Nebraska plated a pair of runs in the eighth inning to grab a 5-3 lead, before a seven-run rally in the ninth handed the Huskers a 10-5 loss against Indiana on Friday night at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
Nebraska (30-18, 12-7 Big Ten) scored five runs on nine hits and two errors, while Indiana (28-19-1, 13-6 Big Ten) totaled 10 runs on 11 hits.
Josh Caron led the Big Red at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a homer, three RBI and a run. Dylan Carey was 2-for-4 with a double, while Case Sanderson, Gabe Swansen, Tyler Stone and Joshua Overbeek tallied a hit.
Brett Sears dealt seven strong innings, allowing just two runs, one earned, across three hits. The senior struck out six Hoosiers without issuing a walk. Jalen Worthley and Bobby Olsen teamed up to pitch one inning in relief.
Kyle Perry recorded an out and dropped to 1-2 on the year, surrendering three runs, two earned, on three hits. Kyle Froehlich and Casey Daiss also made an appearance out of the bullpen, recording one out each.
The Hoosiers jumped out to an early lead with a leadoff solo homer off the bat of Devin Taylor.
Indiana capitalized on an NU error in the fourth to double the lead to 2-0. A plunked batter, followed by a one-out fielding error placed runners on first and third for the visitors. The Hoosiers plated their second run of the night after Brock Tibbits lifted a sacrifice fly to right.
Nebraska nearly got the run back in the bottom of the fourth, but a perfect relay from the Hoosiers threw out Cole Evans at the plate to end the fourth in a two-run game. Evans reached on a fielder’s choice, before Carey smacked a two-out double to the wall in left. Evans attempted to score all the way from first, but a perfect relay throw from shallow left field by the Hoosiers’ shortstop gunned down a sliding Evans at the plate to preserve the two-run lead.
The Huskers broke through in the fifth inning to make it a one-run game. Cayden Brumbaugh drew a two-out walk, followed by Sanderson’s single through the right side to put runners on first and third. Caron ripped a 1-0 pitch to left for an RBI single, scoring Brumbaugh.
Sears worked around a one-out double in the sixth and retired the Hoosiers in order in the seventh to keep the Huskers within a run going into the seventh-inning stretch.
The Big Red grabbed its first lead of the night with Caron’s two-run blast into the right-center berm. Sanderson drew a one-out walk before Caron deposited the first pitch he saw for his team-leading ninth homer of the season.
A solo home run to begin the top of the eighth inning for the Hoosiers locked the game at three. Indiana had the bases loaded with two outs, but Olsen induced a fielder’s choice to second to elude the damage.
The Husker offense scratched across two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead back at 5-3. Back-to-back singles from Stone and Carey to begin the inning set up Silva’s sacrifice bunt attempt, which moved the pair to second and third with one out.
Clay Bradford, pinch-running for Stone, slid around the tag at the plate on Overbeek’s RBI fielder’s choice to give the Big Red its second lead of the evening. Carey moved to third on the run-scoring play, before coming home on Rhett Stokes’ sacrifice fly in foul territory in right.
Indiana poured in seven runs on six hits in an error to clinch the series-opening win on Friday night. A double, followed by a one-out RBI single brought the visitors within a run at 5-4. With runners on first and third and one out, a sacrifice fly lifted to center locked the game at five.
The Hoosiers had the bases loaded with two outs after consecutive walks, including one intentional walk. The Huskers appeared to get out of the inning tied at five after a pickoff play at second base, but an errant throw brought home the go-ahead run and kept the inning alive.
The visitors drove in four more runs in the inning with a pair of two-RBI singles to extend the lead to 10-5.
Nebraska and Indiana continue the weekend series tomorrow night at 6:02 p.m. at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park. Saturday’s matchup can be seen on Big Ten Network, while fans can listen to Ben McLaughlin call the action on the Huskers Radio Network.