Baseball: Young Huskers drop two of three – Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska baseball coach Darin Erstad calls it “count leverage.”

The College of Charleston’s pitchers had it Sunday, and Nebraska’s didn’t. Consequently, the Cougars prevailed 7-3 for their second win in the teams’ season-opening three-game series in Charleston, South Carolina.

“They were ahead in counts, and we were not ahead in counts,” Erstad said during his postgame radio show. “When you get behind in counts, you either walk batters or you give up lasers because they’re getting good counts to hit in, and we just lost the count-leverage battle this weekend.

“That’s what it boiled down to.”

Five Husker pitchers combined to walk six batters Sunday, double the amount allowed by the Cougars.

After College of Charleston scored early and often in its 13-5 win Saturday, the Cougars jumped ahead again Sunday. Facing Nebraska sophomore right-hander Zack Engelken, Bradley Jones smacked a two-run home run in the first inning. In the second inning, Dupree Hart’s two-run double made it 4-0.

Engelken last only 1 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on two hits and two walks.

A bright spot for Nebraska was Jake McSteen, a redshirt freshman left-hander who relieved Engelken and worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings. McSteen missed nearly all of last season following shoulder surgery.

Erstad praised College of Charleston.

“They don’t even have all their pieces going right now,” he said.

Even so, the Cougars pushed the lead to 7-0 in the sixth on Hart’s second two-run double and Ryan Brown’s sacrifice fly.

Nebraska managed only two hits off College of Charleston starter Hayden McCutcheon. He tossed six shutout innings and struck out eight, while allowing just two walks.

“We knew he threw a sinker-slider combination, and he really did a nice job of keeping the ball down,” Erstad said. “That being said, we didn’t get off many good swings. I thought we got some good swings the first two days, and today he pitched really well.”

Nebraska first baseman Ben Miller had three of his team’s six hits. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound junior ended the shutout in the top of the eighth inning with a two-out, two-run single. A native of suburban Des Moines, Miller also had two hits Saturday.

“He can just flat-out hit,” Erstad said. “Guys like him, you don’t worry about if they have a good game or bad game. You know in the end, their numbers are going to be where they’re going to be.

“I thought he moved around really well at first base as well. Playing first base and still performing like he did at the plate was great. But we have a lot of room to improve, just like we said after we won Friday night.”

Bottom line, “We have to find a way to throw more strikes.”

Nebraska returns to action Friday in the inaugural Tony Gwynn Classic in San Diego. The Huskers will play San Diego at 8 p.m., with games also set for Saturday and Sunday.