Huskers Fall in Ninth Against No. 21 Texas Tech

Photo Credit: Nebraska Athletic Communications

Nebraska fell 6-3 to No. 21 Texas Tech after surrendering three runs in the ninth against the Red Raiders on Saturday afternoon at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field.

Nebraska (1-1) scored three runs on 10 hits, while Texas Tech (1-1) had six runs on 11 hits and committed an error.

Joshua Overbeek led the Big Red at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a run scored. Riley Silva tallied two hits, while Dylan Carey, Josh Caron, Tyler Stone and Cole Evans recorded one hit apiece.

Will Walsh allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out four in a 5.2-inning performance. Ty Horn made his collegiate debut, dealing 1.2 shutout innings in relief with a pair of strikeouts. Mason McConnaughey took the loss after allowing two runs on one hit and a walk in one inning of work. Jalen Worthley made his season debut, while Bobby Olsen struck out the lone batter he faced.

Texas Tech jumped ahead with a pair of runs on three hits in the top of the second inning. Back-to-back one-out singles, followed by TJ Pompey’s RBI double that ricocheted off Overbeek at third and into the Red Raiders’ dugout plated the game’s first run of the day. Will Burns lifted a sacrifice fly to double the lead for Texas Tech.

The Husker offense trimmed the deficit in half in the bottom of the second, manufacturing its first run without a hit. Caron and Stone began the inning with back-to-back walks to put runners on first and second with no outs. Case Sanderson drew a one-out walk to load the bases, while Garrett Anglim’s hard-chopping RBI groundout bounced off the pitcher to plate Caron and make it a one-run game through two.

The Red Raiders got the run back in the top of the third with a sacrifice fly to center after a pair of singles to open the frame.

Nebraska scratched across one run in third after loading the bases with no outs. Cayden Brumbaugh reached on a full-count walk and Overbeek singled through the right side, before Carey was hit by the pitch on a 3-2 count to load the bases. Brumbaugh came around to score on a play where Caron grounded into a 5-3 double play to bring the Big Red within a run for the second time.

Walsh retired the side in the fourth and fifth innings, while the NU offense plated its third run in the fifth to tie the game. Overbeek picked up his third hit of the day, stole second and advanced to third on a wild throw from the Tech catcher with two outs. Carey collected his third two-out RBI hit of the weekend, lining a 1-2 pitch to left-center for an RBI single to score Overbeek and lock the game at three with four innings to play.

The Huskers put pressure on Tech in the bottom of the sixth after consecutive singles from Caron and Stone. Gabe Swansen moved the pair over with a sacrifice bunt, but the Red Raiders retired the next two Huskers via a strikeout and flyout to maintain the tie at three.

After a scoreless seventh, Tech began the eighth with a double down the right-field line. A groundout to first moved the go-ahead run to third with two outs, before McConnaughey took the mound and induced a groundout to Carey at shortstop to extinguish the threat.

NU had the go-ahead run on second in the bottom of the eighth after Evans singled up the middle and moved to second on a wild pitch with two outs. Will Jesske stepped in the box in a pinch-hitting role but couldn’t get Evans home, as the freshman drilled a ground ball to the Tech second baseman.

The Red Raiders jumped out to a 6-3 lead with three runs on a trio of hits in the final inning. A one-out walk and infield single, followed by a wild pitch had runners on second and third with one out. Consecutive two-out RBI singles gave Tech a two-run lead, while a bases-loaded walk grew the lead to three.

The Huskers brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth after singles by Silva and Overbeek, but the Big Red weren’t able to cut into the deficit with two outs.

Nebraska concludes play at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown with a 10:30 a.m. contest on Sunday against Oklahoma at Globe Life Field. Sunday’s game will be streamed on FloBaseball, while fans can listen to Greg Sharpe and Ben McLaughlin call the action on the Huskers Radio Network.