Waldron silences Lions in Huskers' fifth straight win

With Nebraska's weekend rotation sputtering two weeks ago, Darin Erstad made a pair of changes, inserting Derek Burkamper and Matt Waldron. Adding Burkamper was no surprise - the junior was NU's Sunday starter last year but was suspended for the first two weekends.

Waldron's promotion was more surprising. The freshman from Omaha Westside wasn't considered a top prospect coming into the season and had yet to make a collegiate start.

Erstad's move paid off handsomely Saturday after a two-hour rain delay as Waldron corralled Loyola Marymount for 6.2 innings, keeping the Lions at bay until the bats came around in the 3-0 win, Nebraska's fifth straight victory. The Huskers are 8-6 on the season.

"He mixed his pitches," Erstad said. "He's got a very good fastball, a couple of different breaking balls and a good changeup. The changeup wasn't as sharp as it has been, but the breaking ball was working pretty well. It was a nice job by a young kick of finishing his at-bats."

Nebraska won the first three games of the series and has now shut out LMU over the past 22 innings.

Waldron was OK in his first start last weekend, allowing three runs in 5.0 innings in a loss to Long Beach State. But the freshman clearly made some adjustments, as Loyola Marymount could muster just seven base runners against him. The Lions were 1-for-8 with runners on base during Waldron's outing and he coaxed them into three double plays.

LMU starter Cory Abbott similarly handcuffed the Huskers early on. Nebraska didn't have a single base runner in the first three innings and didn't mount much of a threat until the sixth. But the Huskers loaded the bases with one out, then Scott Schreiber poked a two-run single over the second baseman's head. Unfortunately, Taylor Fish struck out and Jake Schleppenbach grounded to second to leave the bases juiced.

"I just wanted to go to right-center with the ball," Schreiber said. "I got jammed a little bit, but I got it done.

"You don't know it's going to land, but you just hope it does."

Waldron did run into some trouble in the top of the seventh, giving up back-to-back hits to start the frame. But he induced a ground-ball double play, then Jeff Chesnut came on and fanned Seaver Whalen to strand the threat at third.

Schreiber doubled with two outs in the eighth, then came in on a triple by Jake Meyers to provide the final margin.

The Huskers and Lions will conclude their series Sunday at 12:05 p.m.

First baseman Scott Schreiber: The slugger missed both games Friday due to an elbow bruise he sustained when he was plunked on Wednesday. But Schreiber returned and came through in the game's biggest moment Saturday, dropping a perfectly-placed single into right to score the game's deciding runs in the sixth. He doubled to right and scored in the eighth for good measure.

Despite missing three games, the sophomore leads the team in home runs and RBIs.

***Ryan Boldt stole a base but was also caught stealing for the fifth time this year. The junior is now 7-for-12 on the season.

***Chesnut has now made 69 career appearances, putting him alone in sixth place on Nebraska's all-time chart.

***The Huskers are now 5-0 at home this season, making them 25-6 at home over the past two years.

***The attendance was 2,050.