Nebraska baseball’s week started off in disappointment when the Huskers let a prime opportunity slip from their fingers Tuesday evening, falling to Creighton 6-5.
The Huskers and Bluejays played the final 2½ innings of their suspended game from April 18. After lightning forced a halt in play that night at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, it was decided the remainder of the game would move to Schwab Field in Omaha on May 9, with the first pitch coming two hours before the teams' regularly scheduled season series finale Tuesday.
The game on that stormy April night ended on a cliffhanger for NU. With the score tied at four, the Huskers' Gabe Swansen was up to bat with the bases loaded and no out in the seventh when the weather ended the night. Swansen and the Huskers waited three weeks to try to cash in on their golden opportunity and secure a win against the Jays.
Swansen delivered Tuesday with a sacrifice fly that scored Max Anderson and moved Garrett Anglim to third. Unfortunately for the Big Red, the inning ended when Josh Caron grounded into a double play. NU went to the eighth up 5-4.
Shay Schanaman started the game in the eighth for Nebraska. Schanaman hit his first batter, Sterling Hayes, who advanced to third on a stolen base and throwing error. With one out, Ben Gbur brought Hayes home with a double, tying the game at 5. Gbur later scored on a Nolan Sailors double, giving the Jays a one-run lead.
Schanaman was pulled in favor of Will Walsh with two outs and a runner on in the eighth. Walsh got NU out of the inning, but not before the Bluejays had swung the game’s tide.
In the bottom of the inning, with two outs, Brice Matthews worked his way to third via a walk, a stolen base and a throwing error. With the tying run 90 feet away from home, Casey Burnham came up to the dish and worked a long at-bat that ended in a groundout to the first baseman.
Drew Christo entered the game for the Big Red in the ninth. Christo struck out the side, keeping NU within one going into the bottom of the ninth. The Huskers got the tying run on base but did not come through to extend the game.
Nebraska moves to 25-20-1 on the season and 0-2 against Creighton on the year. The teams were set to begin game three in the series at 7 p.m. CDT.
