A wild back-and-forth affair, including a six-run third inning by the Huskers, gave Nebraska its first series win of the season as they took down Grand Canyon, 10-8, in the weekend finale on Sunday afternoon at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.

Nebraska (4-3) scored 10 runs on nine hits with an error, while Grand Canyon (5-3) had eight runs on 12 hits and trio of errors.

Cayden Brumbaugh and Cole Evans led the way at the plate for the Huskers, each finishing with a pair of hits. Josh Caron and Tyler Stone both added a knock and RBI for the Big Red. In four games this weekend, Caron finished .353 (6-for-17) at the plate and drove in a team-high 10 runs across the series.

Caleb Clark allowed four runs, all earned, on six hits and struck out a pair of batters in his 4.0 innings of work. Timmerman appeared in his second game of the weekend while Jalen Worthy tossed a trio of shutout frames, retiring 9 of 11 batters faced to earn his first career collegiate win. Bobby Olsen and Grant Cleavinger combined for a scoreless eighth inning, while Kyle Perry recorded the save for the Huskers.

Nebraska got on the board first as Carey’s two-out double set the table for an RBI single from Caron, his 10th RBI of the weekend, to give the Huskers a 1-0 lead. The Lopes quickly responded with a run off Clark in the bottom half following a triple to tie the game after an inning of play.

Garrett Anglim continued his strong series with his fourth hit of the weekend, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt put down by Ben Columbus in the second inning. The junior stole third and gave the Huskers the lead back after a balk from GCU starter Hunter Watkins brought him home.

Follwing two quick outs in the third frame, Nebraska's offense rallied for six runs as 10 Huskers came to the plate. Stone drove in Riley Silva after his fifth hit-by-pitch of the weekend, before the Big Red loaded the bases and forced the Lopes to turn to their bullpen. 

A wild pitch plated Columbus, followed by RBI knocks from Brumbaugh and Evans, which gave Nebraska an 8-1 advantage and its highest scoring output in a single inning this season.

Clark surrendered runs in the third and fourth frames to trim the lead to 8-3 but came out for the fifth inning. The southpaw allowed a leadoff single to begin the fifth frame which spelled the end of his day, despite producing his longest outing of the season.

Timmerman was the first man out of the bullpen for his team-leading fourth appearance this season, hitting a batter and walking the next to load the bases. Tyler Wilson made the Huskers pay with a game-tying grand slam as GCU evened the game at eight, despite trailing by seven runs.

Worthley retired his first four batters faced in relief of Timmerman, shutting down the Lopes’ offense to keep the contest tied 8-8. His three innings were a career-high, as the sophomore earned his first career collegiate win and kept GCU at bay in the sixth and seventh frames.

Nebraska’s bats came alive in the eighth inning with Brumbaugh leading off with a single, his second hit of the day, before advancing to second on Silva’s sacrifice bunt. Dylan Carey was subsequently hit by a pitch and both runners moved up one base on Caron’s groundout.

The Huskers regained the lead in the next at-bat after Brumbaugh scored on a passed ball, followed by a straight steal of home by Carey to make it 10-8 with Nebraska in front. 

Olsen and Cleavinger combined for a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning, before turning the ball over to Rans Sanders who retired his only batter faced. Perry entered with one out in the ninth frame and set down two of the three Lopes he faced to secure the win and his first save of the season.

The Huskers continue play next weekend with a four-game series at the College of Charleston on Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 29-March 3 in Charleston, S.C. at Patriots Point.

HUSKERS END WEEKEND WITH 6-3 WIN

A five-run first inning powered the Nebraska softball team to a 6-3 victory over Cal State Fullerton in the second of two games Sunday at the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City, Calif.

Cal State Fullerton (9-6) scored twice in the top of the first inning but Nebraska (8-6) scored all the runs it would need in the bottom of the inning. The five-run frame was capped by a three-run homer from Emmerson Cope, her first career home run.

Cope finished 3-for-3 at the plate with a career-high three hits. She also earned the start in the circle and threw the first 2.0 innings, allowing three runs. Caitlin Olensky (2-0) relieved Cope and earned the victory with 4.0 shutout innings, giving up only one hit. Sarah Harness picked up her first save of the season after she retired the side in order in the seventh.

In addition to Cope's three hits, Billie Andrews finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. In five games at the Mary Nutter Classic, Andrews went 13-for-21 (.619) with a double and four home runs.

Staci Chambers (5-2) took the loss for Cal State Fullerton, allowing six runs (two earned) in 1.0-plus innings.

Cal State Fullerton scored twice in the top of the first inning, taking a 2-0 lead on a pair of RBI singles.

Nebraska answered back in the botttom of the frame. Billie Andrews led off with a single and stole second before a throwing error put Huskers on first and third with one out. Bella Bacon then cut the deficit in half with an RBI single that scored Andrews and made it 2-1. Samantha Bland followed with another RBI single to tie the game. Cope then hit a 1-2 pitch over the fence in center for a three-run homer that put the Huskers on top 5-2.

Fullerton came back with a pair of singles to start the top of the second inning. But Cope coaxed back-to-back force outs at third base and a ground out to third to end the inning.

Nebraska added to its lead in the bottom of the second. Brooke Andrews led off with a double and scored on an RBI double from her younger sister Billie. 

Cal State Fullerton matched Nebraska with back-to-back doubles in the top of the third to cut the Husker lead to 6-3.

But the Titans would get only one hit the rest of the way as Olensky and Harness combined for 5.0 shutout innings.

After playing its first 14 games of the season away from home, Nebraska hosts the Big Red Invitational on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Bowlin Stadium.

Post-Game Notes

• Nebraska homered for the ninth consecutive game.
• Billie Andrews went 2-for-4 to extend her hitting streak to nine games. She has multiple hits in four consecutive games.
• Before being retired in the fourth inning, Andrews had a hit in six consecutive at bats.
• Emmerson Cope hit a three-run homer in the first inning, the first home run of her career. 
• Cope finished 3-for-3 to record her first career game with multiple hits. 
• Caitlin Olensky tossed a career-high 4.0 innings. 
• Olensky also had her first career plate appearance in the fourth inning, drawing a walk.
• Sarah Harness earned her first save of the season

NO. 20 UTAH RALLIES LATE TO DEFEAT NEBRASKA

The Nebraska softball team led No. 20 Utah 5-0 after four innings only to see the Utes score the game's final nine runs and rally for a 9-5 victory Sunday at the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City, Calif.

Billie Andrews and Samantha Bland homered during Nebraska's five-run third inning, with Bland's blast being a grand slam. But Utah got back in the game with three unearned runs in the top of the fifth. Then in the sixth, Utah scored five times on just three singles, aided by four Husker walks. The Utes tacked on a final insurance run in the seventh.

Nebraska (7-6) lost late for the third time this weekend. The Huskers led both San Diego State and No. 19 UCLA on Friday before losing on walk-off singles in both games.

Offensively, Billie Andrews continued her torrid hitting with a 4-for-4 effort that included her sixth home run in nine games this season. Her four hits tied her career high. Bland finished 2-for-4 with a career-high four RBIs and Sydney Gray added two hits and reached base three times.

Kaylin Kinney (4-5) took the loss for Nebraska, allowing five runs on only two singles in 1.0 inning. Sarah Harness made the start and allowed three unearned runs in 4.2 innings. Caitlin Olensky pitched the final 1.1 innings and was charged with one run.

Sarah Ladd (5-2) earned the win for Utah (8-6) with 4.2 innings of five-hit, shutout relief. Nebraska tagged All-American Mariah Lopez for five runs in 2.1 innings before Ladd came on in relief.

It was Utah who had the scoring chances early. The Utes had runners on first and second to start the second inning. But a fly out and a double play ended the inning without a run scoring.

Utah then threatened again in the top of the third. A leadoff walk and back-to-back singles loaded the bases with no outs. Nebraska then got a force out at home plate and on the play, Julia Jimenez was ejected for her slide into catcher Ava Bredwell. The Huskers got another force out at home for the second out before a fly out ended the threat.  

After escaping the jam, Billie Andrews gave Nebraska a 1-0 lead with a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the frame. Peyton Cody and Bredwell drew back-to-back walks following Andrews’ home run and Bella Bacon singled to load the bases. Bland then hit her first career grand slam to push the lead to 5-0.

In the top of the fifth, Utah had runners on second and third with one out. The Utes then plated their first run on a sacrifice fly before a two-run homer cut the Husker lead to 5-3. Kinney entered the game and quickly got out of the inning with a ground out.

But Kinney ran into control problems in the top of the sixth. She walked the first two batters on nine pitches. A fielder's choice followed by a stolen base put the tying runners on second and third with only one out. Kinney then snagged a hard line drive back to the circle for the second out before her third walk of the inning loaded the bases for the top of the order. A check-swing two-run bloop single then tied the game before another RBI single gave Utah a 6-5 lead and marked the end of the day for Kinney.

Olensky relieved Kinney and walked the first batter she faced to load the bases. Olensky then coaxed a ground ball that Billie Andrews was in position to field but the ball took a bad hop to find its way into center field for a two-run single that stretched the Utes' lead to 8-5. 

Utah added to its lead with an unconventional run in the top of the seventh. A leadoff single and a wild pitch put a runner at second base with one out. Following a strikeout, the Utes hit a ground ball to third. Bacon, the first baseman, was unable to tag the batter out and when she threw to Caneda covering at first base, it was ruled that Caneda was not on the base. The runner then took off for second base and although Nebraska recorded the out in the ensuing rundown, a run scored on the play to make it 9-5 Oregon.

Bland singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh but Ladd then retired the final two Huskers.

Nebraska plays again on Sunday against Cal State Fullerton.

Post-Game Notes

• Nebraska hit two home runs in the game. It marked the Huskers’ eighth consecutive game with a home run and third consecutive game – all against ranked opponents – with multiple home run.
• The Huskers scored five runs off All-America pitcher Mariah Lopez. It marked the first time Lopez had allowed five runs in 33 consecutive appearances dating back to last March.
• Samantha Bland hit her first career grand slam, her second home run in three games. She finished with a career-high four RBIs.
• Billie Andrews homered for the third straight game (four home runs in that stretch). The homer was the 49th of Andrews’ career, moving her into a tie for third place with Tristen Edwards on Nebraska’s all-time home run chart.
• Andrews went 4-for-4 to produce her third consecutive game with at least three hits. The four hits marked Andrews' second career four-hit game.
• Sydney Gray single, doubled and was hit by a pitch to reach base in three of her four plate appearances.
• Sarah Harness made her team-leading sixth start of the season against Utah. Harness did not allow an earned run, stretching her streak to 10.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.

HUSKERS DEFEAT GOLDEN HURRICANE, 5-2

Lincoln, Neb. - The No. 58 Nebraska men’s tennis team (8-4, 0-0 Big Ten), won the weekend at home with its 5-2 victory over No. 56 Tulsa (3-7, 0-0 American). The Big Red defeated Texas Tech, 4-1, on Friday and made it a 2-0 week, with the upset win over Tulsa.

In doubles against Tulsa, Court Three Leo Linquet and Shunya Maruyama had a close start, splitting their first four games, 2-2. Linquet and Maruyama took over the rest of the match against Alex Okonkwo and Victor Tosetto, to take four-straight games and the match, 6-2. No. 2 doubles duo Calvin Mueller and Lars Johann battled, but fell, 4-6, to Callum Gale and Gus Tettamble. With doubles wins split, the point came down to Court One. Huskers duo Anton Shepp and Nic Wiedenhorn faced ranked No. 55 Pierce Rollins and Timothy Carlsson Seger. Shepp and Wiedenhorn had a tough start, but did not back down despite their 2-5 start to the set. Shepp and Wiedenhorn fought their way into a set tiebreak, however, fell 6(6)-7.

After dropping the doubles point, the Big Red had a dominant start to singles play. Five Huskers took their first set, and Shepp took the first singles win for NU. Shepp, competing in the No. 1 slot, defeated Rollins, 6-2, 6-2. On Court Three, Maruyama was next to finish, and win, taking down Okonkwo, 6-2, 6-1. Christiansen cleaned up on Court Six, winning over Tettamble, 6-1, 6-2. Mueller played the No. 2 slot, and clinched the Big Red victory with his 6-2, 6-4 win over Gale. Sysoev tallied another point for NU with a dominant second set, defeating Tosetto, 7-5, 6-2. Johann faced Carlsson Seger for what proved to be a tight matchup on Court Four. Johann and Carlsson Seger battled into a 10-point tiebreaker, but Johann fell, 6(1)-7, 7-6(4), 1-0 [8-10].

With the win over the Golden Hurricane, the Big Red improved to 8-4 on the season, and 2-0 on the weekend. The 8-4 record is the best 12-match program start since 2018. Five Huskers won their singles matches in straight sets, eight sets won with a margin of four or more games. No. 3 doubles duo Maruyama and Linquet improved to 7-3 in the spring season with their 6-2 win. Shepp tallied another win in singles, pushing his spring record with the Huskers to 10-2.

Up next, the Huskers hit the road for five away matches, including the start of conference play. On Saturday, March 9, NU will face UC San Diego at 5:30 p.m. (CT).