Placzek's bomb sparks big inning in Huskers' victory

Considering he came into the season with one career home run, there was little reason to believe that Jake Placzek would blossom into a power threat in his senior season.

Yet somehow that's exactly what has happened, and the third baseman delivered his most impactful shot Tuesday afternoon. Placzek sent a seventh-inning delivery into orbit, his fourth shot of the year, to give Nebraska the lead for good in the 10-4 victory over Indiana State.

With nine wins in their past 10 games, the Huskers are now 12-7 on the season.

Nebraska trailed 3-2 heading into the eighth but completely flipped the script in the frame. Ryan Boldt singled with one out and Placzek followed with a blast that easily cleared the left field wall.

But the Huskers were far from done. A single by Taylor Fish knocked in Scott Schreiber, and two batters later Steven Reveles unloaded a grand slam to provide NU some breathing room. Nebraska sent 12 batters to the plate in the seventh, scoring seven runs on five hits to break the game open.

"You just keep getting your swings off and when you do that, good things happen," Darin Erstad said on the Husker Sports Network. "It might not happen the first time through and it might not happen the second time through. But that constant pressure of putting your best swings on baseballs and having great at-bat after great at-bat, that works. You just keep doing that and it might comes early, it might come late. Who knows?"

"You just keep grinding and that's what we did."

The late explosion saved Zack Engelken from taking the loss in what was his most promising start of the season. A talented sophomore, Engelken was a mess as Nebraska's Sunday starter earlier this season and entered the game with a 10.50 ERA.

He was far from perfect against the Sycamores, but there were signs of improvement. Engelken did allow three runs (all earned) on five hits in his 4.1 innings, but he walked just two and was able to extract himself out of a couple of early jams.

"He really hasn't been able to get anything going in his starts and he didn't start off super well," Erstad said. "We were in a big situation there (in the first inning) and he got a huge double play to get out of it and he settled down after that.

"But again, just being able to mix his pitches and throw strikes. I thought he commanded his breaking ball very well, which helped."

Reliever Jeff Chesnut picked up the pieces after his departure, retiring all eight hitters he faced as Nebraska's offense came alive to grant him the victory.

The Huskers collected 15 hits and seven walks, harassing Indiana State into using seven pitchers. Six starters had multiple hits, led by Fish with three. NU won going away despite leaving the bases loaded three times and stranding 15 men on base.

Nebraska and Indiana State will conclude the two-game series Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Shortstop Steven Reveles: Placzek isn't the only senior who's discovered some pop in his final campaign. Reveles came into the season without any career homers but has already hit three this year. The seventh-inning grand slam was one of two hits for Reveles, who also drew a walk.

***Meyers extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single in the eighth inning.

***Boldt stole his ninth base of the season in the fifth.

***Reveles committed his team-leading sixth error.