Huskers take series with Penn State behind strong Meyers outing
Sunday's rubber match with the Penn State Nittany Lions was crucial to determining where Nebraska will finish in the conference standings and in their national RPI. They needed to keep building momentum and they got the series win.
Jake Meyers threw 7.2 strong innings, giving up a single run in the seventh. He gave up only 4 hits and had 5 strikeouts to raise his record to 5-1 on the season.
"[His changeup] is a great equalizer," Coach Darin Erstad said of Meyers. "When you start out having guys guess on fastball and change, and he just has command on both sides of the plate with his fastball, he can throw his change down in the zone or he can throw it for a strike and be really on top of his competitive spirit, it's pretty darn good."
Jake McSteen closed out the final 1.1 innings surrendering only a single hit.
The middle of the lineup carried the offense today as Ben Miller was 3 for 5 with 3 RBI, and Scott Schreiber hit his 12th and 13th home runs of the season to go along with four total hits and 3 RBI.
Luis Alvarado and Jake Schleppenbach each also had two hits in the game.
"We did a very good job of getting good pitch selection," Coach Erstad observed. "I thought we barreled up a lot of balls. Especially (Ryan) Boldt but he didn't get anything to show for it. I thought he hit the ball really well.
"We did a really good job. (Steven) Reveles hit the ball the other way for a hit, Schleppenbach he went the other way, and Schreiber hit a two-strike base hit to right-center and a home run to right-center. We just utilized the whole field today and I really liked our approach."
The Huskers have now won their last three conference series in a crucial, make or break stretch of their 2016 season.
"Well, I don't forget that earlier in the year when we didn't do very good in game threes," Erstad said. "We were in a situation where we were 1-1 multiple times earlier in the season when we didn't get it done. I think once you do it a couple times, you develop a little bit of confidence and you think 'hey we've been here before' and it's kind of a good feeling when we do it.
"And they start talking about it and you can feel the energy from them. You throw Meyers on the mound and they know they're going to get a guy who's going to empty the tank for them. Yeah, it's a fun environment for them."
NU will next play Creighton Tuesday evening in Omaha before closing out their regular season with a final B1G series with Indiana next weekend in Lincoln at Hawks Field.
"Tomorrow will be our mandatory off day and this time of year they know what's going on," Erstad stated. "This is what it's all about. We have enough competitive guys on the team that they thrive in these situations. The one nice thing, not having to use our bullpen Saturday and Sunday, we should have guys really fresh, not just for Tuesday, but for a short week as well.
"From that standpoint, it's good, but I'm just excited and I wish we didn't have an off day. I'm ready to play at Creighton."
Coach Erstad stated that Max Knutson will get the start against the Bluejays and go as long as he can Tuesday evening with the bullpen rested and ready to go in case they are needed.
Nebraska is now 13-8 in the conference and 33-18 overall on their season.