Huskers Sweep Boilermakers with 12-2 Win

West Lafayette, Ind. – The Nebraska baseball team (19-19, 11-4 Big Ten) moved to .500 on the season with its first conference road sweep since 2008, when the Huskers swept at Kansas State to open Big 12 play.

Following a doubleheader sweep of the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday, the Huskers capped the series with a 12-2 win on Sunday afternoon to improve to 11-4 during Big Ten play.

Nebraska scored at least 10 runs in all three games of the weekend and totaled 41 hits off Purdue pitching, including 16 hits on Sunday.

Pat Kelly led six Huskers to a multi-hit day, as the sophomore was 4-for-6 with a pair of RBIs. Michael Pritchard extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a pair of hits.

Following 5.0 innings of no-hit work in a combined no-hitter of No. 10 Arkansas on Tuesday, Kyle Kubat took the mound against the Boilermakers on Sunday and went right back to work to improve to 2-0 on the year. The sophomore lefty didn’t allow his first hit of the season until No. 9 hitter Jake Hansen reached on a one-out single in the third.

Purdue was able to get to the 6-1 Omaha native in the third, when it cut Nebraska’s lead to one run, 3-2, with a pair of runs on three straight hits off Kubat. The 2012 freshman All-American came right back and retired the Boilermakers in order in the fifth. It was Kubat’s last inning, as he went 5.0 innings, giving up a pair of runs on four hits and two walks.

Nebraska’s bullpen pitched four shutout innings to secure the win, allowing just one hit.

Clinging to a one-run lead entering the sixth, 3-2, Nebraska plated at least two runs in each of the last four innings of the game.

The Huskers got a pair in the top of the sixth on an double off the bat of Pritchard. After the Husker left fielder extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a leadoff single in the fifth, Pritchard blasted a two-RBI double to left-field gap to put NU up three, 5-2.

The Husker bats added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh to give the bullpen a 7-2 lead. Sanguinetti sacrificed in a run and on a two-out throwing error by shortstop Jake Hansen, Kelly caught the Boilermakers napping and scored from second base.

Purdue’s starter, Kyle Wood, last just 2.0 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and three walks. Seven Purdue relievers worked the final 7.0 innings and were touched for 10 runs on 13 hits.

Nebraska hosts its final non-conference home game of the year on Tuesday night, when the Kansas State Wildcats visit Hawks Field for a 6:35 p.m. game. It will be the third game of a three-game season series between the two teams, with the Wildcats winning the first two games in Manhattan.