Huskers Top UC Riverside, 7-1, to Take Series

Riverside, Calif. – The Nebraska baseball team (3-1) closed its season-opening series with a 7-1 win over UC Riverside at Riverside Sports Complex on Sunday.

Freshman right-hander Colby Gomes, making his pitching debut, went 4.0 scoreless innings and recorded two strikeouts. Senior Matt Waldron threw 5.0 innings of relief and earned seven strikeouts.

Nebraska struck first with one run in the opening frame. Angelo Altavilla hit a one-out single before Mojo Hagge advanced him with a single of his own. Aaron Palensky drove in Altavilla with an RBI single. In the bottom of the first, the Highlanders left two runners on base during a scoreless frame. UC Riverside managed two hits.

Drew Gilin recorded his first career hit in the top of the second, but the Huskers were held scoreless. The Highlanders earned two hits in the bottom of the second, but left a pair of runners stranded.

NU scored two runs in the top of the third to extend its lead to 3-0. Schwellenbach and Hagge each walked before Luke Roskam’s two-RBI single. UC Riverside went down in order in the bottom half of the inning.

In the top of the fourth, Nebraska went down in order with one strikeout and two flyouts. Riverside managed two hits in the bottom of the fourth, but Roskam threw a laser to second base for an inning-ending pickoff.

Nebraska left one runner on base via walk during a scoreless top of the fifth. UC Riverside went down in order in the bottom of the fifth.

All three Husker batters struck out in the top of the sixth. Waldron responded by retiring all three Highlanders he faced in the bottom of the sixth.

Nebraska plated one run to extend its lead to 4-0 in the top of the seventh. Blake Peterson hit a leadoff single and then later scored on Altavilla’s RBI single. Waldron added a strikeout in the bottom of the seventh as he retired all three batters he faced.

In the top of the eighth, Nebraska left two runners on in a scoreless frame. Waldron mowed down the Highlanders 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth.

The Huskers scored three runs on two hits in the top of the ninth to build a 7-0 lead. Acker doubled in the leadoff spot before Schwellenbach drove him in with a single. Hagge and Palensky also registered RBIs during the inning for the Big Red. UC Riverside scored its lone run of the game in the bottom of the ninth.

The Huskers return to action next week at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Surprise, Ariz. NU faces defending national champion Oregon State in a four-game set, beginning on Thursday.