LINCOLN, Nebraska – The Northwestern State baseball team could have laid down Sunday morning when homestanding Nebraska dropped a six-run third inning on the Demons.
Instead, Northwestern State nearly completed a remarkable comeback before falling 7-6 to the Cornhuskers at Hawks Field at Haymarket Field.
"It makes you proud as a coach, when it's 38 degrees or whatever it is out here, after you get a win the day before, you could easily sit back and say, 'We got our win, let's go back home,'" second-year head coach
Bobby Barbier said. "It was great to see our guys fight to get back in it. The pitchers came in out of the bullpen, filled up the strike zone and competed with multiple pitches.
"I have no problem with today. I told them, never get used to losing, like losing or have anything but a distaste for losing, but the way you competed today when you fell behind will pay off for you in the future."
After the Demons (11-8) stranded the bases loaded in the top of the third, Nebraska (11-8) broke through against NSU left-hander
Ridge Heisler (3-1) in the third inning.
Four of the first five Nebraska hitters in the third singled off Heisler before Luke Roskam delivered the Huskers' first extra-base hit of the series, a grand slam that made it 6-0.
"Ridge had a tough day," Barbier said. "He's been our guy all year. He's been the guy we can count on, and he just didn't have his good stuff today. He couldn't command it, and good teams like Nebraska, make you pay for it when that happens. I know he'll be back on track next weekend."
Robert Burke relieved Heisler and continued the strong relief work the Demons have become accustomed to receiving.
Burke, making his first appearance out of the bullpen after four starts, allowed one unearned runs in four innings of relief before
Tyler Pigott added 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief.
"That's two times in a row where he's come out and had really good command," Barbier said. "He fell behind in a couple of three-ball counts early. Then he settled in and started throwing the breaking ball for strikes. It was really sharp today. That was the plan, to get him out there and keep him on his rotation. You're going to continue to watch him grow."
Because of the stellar work from the relief corps, the Demons were able to battle back and close the gap on Nebraska.
An RBI double by
Caleb Ricca and a sacrifice fly by
Kelsey Richard off Matt Warren (3-0) pulled NSU within 6-2 in the fourth before Northwestern State scored three two-out runs off Warren in the fifth inning.
After
J.P. Lagreco's RBI single scored
David Fry,
Tyler Smith followed with a two-run home run to right field to pull the Demons within one.
The score remained the same until the Huskers added an unearned run in the seventh inning.
With one out in the ninth inning,
Kelsey Richard delivered a solo home run off Nebraska closer Jake Hohensee for the final margin. It marked the first run Hohensee had allowed in seven innings of work this season.'
Hohensee then retired the final two Demons to collect his fourth save.
Smith, Ricca, and Fry all had two hits for Northwestern State while Smith and Richard each drove home two runs.
Zac Repinski's three hits led Nebraska, which got a pair of hits and four RBIs from Roskam.
Northwestern State returns to action Tuesday, opening a four-game homestand with a 6 p.m. matchup against Louisiana Tech. Northwestern State will honor the late Dr. Randall Webb, the longest-serving president in school history, before the game.
Nebraska 7, Northwestern State 6
NSU 000 230 001 – 6 8 1
Nebraska 006 000 10x – 7 10 0
W – Matt Warren (3-0). L –
Ridge Heisler (3-1). S – Jake Hohensee (4). 2B – NSU,
David Fry;
Caleb Ricca. NEB, Mojo Hagge; Zac Luckey. HR – NSU,
Tyler Smith (2);
Kelsey Richard (4). NEB, Luke Roskam (1). Highlights: NSU, Fry 2-3, 2B; Smith 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Ricca 2-4, 2B, RBI; Richard HR, 2 RBIs. NEB, Zac Repinski 3-4; Roskam 2-3, HR, 4 RBIs.
Records: Northwestern State 11-8; Nebraska 11-8.
