Knutson Tosses 8.0 Inning in 8-2 Win

Lincoln – Behind a career-high 8.0 innings from junior Max Knutson the Nebraska baseball team (31-17, 11-7 Big Ten) notched an 8-2 victory over the Omaha Mavericks (24-23, 14-10 Summit) on Wednesday night at Hawks Field. With the win the Huskers completed a two-game season sweep of the Mavericks this season and are now 40-9 all-time against the Mavs in Lincoln.

After tossing a then-career-high 5.1 innings against Kansas at Kauffman Stadium two weeks ago, Knutson went 8.0 innings on Wednesday night and match a career high with five strikeouts. The Arden Hills, Minn., native allowed just two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks. Dating back to his start at Kansas State on April 19, the Huskers are 3-0 over Knutson’s last three starts and he has allowed four runs (three earned) over 17.1 innings.

NU’s offense got off to a slow start on Wednesday with just one hit over the first three innings, but then tallied 11 hits over its final five frames. Four Huskers recorded multiple hit, including a game-high three from Ryan Boldt. NU matched a season high with five stolen bases, including two each from Boldt and Jake Placzek. The Huskers also stole five earlier this season when they played Omaha t Werner Park.

Three of Nebraska’s runs came on back-to-back swings from Ben Miller and Scott Schreiber in the sixth inning, NU’s 13th multi-home run game of the season. It’s the third time this season the two sluggers have homered in the same game and tonight marked the first time since 2012 that the Huskers have hit back-to-back homers. It last happened against Minnesota on May 13, 2012, when Austin Darby and Kale Kiser did it in a 6-5 victory that secured a series sweep of the Gophers.

Schreiber now has a team-high 11 homers on the year, the most by a Husker since 2011 when Cody Asche hit 12. It’s also the most homer by a Husker sophomore since 2004 when Alex Gordon hit a team-high 18.

The Mavericks jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, without getting a hit. Cole Gruber worked a four-pitch walk to start the game and moved into scoring position when Clayton Taylor reached on an error in centerfield, just the sixth error of Boldt’s career. Omaha execute a sacrifice bunt and Ryan Cate followed with a sacrifice fly for his 23rd RBI of the season. With a runner still in scoring position, Knutson ended the frame with a strikeout.

Trailing 1-0, NU’s offense broke out in the fourth with three runs on four hits. All nine batters came to the plate and NU’s rally started when Luis Alvarado worked a one-out walk. The next four batters rattled off singles, including RBI singles from Angelo Altavilla, Placzek and Boldt. After Boldt’s hit gave the Huskers a 3-1 lead, Jake Meyers worked a walk that loaded the bases for NU’s No. 3 and 4 hitters. Omaha went to Brett Sasse and the junior struck out Miller and Schreiber in order to leave the bases full.

Two innings later in the sixth, Schreiber and Miller atoned for their strikeouts in the fourth with back-to-back homers, pushing NU’s lead to 6-1. With two outs and Boldt on second, who singled earlier in the frame, Miller belted a 0-1 offering from Sasse into the right-field seats for his sixth homer of the year. Schreiber stepped in and worked a 3-1 count before he blasted his 11th homer of the season to dead centerfield, easily clearing the 395-foote sign.

After giving up a leadoff single in the fourth, Knutson retired 10 straight before Sam Palensky laced a one-out double in the seventh. Jack Kalina followed with a single, cutting NU’s lead to 6-2. The Huskers got the run back in the bottom of the frame and tacked on another. Alvarado led off with a single and later scored with two outs on a wild pitch. With the bases empty Placzek worked a four-pitch walk and scored all the way from first on a double by Boldt, his third hit of the game.

Knutson retired the Mavs in order in the eighth and Reece Eddins took the mound in the ninth. After walking the leadoff batter, Eddins struck out the side to secure the win.

The Huskers return to Big Ten play this weekend when they host the Penn State Nittany Lions for a three-game series at Hawks Field. The series kicks off on Friday night at 6:35 p.m.