OMAHA, Neb. – Rutgers baseball dropped its opening game of the Big Ten Tournament to Nebraska, falling by a score of 9-7 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.
The Scarlet Knights (33-22, 14-10) took a 6-3 lead in the top of the seventh, but the Cornhuskers (32-21-1, 15-9) scored six in the bottom of the seventh to take the victory.
Rutgers will now play No. 8 Michigan State in an elimination game at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday morning.
After an infield single and walk in the bottom of the first, Nebraska hit a two-out, three-run home run to get out to a 3-0 lead. Starter
Christian Coppola settled in after the first, throwing five straight scoreless innings to deliver a quality start in his first career postseason appearance. He finished his day with 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on four hits, striking out three and walking four.
RU rallied to tie the game in the fifth, kickstarted by a pair of walks to start the frame.
Ryan Lasko lifted a sac fly to score
Jordan Sweeney and
Evan Sleight roped a double to the wall in right-center to plate a pair and tie the game at 3-3.
The Scarlet Knights put together another rally in the seventh after loading the bases with one out. Sleight was hit by a pitch to score the first run,
Cameron Love walked to score the second and
Andy Axelson drove in a third with a sac fly, making the score 6-3 in favor of RU.
In the bottom half of the seventh, Nebraska quickly tied the game with its second three-run home run of the game. After loading the bases with two outs, the Cornhuskers used two walks and a hit-by-pitch to score another three and take a 9-6 lead.
Lasko drove in another run with an RBI single in the eighth, but the Cornhuskers were able to get out of the inning with a double play with runners on the corners.
With his RBI single, Lasko recorded his 200
th career hit, becoming just the 20
th player in program history to reach the milestone.
The Scarlet Knights were set down 1-2-3 in the ninth to finish the game.
Thursday morning's elimination game between Rutgers and Michigan State is set for an 11 a.m. ET first pitch on the Big Ten Network, with
Drew Conover getting the start for RU against MSU's Andrew Carson.
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