Husker Offense Struggles in Loss to Razorbacks

Fayetteville, Ark. – Offense was at a premium for both teams on Tuesday night at Baum Stadium, as the Nebraska baseball team (15-13, 1-2 Big Ten) fell to the Arkansas Razorbacks (18-10, 4-5 SEC) by a score of 4-3. Tanner Lubach and Steven Reveles were the only Huskers to record a hit on the night, while the Razorbacks totaled eight hits, with four coming in the third inning. Nebraska's patience at the plate kept them in game by drawing eight walks, including a career-high three free passes by Austin Darby.

Freshman Jake Hohensee got the start for NU and went a career-high 4.0 innings in his 10th career appearance, giving up zero runs in three innings, but couldn't overcome a bad outing in the bottom of the third that resulted in four runs on four hits.

After both teams went down in order in the first, the Huskers put the first runs of the game on the board, as Reveles plated two runs in the top of the second. Lubach got the inning started by reaching on a single that ricocheted off of second base and Ryan Boldt followed with a walk. After Bryce Only laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved both runners over, Reveles delivered with a liner to left that scored Lubach, while a fielding error on the play allowed Boldt to also score.

After Hohensee hit the lead-off batter in the bottom of the second, designated hitter Krisjon Wilkerson sent a shot toward the left field bleachers, but the wind kept it in play and allowed Michael Pritchard to haul the ball in on the warning track. An infield single and another hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for the Razorbacks, but Hohensee produced a timely out by coaxing Brett McAfee into an inning-ending pop-up to Jake Placzek at third base.

Following three consecutive singles by Arkansas to start their half of the third inning, Tyler Spoon roped a two-RBI double down the left field line that knotted the game at 2-2. Back-to-back sacrifice flies to right by Wilkerson and Eric Fisher stretched the lead to 4-2 in favor of the Razorbacks.

Hohensee recovered and went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth, and the Husker offense responded by scratching across a run in the top of the fifth to make the score 4-3. Darby reached base on a four-pitch walk to start the inning, Ty Kildow advanced Darby to second with a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch sent Darby to third. A walk to Placzek put runners on the corners for the Huskers and forced Arkansas to go to the bullpen. With one out and Placzek going to second on the pitch, Pritchard grounded out to the shortstop to score Darby, pulling NU within a run.

Sophomore Austin Christensen took the mound in the fifth and retired all six batters he faced in his 2.0 innings of relief. Zach Hirsch then took the mound and threw 2.0 scoreless innings of his own to keep the Huskers within a run.

The Husker were unable to get a hit after the second inning though and after scoring in the fifth, the Huskers only put a pair of runners on base due to walks.

The Huskers and Razorbacks conclude their two-game midweek series at 1:35 p.m. tomorrow back at Baum Stadium. The game will be video streamed live by the Razorbacks and shared on Huskers.com, a HuskersNside premium subscription will be required. Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle will have the call across the Husker Sports Network, including for free on Huskers.com.