Early Miscues Doom Huskers

Five unearned runs in the first, followed by four runs in the second, put Nebraska in an early deficit as the Huskers fell 12-8 at Kansas State on Tuesday night at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.

Nebraska (10-14) scored eight runs on 11 hits and three errors, while Kansas State (16-8) totaled 12 runs, eight hits and an error.

Case Sanderson had a 4-for-5 night at the plate with a double, a homer, three RBI and a trio of runs scored. Cael Frost went 2-for-5 and had a double, a home run and three runs driven in. Cayden Brumbaugh tallied a two-hit night, while Dylan Carey, Max Buettenback and Rhett Stokes recorded one hit each.

Carson Jasa dropped to 2-2 on the season after giving up eight runs, three earned, on four hits and three walks in one inning. Colin Nowaczyk, Drew Christo, Caleb Clark and TJ Coats saw one inning of action each for the NU pitching staff. Jalen Worthley tossed a team-high 1.2 innings, surrendering one run on one hit and a strikeout.

Blake Encarnacion, Casey Daiss and Grant Cleavinger combined to pitch the final 1.1 innings on Tuesday night.

The Huskers began the game with runners on second and third with no outs in the top of the first after a leadoff single by Sanderson and a double to the right-center gap from Brumbaugh. K-State’s Donte Lewis retired the next three Huskers in order and stranded the two baserunners to keep the Big Red off the board.

K-State capitalized on three NU errors in the bottom of the first, scoring five runs on a pair of hits to grab an early lead. Two errors and a walk put runners on first and third with one out for the Wildcats. An RBI fielder’s choice, joined with a third error in the inning, plated the first run, while a two-RBI double to the left-center alley had the Wildcats up three.

The Wildcats added two more in the inning on a passed ball and an RBI double down the left-field line to extend the lead to five.

Robby Bolin was plunked with one out in the second inning and moved to second base on a wild pitch, before Stokes’ RBI single through the right side plated NU’s first run of the night. Sanderson followed Stokes with a first-pitch RBI double down the right-field line to bring home Stokes and trim the deficit to 5-2.

K-State answered immediately with four runs on three hits in the bottom of the second to stretch the lead to 9-2. A pair of hits and a hit batter had the bases loaded for the Wildcats with no outs in the inning. A wild pitch and sacrifice fly brought home the first two runs, while a two-RBI single to left-center field gave K-State its seven-run lead through two innings.

A two-run homer off the bat of Maximus Martin had Kansas State out front 11-2 in the bottom of the third inning.

Hogan Helligso reached on a fielding error to begin the fourth inning, setting the table for Sanderson’s two-run homer down the left-field line. Frost’s 390-foot solo homer over the fence in right field in the top of the fifth inning brought the Big Red within 11-5 through five innings.

Sanderson was hit by the first pitch to open the sixth frame and later came around to score on Carey’s sacrifice fly to deep center, trimming K-State’s lead to 11-6.

The Wildcats got the run back in the bottom of the seventh with a one-out solo homer to left field that made it a 12-6 game going into the final two innings.

The Husker offense plated two more runs on three hits in the top of the eighth to bring the Big Red within four runs. Consecutive singles from Sanderson and Brumbaugh began the inning, while Frost’s two-RBI double down the left-field line plated the pair and made it a 12-8 game.

Nebraska returns to play this weekend, as the Huskers welcome No. 5 Oregon State to Haymarket Park for a non-conference series on Friday-Sunday, March 28-30. Friday’s first pitch between the Huskers and Beavers is set for 7:02 p.m. on BTN.