Red Squad Wins Opener, 4-1

Lincoln – Behind solid pitching that limited the White Team to just one hit, the Red Team took a 1-0 lead in the Huskers’ Red-White Series with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday afternoon at Hawks Field.

Reds starter Zach Hirsch threw 4.0 shutout innings, and was efficient, as he needed just 42 pitches. Jeff Chesnut then threw 2.0 innings of perfect relief, before freshman Grant Gamble closed out the win.

The White squad nearly broke through in the top of the fourth when they had the bases loaded with one down, but Hirsch dug in and kept the shutout intact with a groundout and a flyout. They had the bases loaded again in the seventh with one down and were able to scratch across an unearned run, but with the tying run at the plate, Gamble got Christian Cox to flyout to end the game.

The Whites’ pitchers only allowed five hits during the seven-inning game, but a pair of errors resulted in two unearned runs. The only earned runs of the game for either team came on a one-out triple by Taylor Fish in the bottom of the fourth.

Along with Fish’s two RBIs, Austin Christensen and Michael Pritchard each drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. The Reds’ Matt Jones led all players with a pair of hits and Ryan Boldt also added a hit for the Reds, while Blake Headley picked up Whites’ lone hit of the afternoon.

The White Team will try to even the series tomorrow when the teams meet for game two of the three-game series at 3 p.m. The series concludes on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. and fans will be treated to $1 hotdogs and Pepsi at the concession stands. Admission is free for the entire series.