Two-Out Hitting Fuels Huskers to 7-4 Win

Nebraska scored five runs and totaled eight hits with two outs, as the Huskers picked up a 7-4 win vs. Northeastern on Saturday night at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz.

Nebraska (2-0) scored seven runs on 14 hits and an error, while Northeastern (0-2) totaled four runs, five hits and two errors.

Six Huskers tallied a multi-hit performance for the Nebraska offense on Saturday. Joshua Overbeek was 2-for-5 with two doubles and a pair of RBI, and Max Buettenback had a 2-for-5 night with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Dylan Carey was 2-for-5 with a solo homer and two runs scored, while Jett Buck, Case Sanderson and Cole Kitchens recorded two hits apiece.

Carson Jasa improved to 1-0 after allowing four runs, three earned, on five hits with a walk and career-high nine strikeouts across five innings. Grant Cleavinger tossed a scoreless sixth inning, before Ryan Harrahill pitched two shutout innings for the NU pitching staff. Kevin Mannell recorded his first save of the season after pitching the ninth inning.

Carey began the scoring with a 357-foot leadoff homer into the berm in left field to give the Big Red a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Northeastern responded with three runs on a trio of hits in the bottom of the second to grab a 3-1 advantage. The Huskies loaded the bases with a single, double and walk, setting up a bases-clearing RBI double to left field that gave Northeastern a two-run lead.

The Husker offense answered immediately with three runs in the third to take back the lead at 4-3. The Big Red had runners on second and third after a full-count walk to Sanderson and Carey’s infield single, joined with a throwing error. Buettenback drilled a two-RBI double off the fence in right field, followed by Kitchens ripping a 3-2 pitch up the middle for an RBI single to make it a 4-3 game.

Jasa struck out seven straight batters in the second through fourth innings, before the Huskies capitalized on a Husker throwing error to tie the game back up at four through five innings.

Consecutive two-out hits had runners on second and third for the Huskers after Buck singled through the left side and Sanderson sent a 1-1 pitch in the alley in left-center field for a double. Overbeek flared a two-RBI double down the left-field line to extend the lead to 6-4 in the sixth.

Buettenback reached on a two-base fielding error to begin the seventh and moved over to third on a groundout, setting the table for Devin Nunez’s sacrifice fly to center field that tacked on an insurance run for the Husker offense.

Mannell took the mound in the ninth and worked around a pair of walks to pick up the save and preserve Nebraska’s 7-4 win on Saturday night.

Nebraska continues play at the MLB Desert Invitational, as the Huskers take on Grand Canyon tomorrow night at Sloan Park. First pitch between the Big Red and Lopes is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on MLB.com.