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Cornhuskers Fall to Michigan in Series Opener 2-1

· Yahoo Sports

Mac Moyer scored Nebraska’s only run after leading off with a double. | Nebraska Athletics

The story this game was two experienced Friday starters that found a way to get it done and kept batters from teeing off.  Both pitchers had to work hard with a tight strike zone, but both of them were able to adapt and keep the other team’s batters from putting up many runs on the board.  And, the relievers came in and did their jobs, leading to low-scoring 2-1 win for Michigan.

Kurt Barr, who seems like he’s been pitching for Michigan for ten years, was 2-2 coming into today’s start and recorded 10 strikeouts, most of them on a sweeping slider in the dirt that Cornhusker batters could not lay off of.  And, in seven complete innings, he did not walk a batter.

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Ty Horn threw sixty-plus pitches through three innings, relying on his fastball and struggling to get any of his other pitches close to the strike zone.  When he found his off-speed stuff after giving up his second run, ended up striking out six batters in a row from the third to the fifth inning.

Nebraska had to feel good about their start to the game as Mac Moyer led off smacking a double down the right field line.  Yes, he actually pulled a pitch, which is something rarely seen this the season.

Right after his two-bagger, Jeter Worthley hit a single right up the middle.  Moyer then scored on a Case Sanderson flare to leftfield that Evan Haeger lost in the sun.  With the first three Cornhuskers reaching base, one had to think it could be a big inning based on how the team hit against Wichita State.  However, that was not to be at Barr retired the next three batters to end the inning.

Nebraska’s 1-0 lead only held until the bottom of the second inning when the Wolverines’ Greg Pace, Jr. hit a one out single off Horn and stole second base.  He scored two batters later when Drew Culbertson singled.

Michigan scored what ended up being the deciding run in the bottom of the third when Carson Luna led off the inning with a single.  Horn got the next two batters out on fly balls before Elie Kligman got the Wolverines second single of the inning to put runners at the corners.  Evan Haeger then hit a third single to score Luna.  Michigan was up 2-1.

Pitchers did not issue many free passes and neither team was able to string together hits to pose a threat.  In fact, Haeger’s hit in the third inning was the last Michigan hit of the game.  After Horn went over 100 pitchers, Caleb Clark came in and pitched two perfect innings.  Tucker Timmerman and Grant Cleavinger finished off the game and combined for three strikeouts.

Nebraska only put their lead-off batter on base twice in today’s game.  In the first inning, they scored their only run.  In the ninth, pinch hitter Miken Miller reach on a single.  Michigan then took some air out of the Big Red’s sails with a double play to clear the bases.

The Cornhuskers weren’t quite finished as Wolverine reliever Max Debiec hit Devin Nunez and Rhett Stokes hit a single to rightfield.  With two on and two out, up came Nebraska’s best hitter, Mac Moyer.  Unfortunately, he pulled a lazy grounder to the first baseman and the game was over.  Michigan 2, Nebraska 1.

Nebraska out-hit Michigan nine to six, but were only one for eight with runners in scoring position.  Nebraska pitching had 12 strikeouts to Michigan’s ten, all of them Barr’s, and gave up three walks.  

The loss snaps Nebraska’s 11-game winning streak.  The frustration for Nebraska fans is that the clutch hitting that was on full display the past five games was not there today.  Kurt Barr had something to do with that, especially when looking at the scorecard Cornhuskers hitting in the three through seven spots in the order only had two hits.

Nebraska looks to bounce back tomorrow at 1:00 CST to even the series as Carson Jasa will take the mound against a pitcher to be determined.  

Notes:

  • Of the 15 hits in the game by both teams, there was only one for extra bases; Moyer’s lead-off double to start the game.  Moyer extended his on-base streak to 21 games.
  • It was unfortunate that Ty Horn struggled to find the strike zone early on and drove up his pitch count so early because once he could control his off-speed pitches, he was very tough.  He’s had similar issues in previous games, but in a tight one like today’s, it proved to be costly.
  • The announcers shared during the broadcast that Caleb Clark’s dad was able to come from Canada to see him pitch.  Apparently, he has been very ill and it even sounded like Caleb had gone home to spend a few days with him prior to today’s game.
  • Surprisingly, there’s another entry in the “I Haven’t Seen That Before” category within a week.  I’m a little behind on all of the technology, so some of you may have seen this already.  Against the first batter he faced with a full count, Ty Horn stepped back off the pitching rubber.  Since there was no one base, by rule that had to be a violation and an automatic ball.  Horn claimed that he couldn’t hear his pitch call device kept in his cap.  The umpire came out, put the device up to his ear, and determined that Horn couldn’t hear anything.  The announcer’s said that it has become quite common for pitchers to claim they can’t hear their device when the pitch clock winds down.  I’ve got an idea!  How about catcher’s give signals with their fingers?

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