Our Huskers returned home this weekend to face fifth-ranked Oregon State Beavers after a 10-day road trip. It was a pretty good series for us, winning two out of the three games. Our offense was pretty productive along with our pitchers and bullpen. We were able to capitalize in big moments and had our best offensive outing all season in game three, which ultimately helped us win this series. Let’s look at how we got this victory.
Game One
Game one started off good for our Huskers with us getting the first runs of the game. These runs came off of back-to-back home, runs in the third inning. First, it was a two-run home run followed up by a solo home run. This put us a head 3-0. We followed this up with one run in the bottom of the fourth and three runs in the bottom of the fifth. This included another two-run home run, which put us up by seven. Oregon State’s first runs came in the top of the sixth inning. They capitalized with a two-run home run and added one more run in the seventh. There would be no more runs in this game, and we won by a score of 7-3.
This was a gritty win for our Huskers. We totaled three home runs off of 11 hits and one error. Our offense was productive and did a great job of getting runs when we needed them. The defense along with our pitchers and bullpen were able to stop this high-powered Oregon State offense. We held the Beavers’ offense to only five hits, and they also had one error. Although there were times we looked shaky, we were ultimately able to prevail and got the victory.
Game two
The second game was not a good game for the Huskers. We struggled, both offensively and defensively giving up eight home runs. Oregon State got the first run of the game. This came off of a solo home run. They added four more runs before we got our first run in the bottom of the third inning. The Beavers lead 5-1 in the bottom of the third. Oregon State added on to their lead with a grand slam in the fourth, a three-run homer in the fifth, and a solo home run in the sixth. This brought the score to 14-1 Oregon State. We struck back in the bottom of the six with a solo home run and one more run. The Beavers added a two-run home run in the top of the seventh. We added two runs in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to get any more runs. The game ended in the seventh due to the 10-run rule. We lost this game by a score of 16-5.
This was a bad game all around for our Huskers. We struggled both offensively and defensively. Oregon State had at least one home run in every inning. We just couldn’t stop them and had a difficult day pitching. With nine total home runs it was a record setting day in our ballpark that unfortunately didn’t go our way. It was a difficult day to witness for us Huskers fans. However, we did show some fight offensively by getting a few runs in the end. This game evened up the series, setting the stage for the winner of game three to take the series.
Game Three
Game three started out good for the Huskers, with us getting the first run of the game. It came off of a solo homer in the bottom of the second. The Beavers responded with one run in the top of the third. We exchanged runs in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth before we added four runs off of four hits in the bottom of the fourth. We then led by a score of 6 to 3. Oregon State drove in one run in the sixth and three and the seventh including a two-run homer. We exploded in the bottom of the seventh with nine total runs. This came off of only five hits. It also included a three-run home run. We added one more run in the bottom of the eighth, which came off of a solo home run. The game ended up ending here due to Oregon State having to travel back home. We won by a score of 16 to 7.
This was a great game for our Huskers. Our nine runs in the bottom of the seventh was great to witness. Offensively, we looked incredible and showed a lot of fight. Defensively, we did a good job holding this high-powered offense to only nine hits. With 16 runs and 14 hits this was a season high for our team. This performance was something that us Husker fans have been waiting to see all season. It was also the first time since 2011 that we beat a top five team in a series.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, this was a great series for our Huskers. We got to see the offense we had been hoping to see all season, and we also saw some productive pitching along with defense. I was extremely impressed with the fight, efficiency, and effort that I saw from this team. I was also impressed with the amount of home runs that were hit in this game. Between the two teams, there were 19 total home runs. We totaled eight and Oregon State had 11. It was rainy and cold throughout this series, which is what made it so incredible. This series when was huge for us and will hopefully help give us momentum going into our next game. Up next, we face Creighton at home on Tuesday night.
GBR
