Bakersfield, Calif. - The
Nebraska baseball team fell to 0-1 on the season, as it dropped is 2013 season
opener, 9-4, on Friday afternoon to CSU Bakersfield at Hardt Field.
Chad
Christensen was 3-for-4 on the day for the Huskers and Tanner Lubach hit a
homerun in his Husker debut, but the NU offense was unable to match the
Roadrunners' attack.
Bakersfield
totaled 15 hits on the day, led by Tyler Shryock's 5-for-5 outing. CSUB's 4-5-6
hitters produced seven hits and four RBIs.
The
Huskers threw the first punch, as they plated a pair of runs in the top of the
first on three hits.
Michael
Pritchard led off the game with a bouncing single up the middle, but was then
erased on a fielder's choice bunt attempt by Rich Sanguinetti. Christensen
followed with his first hit of the season and Sanguinetti went 1st-to-3rd on
the base knock. Kash Kalkowski kept the hits coming and drove in Sanguinetti to
give NU a 1-0 lead. Associate Head Coach Will Bolt then dialed up a double
steal that moved Christensen to third and Kalkowski to second for Pat Kelly,
who worked a full-count walk to load the bases for Josh Scheffert. The senior
from Lincoln did his job and lifted a sacrifice fly into left center field to
plate Christensen to push NU's lead to 2-0.
Nebraska
was held to just six hits and two runs over the final eight innings of the
game, including Lubach's leadoff homer in the fourth.
Down
5-2, the Huskers were in position to cut into CSU Bakersfield's lead in the top
of the third when they loaded the bases with one out following a second
full-count walk to Kelly, but CSUB starter Jeff McKenzie buckled down kept NU
off the board. The lefty sent down Scheffert and Austin Darby swinging to end
NU's threat.
Nebraska
scratched across a run in the top of the eighth following a pair of doubles
from Kelly and Darby off of Hayden Carter, who came into the game in the top of
the seventh, but NU was unable to get anything else going leaving CSUB with a
7-4 lead.
The
Roadrunners added a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to complete their
scoring for the day.
Nebraska's
California road trip continues tomorrow with a trip to Goodwin Field for a
doubleheader with No. 22 Cal State Fullerton. The first game between the
Huskers and Titans is set for 4 p.m. (CT) and it will be streamed for free live
on BigWest.TV. Fans will also be able to listen to Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle
call all the action on the Husker Sports Network, including for free on
Huskers.com worldwide.
The
Huskers are 0-2 all-time against the Titans, with the last meeting between the
two teams coming in the first round of the 2001 College World Series.
