Indiana baseball fell to 10-15 on Friday night with a 6-5 loss to No. 24 Nebraska at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Cream and Crimson are now 0-6 in one-run contests this season.
Graduate student right-handed pitcher Reagan Rivera took the mound as the starting pitcher for the Hoosiers. He pitched 3.2 innings, allowing three hits and five runs but only two earned runs.
Rivera threw 97 pitches and 61 strikes in the start. Before Friday, the graduate student's previous career-high in pitches thrown was 67, per Indiana Athletics’ radio broadcast. His ERA went from 10.90 down to 9.86 in his ninth appearance of the year.
Nebraska struck first in the bottom of the second inning. The Cornhuskers were aided by a fielding error from Indiana sophomore infielder Will Moore at third base — his second misplay in two games and fourth overall — before hitting a two-run home run two batters later.
Nebraska junior outfielder Max Buettenback roped his second home run of the year over the right-field wall.
The Cornhuskers added three more runs in the following two innings.
Rivera was pulled from the game and replaced by graduate student right-handed pitcher Micheal Sarhatt in the bottom of the fourth with two outs and the bases loaded. Sarhatt hit one Cornhusker batter before escaping the bases-loaded situation by inducing a foul pop-out.
The Cornhuskers scored five runs with two outs in the game.
Nebraska starting junior right-handed pitcher Ty Horn threw five innings Friday night, allowing two earned runs but striking out six hitters. The Halstead, Kansas, native came into the contest with a 3.26 ERA in 30.1 innings pitched.
Indiana remained scoreless until the top of the sixth inning, where it collected four runs. Freshman catcher Owen ten Oever and sophomore catcher/outfielder Hogan Denny recorded RBI singles. The Hoosiers also scored once on a wild pitch.
Both teams exchanged a run each in the following inning. However, Indiana was shut out in the final two frames. Nebraska sophomore right-handed pitcher J’Shawn Unger pitched the final innings, recording his third save of the year. He faced six batters and threw 20 pitches.
Ultimately, Indiana’s offense put up seven hits. Its defense committed three errors compared to Nebraska’s one. The Hoosiers left eight runners on base and went 1 for 5 (.200) with runners in scoring position.
Indiana will look to rebound from the series-opening loss as the road weekend continues with a matchup Saturday against the Cornhuskers. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Follow reporters Elakai Anela (@elakai_anela and eanela@iu.edu) and Will Kwiatkowski (@WKwiatkowski_15 and wdkwiatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana baseball season.
