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baseball Edit

Husker arms dominate again to take series from Shockers

Matt Waldron matched his career high by hurling 6.2 innings.
Matt Waldron matched his career high by hurling 6.2 innings.

Nebraska's pitching could not have looked worse in Friday's 17-5 defeat to Wichita State, when the Huskers used seven pitchers and walked 17 batters.

Darin Erstad preaches the importance of being able to turn the page and NU's pitching exemplified that this weekend. After Jake McSteen and Reece Eddins shut down the Shockers in a 4-0 win Saturday, Matt Waldron kept the good vibes going Sunday.

The Omaha Westside freshman hurled 6.2 scoreless frames and the bullpen finished things off. After allowing 17 runs Friday, the Huskers held Wichita State scoreless over the next 16 innings of the series and took Sunday's rubber match 7-3.

Nebraska is now 11-7 on the season. The win was also No .150 for Erstad at Nebraska, the fifth coach in school history to reach that mark.

"It's a work in progress," Erstad said of NU's pitching. "I'm sure it was really challenging for a lot of them watching that Friday and having to turn it around. But it was a very nice response and a really good mentality to finish off a weekend. They came to play."

Waldron has been excellent since filling in as the Huskers' Sunday starter. The true freshman allowed just five hits and one walk on a career high 108 pitches. Waldron struck out five and hasn't allowed a run in his last two starts (13.2 innings).

"He's starting to slow it down and he's just a competitor," Erstad said. "You saw that all throughout his high school days and now he's doing the same thing here."

The Huskers got on the board almost immediately when Jake Placzek, the team's second batter, snuck a fly ball over the wall in left. Scott Schreiber was plunked two batters later, then scored on a ringing triple by Jake Meyers.

Nebraska added four more on four hits in the third, including RBI knocks by Luis Alvarado and Jake Schleppenbach. Then Ryan Boldt added the exclamation point in the sixth when Ryan Boldt sent a WSU offering into orbit over the right field wall.

The Shockers finally found some offense when Max Knutson walked four of the first five batters he faced in the eighth before being removed. Garett King entered and gave up a two-run single, but his two strikeouts limited the damage.

The Huskers finished their home stand with an 8-1 record but now must head back out on the road for five games, starting with a two-game midweek series with Indiana State.

"Win-loss wise, that sounds great, and I liked our mentality at the end to close out a couple of series," Erstad said. "I thought we showed up midweek very well, but I still think there's a ton of room to improve. And that's a good thing, to go 8-1 and feel like if we throw strikes, we have a chance to be undefeated and play better on the road."

Sunday standout

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Starting pitcher Matt Waldron: The freshman struggled in his first appearance, giving up three earned runs in 1.2 innings against the College of Charleston. Since then, he sports a sparkling 1.93 ERA over 23.1 innings in four appearances (three starts). Waldron struggled a bit early on Sunday, but he found his groove in the middle innings and submitted another great performance.

Around the horn

***Meyers and King will start the midweek games, though Erstad is unsure of what order they'll throw.

***Meyers returned to the starting lineup after missing Saturday's game. Meyers was hit in the hand by a pitch Friday night and was scratched after taking batting practice Saturday.

***Placzek now has three home runs this season. The senior had just one in his career entering the year.

***Schreiber was hit by two pitches Sunday. He's now been plunked five times this year.

***The attendance was 2,341.

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