Huskers Fall to Texas A&M

College Station, Texas ? Jeff Tezak went 3-for-4, but an eight-run sixth inning doomed the Huskers in a 10-1 loss at No. 23 Texas A&M Saturday night at Olsen Field.

Tezak had three of the Huskers’ seven hits, while Jake Mort’s fifth-inning homer accounted for Nebraska’s lone run, as the Aggies (24-14, 10-7 Big 12) broke open a 2-1 contest with eight runs in the sixth.

Kyle Colligan led the charge for Texas A&M, going 3-for-3 with two homers, four RBIs and scored three times, while Brodie Green drove in a pair of runs in the victory.

Nebraska starter Jordan Roualdes was throwing well, working out of a couple of early jams and had allowing only one earned run through five innings before the Aggies struck in the bottom of the sixth, scoring eight times on six hits.

With one out and Colligan on second, Roualdes intentionally walked Dylan Petrich to try to set up a potential double play, but Colligan stole third to put runners on the corners. Mike Nesseth came in for Roualdes, but his pickoff attempt to first was wide of the bag, allowing Colligan to score and Petrich to move to third. Caleb Shofner then made it a 5-1 game, driving in Petrich with an RBI single.  The Aggies put the game out of reach, as Brodie Greene’s two-out two-run double made it 7-1 before Colligan belted a three-run homer to left off of Kash Kalkowski, as Texas A&M sent 11 men to the plate in the frame.

“We put ourselves in a position we were looking for, where we have Nesseth in tight game ready to go,” Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said. “Unfortunately, he wasn’t good tonight and was one of those things, and we made some errors behind him. We felt like we were playing well until that point, and we would take our chances anytime in a one-run game with Mike on the mound.”

Ross Hales (4-1) pitched well for Texas A&M, allowing one run on five hits over 5.2 innings, while Alex Wilson fired 3.2 shutout frames to pick up his first save.  Roualdes (4-4) took the loss, allowing three earned runs on four hits over 5.2 innings for Nebraska (17-20-1, 4-13 Big 12).

Texas A&M struck first, as Colligan opened the second with a solo homer to center to spot the hosts a 1-0 lead.  The Husker left-hander settled down after the homer, retiring 10 in a row at one point. Roualdes then wiggled out of bases loaded jam in the fourth, getting Caleb Shofer to fly out to left to end the inning.

Nebraska built on the momentum in the fifth, as Mort sent a 1-0 offering from Hales over the fence in left for his third homer of the year to tie the score at one. The Aggie pitching then settled down, as Hales and Wilson combined to set down the next nine Huskers until Tezak’s eighth-inning single

Texas A&M scratched across a run in the bottom half, taking advantage of a Husker error to regain the lead at 2-1. After a leadoff single by David Alleman, Adam Smith laid down a perfect sacrifice which Tezak fielded and fired to first, but Tyler Farst could not handle the throw to put runners on first and third. The miscue proved costly as Brooks Raley hit into a fielder’s choice and beat out the Huskers’ attempt to turn a double play, allowing Alleman to score the go-ahead run.

The series concludes Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. and the game will be carried on the IMG Husker Sports Network and on Huskers.com.