By NU Athletics Communications
Nebraska rallied for four runs in the eighth and ninth innings to clinch the weekend series at Charleston with a 5-4 win over the Cougars at Patriots Point on Saturday night.
Nebraska (6-3) scored five runs on 13 hits and committed a pair of errors, while Charleston (7-2) recorded four runs on six hits.
Riley Silva led the Huskers at the plate with his second three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. Cayden Brumbaugh, Josh Caron and Ben Columbus tallied two hits apiece, while Tyler Stone, Cole Evans, Dylan Carey and Case Sanderson recorded one hit.
Brett Sears posted his third quality start of the season after allowing two runs on two hits in six innings. The Westphalia, Iowa, native struck out a career-high seven hitters for the third time this season and surrendered just one walk. Ty Horn collected his first collegiate win after pitching two innings in relief. Horn allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits and a pair of walks in his third relief outing of the year. Casey Daiss replaced Horn in the ninth and recorded his second save of the year. Daiss posted a strikeout and allowed just one hit in the shutout inning.
For the first time in five games, the Huskers were held scoreless in the opening frame. Nebraska had a pair of baserunners reach first and second after singles to left by Silva and Stone, but the Big Red couldn’t plate the game’s first run.
A two-out walk on full count, followed by Cole Singsank’s two-run homer over the fence in left gave Charleston a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
Sears retired the Cougars in order in the third and fourth innings, while the NU offense had runners on first and third with one out in the fifth after a walk to Columbus and Sanderson’s single. The Huskers couldn’t scratch across a run after Cayden Brumbaugh grounded into a first-pitch 6-4-3 double play.
Silva began the sixth with a double down the left-field line and later came around to score on Evans’ RBI single to right-center, bringing the Huskers within 2-1 after six innings.
Charleston grew its lead to 4-1 with a pair of runs on two hits and an NU error in the seventh. A leadoff single and a four-pitch walk placed runners on first and second, while a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third with no outs. The Cougars scored both runs after Luke Wood’s RBI single scored one and an errant relay throw added another run.
The Huskers scored two runs on three hits in the eighth to make it a one-run game headed into the final inning. Caron reached on a single to left, and Evans drew a two-out walk to put runners on first and second. Back-to-back RBI singles from Carey and Columbus plated Caron and Evans to bring the Huskers within 4-3.
The Cougars had their first two hitters reach in the eighth, before a heads-up play by Bryce Hughes at second base put a halt to the Cougars’ momentum. Charleston would’ve had runners on first and second with no outs after a walk on full count, but Hughes applied the tag of the Cougars’ baserunner who slid past second base. Horn retired the next two Cougars via a popout and groundout to send a 4-3 game into the ninth.
The Huskers began the ninth with consecutive singles from Brumbaugh and Silva, before Silva swiped second to place runners on second and third with zero outs. Caron locked the game at four after dropping an RBI single into right-center, while NU grabbed the lead after Stone lifted a 3-1 pitch deep to left for a sacrifice fly to score Silva.
Nebraska wraps up this weekend’s action at Charleston in the series finale tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT. Sunday’s matchup can be seen on FloBaseball, while fans can listen to Dave Gustafson and Ben McLaughlin call the action on the Huskers Radio Network.