Huskers break losing streak with gutty win in extras

The Huskers had to work overtime to snap their five-game losing streak, but no one in the away dugout was complaining in Manhattan Tuesday night.

After spoiling great scoring opportunities in the seventh, eighth and 10th innings, Nebraska batted around in the 11th, scoring four runs to break a 1-1 tie and pull out a 5-1 victory over Kansas State.

The Huskers, who came into the game 0-2 in extra-inning games, improved to 23-14 on the season.

"It's great to win, but I was really proud of how we made a conscious effort today to go pitch by pitch," Darin Erstad said during his postgame appearance on the Husker Sports Network. "Nobody panicked. We threw great strikes and went pitch to pitch. We stuck with our routines and got back to things that were working for us.

Scott Schreiber led off the deciding frame with a single and Jake Meyers followed with a bunt that was mishandled by the pitcher. Then Taylor Fish, who entered the game as a defensive replacement earlier in the game, singled through the right side to give the Huskers their first lead since the fifth.

But Nebraska didn't stop there. After Luis Alvarado bunted for a single, Jake Schleppenbach sprayed a two-out single to give NU some breathing room. A balk later in the inning brought in the final run.

It initially looked like Chad Luensmann might need all of those runs in the bottom of the inning. The Wildcats loaded the bases with one out thanks to a hit batsman, an infield single and a walk. But Luensmann earned his first career victory by inducing a ground-ball double play to second.

The Huskers were rather lucky to even force extras. In the eighth, Schreiber grounded out to third to strand two runners in scoring position. Then in the 10th, Ben Miller struck out with the bases loaded.

Luckily for NU, the pitching kept it in the game. Max Knutson was effective, tying a career high with four innings. But he left with two on and no outs in the fourth with Nebraska leading just 1-0. Reece Eddins was victimized by a tough bunt single that loaded the bases, but he allowed just one run.

Jeff Chesnut and Garett King were both excellent out of the bullpen and Luensmann finished the final two innings.

Chesnut left in the seventh when he was hit in the head by a line drive. He was lucid and talking with the trainers in the dugout and Erstad seems to think he'll be OK.

"He got hit completely flush on the side of the head - no ricochet, nothing," Erstad said. "It could have been really, really scary. He's one tough sucker because he was dazed a little bit, but he barely had a scratch on him.

Now let's pray and hope that he's going to be OK and nothing happens down the line here, but so far it looks like we really dodged one."

Nebraska will try to keep the good vibes going with a weekend series against Nicholls State.

***Alvarado was thrown out stealing for the first time this season. He'd previously been 3-for-3 on steal attempts.

***Placzek went down looking in the sixth, his team-leading 31st strikeout of the year. The senior also walked and leads the Huskers with 41 free passes.