Burkamper, Schreiber shine in 4-1 win over Hoosiers
Nebraska had already clinched a place in next week’s Big Ten Tournament, but the Huskers knew this weekend’s final series of the regular season against Indiana would still determine their seeding in Omaha and potentially keep their hopes of a share of the league title alive.
Behind a stellar outing by starting pitcher Derek Burkamper and another clutch home run by Scott Schreiber, NU did its part by winning the first game of the series 4-1 on Thursday night in front of a crowd of 4,040 at Haymarket Park.
Burkamper ended up posting one of his best outings of the season, pitching a scoreless 7.1 innings and allowing just two hits while striking out three and walking one on 96 total pitches.
While Indiana starter Kyle Hart (10-3) also had a strong night with five scoreless innings to open the game, Schreiber finally broke things open with three-run homer in he sixth that gave Burkamper all the help he would need.
The victory improved Nebraska to 35-18 overall on the year and 14-8 in the Big Ten.
"I kind of told myself before the game that this one was for the seniors," Burkamper said. "I just needed to come out and attack, and that's kind of something that I had gotten away from. This one was for the seniors. These guys have done such a great job this year, and I just wanted to repay them with a quality start."
Burkamper, who improved to 6-2 on the year with the win, definitely accomplished that, sailing through the first three innings and retiring the first nine batters he faced on just 27 pitches.
Indiana finally got a baserunner in the top of the fourth when left fielder Alex Krupa hit a chopper back to Burkamper, who mishandled the ball and misfired on his throw to first for an error.
Krupa then stole second, but Burkamper retired the next three Hoosiers to end the threat.
Burkamper’s run at a no-no finally came to an end in the sixth, as Krupa got his hit this time around with a soft two-out single to right on a 2-2 pitch. Burkamper would end the inning a batter later.
"(Burkamper) was just attacking downhill," Erstad said. "He was getting after it. Sometimes he tends to really guide the ball and not really finish his pitches, but there was a lot of conviction behind his pitches tonight, and the results showed."
Right fielder Jake Meyers got things started in the bottom of the sixth when he beat out a high-bouncing grounder to short. Designated hitter Ben Miller then ripped a single to right that moved Meyers third with just one out.
That’s when Nebraska’s hottest bat came up with the biggest hit of the game, as Schreiber smoked a three-run blast that sailed over the head of IU right fielder Logan Sowers and bounced off and over the top of the right field wall.
In the past three games, Schreiber is now 11-for-14 with a .789 batting average, has scored seven runs with a double, a triple, five home runs, 11 RBI, and 29 total bases, and owns a slugging percentage of 2.071.
"You just sit back and watch," Erstad said. "Great approach on his part. He cut one through the teeth of the wind and caught a break with (Sowers) hitting the wall. I think he would've caught if he didn't hit the wall, but we'll take it."
Burkamper’s night finally came to an end in the top of the eighth after allowing runners to reach first and second with only one out. Jeff Chestnut took over from there, and two pitches later forced Colby Stratten to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Schreiber continued his torrid streak by roping a deep liner to right-center to record his first triple of the season. Catcher Taylor Fish cashed it in by scoring Schreiber on a 4-3 fielder’s choice to make it a four-run lead.
Freshman Chad Luensmann came in to close it out in the ninth, and despite giving up a solo home run to Ryan Dedelow to spoil the shutout, he was able to put the game away.
The second game of the series on Friday will start at 6:35 p.m., with freshman right-hander Matt Waldron set to take the hill against Indiana senior lefty Caleb Baragar.
"Today meant nothing," Erstad said. "Win or lose, you have to come out and get back after it. You're dealing with young kids, and it's the flow and emotions of college baseball.
"If we lost today, we were going to come back and fight tomorrow. If we won today and you let down tomorrow, the other team is going to be ready to play and you have to balance against that. We've had numerous times this year where we've won Friday and came out a little flat the next day. So tomorrow in the second game of the series, we can't let that happen."