, the Illini would eventually take all their of their games and keep the top three in the Big Ten standings static.
Illinois travels to Iowa next weekend and should mow down the Hawkeyes with little trouble before their trip to Lincoln. Indiana faces a Penn State team now on a 12-game road losing streak in State College. Somehow, it seems highly unlikely friendly confines will help the Nittany Lions. The Hooisers also trip to Kentucky on May 13 for a game against Louisville.
The Nebraska baseball team travels to Michigan State next weekend and the Spartans will be no pushovers. They gave Illinois everything the Illini wanted on their own field.
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