Omaha – A walk-off single by Brett Murray in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Creighton Bluejays (21-7, 2-1 Big East) a 4-3 victory over the Nebraska baseball team (22-11, 7-2 Big Ten) on Tuesday night at TD Ameritrade Park. The loss snapped Nebraska’s seven-game winning streak in the series.
Tied 3-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth, Reagan Fowler led off with a double and was soon 90 feet from home following a groundout by Harrison Crawford. Murray stepped in 0-for-3 on the night and lined a 0-2 offering from Max Knutson into right field for the game winner.
In a game that went just 2:37, the teams combined for 14 hits, no errors and just three walks. The teams were retired in order a combined eight times on the night.
The Huskers were led at the plate by sophomores Jake Meyers and Luis Alvarado. Meyers was 2-for-4 with a triple, double and two runs scored, while Alvarado was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored.
The top of NU’s lineup struggled against the Jays, as its 1-through-4 hitters went 1-for-16 with five strikeouts.
Derek Burkamper gave up just one run on two hits in 5.0 innings of work, but didn’t factor into the decision in his sixth start of the season. The junior right hander left the game with a 2-1 lead after striking out five and walking none, but was unable to get the win after NU’s bullpen gave up the lead in the sixth.
The Huskers jumped on the board first with a run on two hits in second. Meyers record the game’s first hit with a one-out double down the left-field line and then scored on Alvarado’s single. The frame was quickly over though following a 6-4-3 double play.
Burkamper retired nine straight Jays to start the game before Daniel Woodrow started the fourth with a triple to right-center field. Ryan Fitzgerald followed with a sac fly, tying the game at 1-1. Burkamper went back to work and retired the next two Jays, including his fourth strikeout of the night to end the frame.
The Huskers retook the lead in the fifth, taking advantage of a one-out walk. After Meyers started the fifth with a pop out, Alvarado worked a walk and later moved into scoring position following a two-out walk to Jake Schleppenbach that ended CU starter Austin Stroschein’s night. Creighton went to Connor Miller and Steven Reveles welcomed him with a RBI single. NU couldn’t tack on any more though, as Miller struck out Ryan Boldt to end the frame.
Creighton was in position to even the game in its half of the fifth when Matt Gandy laced a two-out double into the gap and then moved to third on a wild pitch. Gandy ended the inning 90 feet from home, as Burkamper put an end to the threat with his fifth strikeout of the night.
The Jays put together a rally in the sixth and took their first lead of the night. Reliever Reece Eddins took over on the bump and retired pinch hitter Brennan Hammer to start the frame, but then the Jays lineup rolled over and three straight singles tied the game at 2-2. The Huskers went to Jeff Chesnut and a single by Fowler, CU’s fourth straight single, gave the Jays a 3-2 lead. Chesnut ended the rally with a 6-4-3 double play.
The lead didn’t last long, as the Huskers evened the game at 3-3 with a run in the top of the seventh. Meyers led off with his sixth triple of the season. Alvarado followed with a sac fly to right center field for his second RBI of the game, marking his first multi-RBI game of the season. Miller put the next three Huskers down in order to keep the game tied.
The Huskers had a runner on in both the eighth and ninth inning, but never got anyone into scoring position. Knutson tossed a perfect seventh and then stranded a two-out walk in the eighth, but couldn’t put up another scoreless frame in the ninth.
The Huskers hit the road for Ann Arbor, Mich., on Thursday, as they open a three-game series against the Michigan Wolverines on Friday at 5 p.m. (CT). Friday’s series opener will be nationally broadcast on the Big Ten Network.