Husker Baseball Falls to Baylor, 4-1

Lincoln ? Mark McCormick and Ryan LaMotta combined to hold seventh-ranked Nebraska to one run on six hits, as No. 8 Baylor evened the weekend series with a 4-1 win Saturday afternoon at Hawks Field.

McCormick (6-2) allowed one run on four hits while striking out nine over 6.2 innings, while LaMotta fanned six over a scoreless 2.1 innings for his fourth save.

"You have to give Baylor a lot of credit today," Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson said. "Pitching was the name of the game today. They pitched well, and we walked eight and hit two batters. You are not going to win many games like that."

Alex Gordon’s sixth-inning RBI single provided all of Nebraska’s offense, as the Huskers (33-8, 9-5 Big 12) fell for the just the third time in 23 games at Hawks Field this season.

The Bears (27-15, 13-4 Big 12) would get all of the offense they needed in the fourth off NU starter Zach Kroenke, scoring twice on an RBI single by Paul Witt and Michael Griffin sacrifice fly. A leadoff walk by Kevin Russo and a one-out double by Kevin Sevigny put runners on second and third before Witt singled between third and short for BU’s first run. Griffin then lofted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Sevigny to make it 2-0.

Nebraska’s pitchers, which led the Big 12 with just 2.48 walks per game, struggled with control all afternoon, matching a season high with eight walks, including a costly trio of walks in the fifth that led directly to two runs.

Kroenke, who allowed four runs on six hits in dropping to 4-2 on the season, gave up a leadoff single to Josh Ford before hitting Reid Brees to put two on with no outs. The Husker starter then struck out Zach Dillon, but Dustin Timm came on and walked Russo to load the bases. Timm, who matched his season high with three walks, was unable to get out of the inning unscathed, walking pinch hitter Chase Gerdes to make it 3-0 before Witt drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk to give the visitors a four-run cushion.

The Bears finished with 10 hits, but could not plate any more runs, as Ryan Bohanan, Mike Harmelink and Jeremy Becker combined for 4.1 innings of scoreless relief. Bohanan kept the Huskers in the game during the middle innings, fanning two in a career-long 3.1 innings of shutout ball. In all, BU stranded 16 runners, including 11 in scoring position.

Staked with a 4-0 lead, McCormick took a shutout into the sixth, when the Huskers finally struck against the hard-throwing right-hander. Freshman Jake Opitz, who went 2-for-3 on the day, opened the frame with a single before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Gordon then put the Huskers on the scoreboard, driving in Opitz with an RBI single. NU continued to rally, as Curtis Ledbetter drew a walk to get the tying run to the plate, but Brandon Buckman grounded out to end the threat.

The Huskers final scoring opportunity came in the seventh, as pinch hitter Trey Adams drew a two-out walk off McCormick before Opitz greeted LaMotta with a single to put runners on first and second. The Bear reliever then stymied the rally by striking out Jesse Boyer to end the rally.

Opitz and shortstop Joe Simokaitis, who went 2-for-4, were the only Huskers to have more than one hit in the losing effort.

The rubber match of the three-game series takes place Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m., as Brian Duensing (5-0, 3.06 ERA) takes on Cory VanAllen (6-2, 3.67 ERA).