Huskers Sweep Series with Tech

Lincoln ? Ryan Wehrle had three hits and drove in a career-high six runs as No. 4 Nebraska completed a weekend sweep of Texas Tech with a 14-4 victory Sunday afternoon at Hawks Field.

Wehrle, went 3-for-4 with a homer ? a two-run shot on the first ? to highlight a 13-hit eruption, as the Huskers (36-6, 15-3 Big 12) scored in every inning but the second, as the game was called because of the 10-run rule after Brandon Buckman’s homer to lead off the eighth.

Wehrle’s six RBI day was not only a season high, bettering his previous high of five against Charleston Southern in the season opener, but also the most runs a Husker had driven in this season.

In addition to Wehrle, Andy Gerch and Andrew Brown also matched season highs with three hits apiece and combined to score four runs, leading the Huskers to their 18th win in the last 19 contests.

“We had the first game when we had to scratch and claw and then obviously the next two we kept the momentum and things started to move along,” NU Head Coach Mike Anderson said. “We’re fortunate we got the sweep on the weekend and I’m proud of the kids for the last two days. They took care of business. I don’t think anybody tried to get outside of their game, and Johnny (Dorn) was very good today. They hit two balls extremely hard, but on a day when the wind was blowing out I still think he pitched very, very well.”

All of the offense was more than enough for right-hander Johnny Dorn, who allowed three earned runs over seven innings of work to improve to 8-2 on the season. The sophomore right-hander scattered six hits and fanned three to earning his eighth win in the last nine starts. With the win, Dorn improves his career mark to 20-4, moving into a tie for seventh place on NU’s career wins list.

The Huskers jumped out quickly as Wehrle’s fifth homer of the year gave Nebraska a 2-0 three batters into the game. Bryce Nimmo opened the game with a walk and came home moments later, as Wehrle launched a 3-2 pitch from Colt Hynes into the berm in left.

Texas Tech got the runs back in the top of the second on a two-run homer from Tyler Revers to tie the score. The homer snapped a streak of 20.2 scoreless innings for Dorn, who would hold Tech scoreless until the seventh.

NU would take the lead for good in the third, scoring on a safety squeeze from Jeff Christy and Wehrle’s second hit of the day, an RBI single to center. Consecutive singles by Jake Mort and Nimmo put runners on the corners for the Big Red, before Christy laid down a bunt to plate Mort for the go-ahead run. Moments later, Wehrle plated Nimmo with a liner to center.

The Huskers got a break in the fourth, scoring four unearned runs and taking advantage of Texas Tech’s first error of the weekend. With two outs and runners on second and third, Nimmo hit a grounder to second, but Red Raider first baseman Trey Stewart was unable to step on the bag at first in time, allowing a run to score. With new life, the Huskers responded, as Wehrle cleared the bases with a wind-blown double to left, pushing the NU lead to 8-2.

NU chased Hynes in the fifth, scoring on RBI doubles by Gerch and Brown to make it a 10-2 game. The Red Raider lefty allowed nine runs on seven hits over four innings to drop to 4-2 on the year.

Christy made it 11-2 with a solo homer to lead off the sixth, before Kyle Martin’s two-run homer in the seventh pulled Texas Tech within 11-4.

NU plated two runs in the seventh, including an RBI single by Brown before Buckman opened the eighth with his 14th homer of the year to cap the Huskers’ first-ever sweep of Texas Tech, which dropped to 27-19-1 overall and 6-12-1 in the Big 12, in Lincoln.

The Huskers will be off for finals before returning to action on Saturday, May 6, as they travel to Stillwater, Okla., to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys.