Houston, Texas – The Nebraska baseball team (7-6, 0-0 Big Ten) hung tough against the No. 7 LSU Tigers (14-2, 0-0 SEC) on Sunday afternoon at Minute Maid Park, but came out on the losing end of a 4-2 decision.
The Huskers had the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning following a two-out single by Austin Darby, but 2013 Brooks Wallace award winner Alex Bregman made running catch in shallow left field on a ball of the bat of Austin Christensen to end the game.
Sophomore Derek Burkamper fell to 1-1 on the year, but gave the Huskers 6.0 solid innings after getting off to a shaky start. The sophomore allowed two runs on four hits in the first, but did get out of a base-loaded jam to end the inning. Following the rough first inning, Burkamper settled in and allowed four base runners and just two hits over the next five innings.
LSU freshman Jake Godfrey went 7.0 inning in the win. A 2014 21st-round pick by the Braves, Godfrey allowed a pair of runs on eight hits and two walks, while striking out four. Entering Sunday, Godfrey had after issued nine walks over his first 14.1 innings of the year.
The Huskers jumped on the scoreboard first on a two-out RBI single by Ben Miller in the first. Miller’s single drove in Luis Alvarado, who singled earlier in the inning, and it looked like the Huskers would have runners on the corners for Tanner Lubach, but Miller rounded first base too far and was thrown out to end the inning.
The Huskers ran themselves out of inning again in the second on a line-out double play. Lubach was on third with one out after starting the inning with a double, but the inning quickly ended when Christensen lined out to the shortstop and Lubach was doubled off at third base.
With a 2-1 lead, Bregman started the third for LSU with a single and after stealing second base he advanced to third on a fly out. The aggressive base running paid off when he scored on a RBI groundout to give LSU a 3-1 lead.
A base running error hurt the Huskers again in the sixth when Steven Reveles started the inning with a single, but was then picked off to clear the bases. Schleppenbach followed with a single before the inning ended on a pair of fly outs.
The Husker mounted a rally in the seventh when Darby walked to load the bases with one out. Christensen delivered a bloop single that scored one run, cutting LSU’s lead to 3-2. LSU stuck with Godfrey in tough situation and the freshman got Reveles to bounce into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
LSU added an insurance run in the eighth when Grayson Byrd beat out a double-play ball that would have ended the inning, but instead Andrew Stevenson scored.
After playing 13 straight games on the road to start the season, the Huskers are set to start a 16-game homestand at Hawks Field on Tuesday, March 10, when they host the Northern Colorado Bears for the 2015 home opener at 1:35 p.m. Following a two-game series with the Bears, the Huskers host Florida Gulf Coast next weekend at Hawks Field.