Courtesy Nebraska Athletics
No. 25 Nebraska baseball built a seven-run lead, fell behind, then surged back in a seven-run eighth to defeat Iowa 15-11, Saturday at Hawks Field in Lincoln. The victory clinches the Big Ten series for the Cornhuskers (36-14, 19-7 Big Ten) as they rebound from being swept at Ohio State.
Nebraska scored a run in the second, four in the third and two in the fourth to build a 7-0 lead. But the Hawkeyes (29-20, 12-14 Big Ten) scored a run in the fifth, another in the sixth and four in the seventh to shrink the Huskers’ lead to 7-6. Nebraska tallied a run in the seventh to push the lead to 8-6. But in the eighth, Iowa scored five to push ahead 11-8.
The game was just getting started as it moved to the bottom of the eighth. A three-run home run by Dylan Carey tied the game at 11. Later in the inning, Max Buettenback singled up the middle to drive in a run and vault the Huskers ahead, 12-11. Mac Moyer’s single up the middle drove in a run to open the lead to two. Then Trey Fikes punctuated the rally with a two-run single to build the lead to 15-11, the final margin.
Carey set the pace for the offense, hitting 3-for-5 with three RBI and a homer. Five other Huskers had two hits for the game.
The crowd of 7,773 is the 22nd largest in school history and the largest for a Husker baseball game since 2008.
Nebraska tries for the series sweep against the Hawkeyes Sunday at 2 p.m. at Hawks Field. Pregame coverage begins at 1:30 on KLIN.