Huskers Turn Two against SDSU
Lincoln – Three Nebraska pitchers held South Dakota State scoreless on Friday afternoon, as the third-ranked Husker baseball team posted a doubleheader sweep (10-0, 3-0) of the Jackrabbits Friday afternoon at Hawks Field.
After Tony Watson and Like Wertz combined for a two-game shutout in the opener, redshirt freshman Charlie Shirek needed only 67 pitches to become the first Husker in seven years to fire a complete-game shutout. Shirek (1-0) struck out three and allowed only three singles over seven frames, picking up his first career victory in a game that lasted just 79 minutes.
"We had a couple of incredible outings today from Charlie and Tony," Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson said. "Charlie went the complete game on 67 pitches and was still touching 94 on his fastball and 89 on his slider in the seventh. That kind of performance holds up regardless of who you are playing."
Watson improved to 3-0 and picked up his first victory since Feb. 24, as he fanned six over five innings of two-hit ball and lowered his ERA to 1.78. Wertz then completed NU’s first shutout of the year with two frames of no-hit ball.
The Huskers, who improved to 15-2, also relied on their legs in the sweep, swiping 10 bases on the day, including eight in the opener. Nick Jaros keyed NU’s offensive attack by going 3-for-3 with three stolen bases and a trio of RBIs in the opener, as Nebraska used a five-run third to break the game open.
Jaros accounted for NU’s first two runs in the lid-lifter with a first inning sacrifice fly in the first and an RBI single in the third. In the third, NU swiped six bases, including a pair of double steals, and also had run-scoring hits by Andy Gerch and Brandon Buckman to help extend the lead to 6-0.
Nimmo, who went 3-for-3 and scored four times in game one, made it 7-0 one inning later as he lofted his second homer of the season to right off of SDSU starter Danny Klous, who allowed seven runs on seven hits in four innings to drop to 0-3 on the season.
Nimmo and Jaros both singled as part of a two-run sixth for the Huskers to push the lead to 9-0 heading into the seventh, before Anthony Brown came home with NU's 10th run on a South Dakota State fielding error on a ball hit by Jake Mort to end the game.
The Huskers gave Shirek all of the run support he needed in the first, scoring twice off of SDSU starter Matt Bowman, who also pitched a complete game in the loss to fall to 0-3, as the Jackrabbits dipped to 2-10 on the year.
Luke Gorsett started the two-out rally with a double to left before Andrew Brown’s RBI single gave NU a 1-0 lead. Gerch reached on a two-base error and scored on Jake Opitz’ RBI single to right.
The Huskers added an insurance run in the fourth as Opitz, who went 2-for-3 in the nightcap, opened the inning with a double before scoring on Nick Sullivan’s RBI single to right – his second hit of the afternoon. Sullivan also had two hits in the win, NU’s 11th straight.
Weekend Weather Update
Bacause of the weekend forecast, the two teams will attempt to play a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, beginning at 12:05 p.m. Fans who have tickets to Saturday’s originally scheduled game will be able to watch both games tomorrow, while fans who had tickets for Sunday’s game can use those tickets for any remaining regular-season game, including Saturday’s contest, based on ticket availability.
