Meyers, Schreiber, Miller Lead Huskers to Series Win

Lincoln – With a series victory on the line Sunday afternoon at Hawks Field, the Nebraska baseball team (33-18, 13-8 Big Ten) dominated the Penn State Nittany Lions (27-25, 11-10 Big Ten) by a score of 8-1. Sophomore Jake Meyers won his fourth straight start to improve to 5-1 on the year, as he went 7.2 innings and struck out a career-high five. At the plate the Huskers recorded 14 hits, with Ben Miller and Scott Schreiber combining to go 7-for-9 with four runs scored an six RBIs.

The Huskers have now won six of their seven Big Ten series this season, including three straight since they were swept at Michigan in mid April.

Schreiber matched a career-high with his second four-hit game of the season, including home runs in consecutive at-bats in the fifth and seventh innings, the second time he has done that this season. Schreiber is the first Husker to record two multi-home run games in season since 2006 when Brandon Buckman did it three times.

Miller went 3-for-5 at the plate with a double and three RBIs. It was the junior's second straight three-hit game and he ended the weekend with hitting .500 (7-for-14) with two doubles, four runs scored and a team-high six RBIs.

With Miller and Schreiber driving in runs, Meyers kept the Nittany Lion bats at bay. The sophomore allowed just four hits and no walks, and didn't allow a runner to get into scoring position until the seventh inning. Meyers never faced more than four batters in an inning and retired the Nittany Lions in order four times. Following a leadoff single in the fourth, Meyers retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.

Meyers and Jake McSteen combined to allow just five hits and didn't walk a batter after Matt Waldron complete game shutout yesterday when he didn't allow a walk. It's the first time the NU pitching has produced back-to-back no walk games since last season against Texas (March 29) and Creighton (March 31).

For the second straight day the Huskers offense scored in the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead on Sunday. With two out and Meyers on first, Miller lined a ball up the middle that was deflected off the glove of a diving Penn State defender and Meyers came in to score all the way from first. Schreiber followed with a single and Taylor Fish was hit-by-pitch to load the bases. PSU starter Justin Hagenman limited the damage to one run, as he got Luis Alvarado to hit a routine fly out to right that ended the inning.

NU added another run in the second, and the inning got started with a double from Jake Schleppenbach. Two pitches later he crossed home, as Steven Reveles laid down a sacrifice bunt and Ryan Boldt picked up his 28th RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly to deep center field.

Working with a 2-0 lead in the top of the third, Meyers started the inning by picking up his third strikeout of the game. He then gave up a single to leadoff hitter Nick Riotto, but quickly ended the inning with a 6-4-3 double play. The Husker offense then scored a run of the third straight inning. After back-to-back one-out single from Miller and Schreiber, Fish drove in Miller on a fielder's choice that stretched NU's lead to 3-0.

After the Huskers failed to score for the first time all day in the bottom of the fourth, Meyers retired PSU in order in the top of the fifth and NU went back to scoring in the bottom of the inning. The Huskers needed just one swing to extend their lead to 4-0, as Schreiber belted a 1-0 offering from Hagenman into the right-center field seats.

Meyers gave up a leadoff single in the fourth and then retired eight straight before Greg Guers led off the seventh with a triple. For the first time all day the Nittany Lions had a runner in scoring position and they cashed in with a RBI groundout from Tyler Kendall. Meyers limited the damage to just a run and kept the Husker in front 4-1.

The Huskers got the run back and added three more in the seventh, with all four runs coming on back-to-back swings from Miller and Schreiber. Following a leadoff walk by Jake Placzek and a single by Meyers, Miller notched his second and third RBIs of the game with his third hit of day, a double down the right-field line. Dakota Forsyth's next pitch to Schreiber was tattooed to left field for a two-run homer, giving NU a 8-1 lead.

Meyers retired the first two batters of the eighth and then McSteen took over and got the final out of the frame. McSteen retired the first two batters in the ninth before giving up a single, but went right back to work on got an inning-ending groundout.

The Huskers are back in action Tuesday night for their final road game of the 2016 regular season. Nebraska and Creighton will meet at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m.