Stone Lifts Husker Baseball to Series Win
Tyler Stone drove in three runs with a double and a home run, lifting Nebraska to its second consecutive series win at home with a 10-5 victory against Rutgers on Saturday afternoon at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
Nebraska (14-17, 4-7 Big Ten) scored 10 runs on 12 hits and two errors, while Rutgers (14-17, 4-7 Big Ten) recorded five runs and six hits.
Stone had a 2-for-3 afternoon at the plate with a double, a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. Max Buettenback was 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, while Case Sanderson drove in two runs and had a hit.
Cayden Brumbaugh went 2-for-5 and scored twice, and Joshua Overbeek posted a 3-for-4 day with a double and an RBI. Will Jesske was 1-for-1 with an RBI and scored a team-high three runs, while Dylan Carey and Cael Frost had one hit each.
Ty Horn went 4.1 innings in the start and allowed four runs, three earned, on four hits and five walks. Jalen Worthley improved to 2-0 on the year after surrendering one run on two hits in 2.2 innings of relief. Ryan Harrahill dealt a pair of scoreless frames with two punchouts.
Back-to-back one-out singles from Jesske and Overbeek put runners on first and third, while Sanderson broke the scoreless tie with an RBI groundout to third, giving the Big Red a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
The NU offense erupted for five runs on six hits in the bottom of the fourth to stretch the lead to 6-0. Brumbaugh began the inning with an infield single, before Stone blasted a two-run 440-foot homer out of the ballpark in right field.
Carey followed Stone’s homer with a first-pitch double down the left-field line, setting up Buettenback’s two-run homer into right-center field berm. Jesske reached on a full-count walk and later stole second in the inning, while Sanderson’s RBI single to center scored the sophomore and had the Big Red out front 6-0 after four innings.
Rutgers responded with four runs on three hits and two errors in the top of the fifth to cut Nebraska’s lead to 6-4. A walk, followed by an error on a fielder’s choice had runners on second and third with no outs.
A wild pitch plated the Scarlet Knights’ first run of the afternoon, while a two-RBI single up the middle brought Rutgers within 6-3. Rutgers plated one more run in the inning on an RBI fielder’s choice to center to cut NU’s lead to 6-4 through the fifth.
A leadoff single and a one-out RBI double down the left-field line brought Rutgers within a run at 6-5 in the top of the sixth inning.
The Huskers immediately got the run back in the bottom of the sixth to send a 7-5 game into the seventh inning. Jesske reached on a four-pitch walk to begin the inning and advanced to second on a single by Overbeek. A fielder’s choice moved Jesske to third, before an RBI groundout to second base by Riley Silva doubled the lead to 7-5 for the Big Red.
A hit batter and a pair of walks loaded the bases for Nebraska with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Jesske lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Stone, before Overbeek’s first-pitch RBI double to the left-center gap brought home Robby Bolin and grew the lead to 9-5.
The NU offense tacked on one more run for good measure in the bottom of the eighth when Stone’s RBI double to the right-field wall brought home Brumbaugh from first base with one out.
Harrahill retired the Scarlet Knights in order in the top of the ninth with a groundout and two strikeouts to clinch Nebraska’s 10-5 win on Saturday afternoon.
Nebraska and Rutgers conclude the weekend series Sunday at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park. First pitch between the Huskers and Scarlet Knights is set for 12 p.m. on B1G+.