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Nebraska bats stay cold against Indiana; Huskers eliminated

Matt Waldron went 5.2 innings on Thursday, but both runs he allowed were unearned.
Matt Waldron went 5.2 innings on Thursday, but both runs he allowed were unearned.

OMAHA, Neb. - Nebraska head coach Darin Erstad said on Wednesday today's elimination game between NU and Indiana would come down to 2-out hits.

The Hoosiers proved that theory to be true, scoring all six of their runs with 2-outs, eliminating the Huskers 6-2.

Now Erstad and Nebraska must wait until Monday to find out their post season fate when the NCAA field of 64 is announced.

“Obviously we want to win, but we just didn’t get it done and that’s the bottom line,” junior center fielder Ryan Boldt said. “I felt like we were ready to play, but when the first pitch goes out we just didn’t come ready to go offensively with a good enough approach to score some runs.”

Wednesday's game started out at a rapid pace, with Husker starter Matt Waldron needing just 12 pitches to take down the first seven Indiana batters.

That all changed in the fourth inning when IU had runners on first and second with nobody out. Husker third baseman Jake Placzek turned a 5-3 double play that appeared to get Waldron out of a jam.

However after Waldron walked the next batter, Placzek misplayed a grounder to third that allowed Indiana to tie the game at 1-1. The Hoosiers followed that up with a Brian Wilhite RBI single to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the 4th inning.

“We made six double play turns against (Indiana last weekend) and we had an opportunity to get out of it, and we didn’t make a play,” head coach Darin Erstad said. “When you do that with where our offense is at right now, those things come back to get you.”

Nebraska would come back to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the 6th after Jesse Wilkening drove in Ryan Boldt, but that's as close at the Huskers would get.

The Hoosiers would answer in the 7th, as both Logan Sowers and Luke Miller knocked in RBI singles with 2 outs. For good measure IU added two more insurance runs in the 8th off a 2-run home run from outfielder Laren Eustace off reliever Robbie Palkertto put Indiana up 6-2.

For the second straight day the Husker bats were cold in Omaha, coming up with just three hits - the same total as Wednesday in their loss to Michigan State.

They also weren't sharp in the field when it mattered, coming up with two errors that played a big factor in setting the tone for Thursday morning's game.

“We weren’t able to get anything going,” Erstad said. “When you have minimal opportunities it can be very difficult.”

Around the horn

***All six of Indiana's runs came with two outs on Thursday.

***Nebraska first basemen Scott Schreiber missed his fourth straight game on Thursday. Erstad remains optimistic Nebraska can have him back if they make a regional.

“It’s unknown, I guess,” Erstad said on Scheiber’s status going forward. “We have a little bit of time, so hopefully we get to see if that comes true. Those aren’t my decision to make as far as if we get to play or not.”

***The two unearned runs allowed by Waldron were the first two runs scored against him in 22.1 innings.

***After throwing just 12 pitches against the first seven batters, Waldron struggled at times on Thursday to put batters away.

***Erstad had high words of praise for the level of pitching the Huskers saw from both Michigan State and Indiana in Omaha.

"I don’t think the Big Ten gets credit for how good it really is," Erstad said. "You look at the two guys we faced, those guys can get anybody out in the country. They are that good. I don’t want to take away from anything they did the last two days, because they can really pitch.”

***Nebraska won't find out their post season fate until the NCAA selection show on Monday. Most experts predict the Huskers squarely in the field of 64.

“We’ve played some very good teams and I’d like to see our boys play some more baseball,” Erstad said.

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