Huskers Erase Early Deficit in Series Opener

Tucker Timmerman tossed four shutout innings in relief to help No. 19 Nebraska overcome an early four-run deficit and pick up an 8-7 win against Penn State in game one of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

Nebraska (24-6, 9-1 Big Ten) scored eight runs on 10 hits, while Penn State (8-19, 3-7 Big Ten) totaled seven runs, eight hits and an error.

Rhett Stokes led the Big Red with a 3-for-3 performance that included a double and an RBI. Mac Moyer went 1-for-3 with a homer and three RBI, and Drew Grego finished 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Jett Buck was 1-for-2 with a homer and an RBI, and Case Sanderson was 2-for-5 with a run scored.

Timmerman earned his second win of the season, retiring 12 of the 14 batters he faced across four dominant innings while allowing just one hit. J’Shawn Unger earned his fifth save of the season, throwing two perfect innings to close it out. Ty Horn gave up seven runs on seven hits with two punchouts and a walk in three innings while making his eighth start of the season.

A wild pitch plated the Nittany Lions’ first run of the afternoon in the top of the second, while a 421-foot solo blast to right-center field off the bat of Buck even the game at one through two innings.

Penn State erupted for four runs in the third with a two-RBI double and a two-run homer to grab a 5-1 lead.

Moyer cut the deficit in half with a two-run homer to right field that brough the Big Red back within 5-3 going into the fourth inning.

The Nittany Lions answered with a two-run home run of their own in the top of the fourth to stretch the lead back to four. Grego began the bottom of the fourth with a double and came around to score on Moyer’s sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to 7-4.

Grego’s RBI single through the right side in the fifth scored Sanderson to make it 7-5, and a wild pitch with a throwing error by the PSU catcher allowed Stokes and Moyer to touch home and tie the game at seven in the bottom of the sixth.

The Husker offense scored for the sixth consecutive inning when Stokes delivered the go-ahead RBI single to right field in the bottom of the seventh, scoring Grego from second to give Nebraska an 8-7 advantage.

Unger was untouchable in the next two innings to preserve Nebraska’s 8-7 victory in game one.