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Nebraska Baseball Recap: Pitching a weakness in opening weekend

By Danny Jaillet

TUCSON, AZ - MARCH 10: Baseball with the NCAA logo during a college baseball game between the North Dakota State Bison and the Arizona Wildcats on March 10, 2018, at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, AZ. (Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ - MARCH 10: Baseball with the NCAA logo during a college baseball game between the North Dakota State Bison and the Arizona Wildcats on March 10, 2018, at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, AZ. (Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Nebraska baseball had a tough weekend against Baylor.

Nebraska baseball opened their season on Friday with a resounding 19-9 win. At the very least, it started off the Will Bolt era the right way. Six players recorded at least two runs batted in, while Gareth Stroh recorded the win in his debut. He gave up eight hits and four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Recording four strikeouts, the bullpen was able to get the rest of the job done.

Saturday was an absolute heartbreaker. Losing to Baylor in 10 innings, both teams were tied after the first inning. Baylor would score two runs in the second and third innings, and managed to notch another run in the fourth.

Things looked bleak for Nebraska heading into the fifth inning. Instead, they mounted a furious comeback, scoring five runs in the fifth inning. Baylor would quickly answer back however, scoring two runs in the ninth and 10th inning following a Nebraska run in the sixth. Shay Schanaman could not close the door in the ninth.

Sunday, it was a combination of poor pitching and a lack of offense for Nebraska. You cannot really fault them especially considering what they did over the past two games. Even still, not at least taking the rubber game of the series hurt them. Losing 7-2, Nebraska would actually take a two-run lead in this one before Baylor exploded for three runs in the bottom of the third. Drew Gillin and Luke Roskam would plate the only runs for Nebraska baseball on the afternoon.

Baylor  would score one more run in the fifth inning and three more runs in the sixth inning. Recording nine hits in total, they stuck Cade Povich with the loss. Povich’s start was interesting. He pitched four endings, giving up seven hits and four runs. However, none of them were earned and he struck out seven. Bo Blessie pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief, giving up two earned runs and three walks. Trey Kissick would give up the other run on the afternoon.

Overall, what I took away from this weekend is that Nebraska baseball needs to get better outings from their pitching staff. The effort may be there, but the results aren’t so far. Yes, it’s only the series-opening weekend. However, you obviously want to start things on the right foot. Nebraska baseball played extremely hard this weekend, they just could not seem to get timely hits when it mattered most. Now, they will have five days to prepare for their next contest against San Diego.

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