Nebraska baseball fell on Tuesday by a score of 12-8 against Kansas State. The Huskers trailed by nine after just three innings, and the deficit proved too much to overcome.
After falling behind in the first inning of all three games over the weekend against USC, Nebraska looked poised to take an early lead in Manhattan, Kansas. Sophomore first baseman Case Sanderson began the top of the first with a bloop single to left. Then, a double to center by redshirt junior second baseman Cayden Brumbaugh off Kansas State freshman starting pitcher Donte Lewis set up the Huskers.
Head coach Will Bolt said they looked ready to turn the page early in the game after a series loss to USC.
“You come out on the road, first couple of guys on base, second and third you’re rocking and rolling,” Bolt said.
With no outs and two runners in scoring position, freshman designated hitter Devin Nunez, who got a respite from his positional duties on Tuesday, bounced a high chopper to the Wildcats’ second baseman. Nunez got thrown out at first and neither runner advanced on the play.
The next at-bat, junior shortstop Dylan Carey hit a sharp grounder to third. The ball popped into the catcher’s mitt before Sanderson got anywhere near home, and Kansas State recorded its second out of the inning on a fielder’s choice. Senior right fielder Cael Frost struck out to end the first and put a donut on the board.
Bolt said that gave the Wildcats the momentum right away.
“Not being able to cash in in that spot, and not only not cash in, but not even get the ball out of the infield,” Bolt said. “It takes the momentum and swings it directly in the other dugout.”
Freshman right-hander Carson Jasa started his third game on the mound in as many weeks in this one. Unlike the last two outings, in which the freshman gave up just two runs over 10 innings of work, Jasa struggled to get his team off the field in the first and never got the chance to settle in against the Wildcats. Three errors and multiple passed balls contributed to five unearned Kansas State runs.
The critical play in the inning took place with one out and runners on the corners. A ground ball to Brumbaugh looked like it had the potential to be an inning-ending double play. However, a botched flip by the Huskers’ second baseman took too long to get to Carey at the second base bag and they could not turn two. After originally calling the runner out at second, the umpires determined upon review that Carey pulled his foot off the bag. Instead of two outs and a runner on first, the Wildcats had two on with only one out and a one-run lead. A walk loaded the bases. Then, a double, passed ball and another double made it 5-0.
“The defense was just completely unacceptable…leading off the game the way that we did,” Bolt said. “We don’t get an out on a double play ball, balls to the backstop…they had all the momentum. They took it. They seized it the first two innings.”
The Huskers bounced back to score two in the top of the second, but Kansas State kept the scoreboard operator busy in the bottom half. The Wildcats put up a four-spot in the second to extend their lead to seven. Then, they put one over the wall in left-center to make it 11-2 going into the top of the fourth.
Bolt said Kansas State is a good team, and that’s what good teams do.
“That’s what teams do with momentum,” Bolt said. “They fight back, they answer, they get back in the dugout and we stayed in the fight tonight. We didn’t let them run away with it, but that’s a consolation, right? I mean that’s price of admission stuff, to just stay in the fight for nine full innings…the game was lost early on.”
Sanderson went deep to left field in the fourth for his first home run of the season, and Frost followed it up with a solo shot in the fifth to cut the lead to six. Sanderson went 4-for-4 with two extra-base hits on the day. The sophomore scored three runs, drove in three and was hit by a pitch.
“I thought we took some good swings today,” Bolt said. “We had a lot of leadoff hitters on base, but we’re just not putting it together in all three phases.”
Nebraska out-hit the Wildcats but went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Kansas State’s scalding offensive start to the contest proved the difference. The Huskers outscored the Wildcats six-to-one after the third but could not overcome the nine-run advantage.
Bolt said they have played enough good teams up to this point that they know what it needs to look like in order to beat them.
“We have plenty of guys on our team that have seen what the blueprint needs to look like for Nebraska to win, so we’ve just got to continue to get better,” Bolt said.
The Huskers dropped to 10-14 on the season with the loss. They will take on the Oregon State Beavers this weekend at home. The first game is set to take place at 7 p.m. CDT on Friday.