Huskers finally have bad weekend series loss at Rutgers

No. 23 Nebraska dropped its first weekend series of the season, as the Huskers fell 6-4 at Rutgers on Sunday afternoon at Bainton Field.

Nebraska (23-10, 6-3 Big Ten) scored four runs on nine hits and an error, while Rutgers (22-13, 3-6 Big Ten) totaled six runs on 10 hits.

Ben Columbus and Case Sanderson pieced together two-hit games for the NU offense. Dylan Carey had a solo homer, while Cayden Brumbaugh, Cole Evans, Garrett Anglim and Riley Silva recorded one hit each.

Drew Christo pitched two innings, allowing one run on two hits in his eighth start of the season. Will Walsh dropped to 3-2 on the year after surrendering three runs on five hits in 2.2 innings of work. Evan Borst walked the lone batter he faced, while Jalen Worthley pitched 2.2 innings in relief for the Huskers.

Worthley allowed two runs on three hits, while Rans Sanders recorded the final two outs for the NU pitching staff.

Nebraska broke the scoreless tie in the second, plating a run on a pair of hits to grab a 1-0 advantage. Columbus singled through the left side, while Anglim drew a full-count walk to put runners on first and second with no outs.

Silva loaded the bases with a one-out infield single, setting up Brumbaugh’s sacrifice fly to right field that scored Columbus.

Evans led off the third with a full-count walk and later came around to score on Columbus’ RBI single to right-center, doubling the Big Red’s lead to 2-0.

The Scarlet Knights got the run back in the bottom of the third after a leadoff walk, followed by an RBI double down the left-field line.

Carey opened the fourth inning with a 409-foot solo homer into the left-field berm to give the NU offense its third consecutive inning with a run across the board.

Rutgers locked the game at three in the bottom of the fourth with two runs behind four hits in the inning. A one-out solo homer brought the Scarlet Knights within a run, while three consecutive singles brought the game to a tie at three through four innings.

A leadoff single, followed by two plunked batters with two outs loaded the bases for Rutgers in the fifth inning. Borst replaced Walsh on the mound and walked the lone batter he faced on four pitches to give the Scarlet Knights a 4-3 lead. Worthley took the place of Borst and induced a groundout to second to get out of the jam for the Huskers.

The Huskers threatened in the seventh after two-out singles from Evans and Sanderson had runners on first and third for the Big Red, but the Scarlet Knights escaped the damage with a groundout to the shortstop.

Rutgers doubled the lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run from Johnny Volpe.

Anglim’s one-out single through the left side, followed by a four-pitch walk to Carey had runners on first and second for the Huskers in the eighth. Consecutive passed balls brought home Anglim and brought Nebraska within 5-4 with runners on first and third with two outs. A groundout to shortstop prevented the Big Red from plating the tying run.

The Scarlet Knights added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI fielder’s choice to third, which stretched the Rutgers lead to 6-4.

Nebraska returns to action with a midweek tilt vs. Creighton at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park on Tuesday, April 16. First pitch between the Huskers and Bluejays is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.