Nebraska plated a pair of runs in the eighth inning to grab a 5-3 lead, before a seven-run rally in the ninth handed the Huskers a 10-5 loss against Indiana on Friday night at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

Nebraska (30-18, 12-7 Big Ten) scored five runs on nine hits and two errors, while Indiana (28-19-1, 13-6 Big Ten) totaled 10 runs on 11 hits.

Josh Caron led the Big Red at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a homer, three RBI and a run. Dylan Carey was 2-for-4 with a double, while Case Sanderson, Gabe Swansen, Tyler Stone and Joshua Overbeek tallied a hit.

Brett Sears dealt seven strong innings, allowing just two runs, one earned, across three hits. The senior struck out six Hoosiers without issuing a walk. Jalen Worthley and Bobby Olsen teamed up to pitch one inning in relief.

Kyle Perry recorded an out and dropped to 1-2 on the year, surrendering three runs, two earned, on three hits. Kyle Froehlich and Casey Daiss also made an appearance out of the bullpen, recording one out each.

The Hoosiers jumped out to an early lead with a leadoff solo homer off the bat of Devin Taylor.

Indiana capitalized on an NU error in the fourth to double the lead to 2-0. A plunked batter, followed by a one-out fielding error placed runners on first and third for the visitors. The Hoosiers plated their second run of the night after Brock Tibbits lifted a sacrifice fly to right.

Nebraska nearly got the run back in the bottom of the fourth, but a perfect relay from the Hoosiers threw out Cole Evans at the plate to end the fourth in a two-run game. Evans reached on a fielder’s choice, before Carey smacked a two-out double to the wall in left. Evans attempted to score all the way from first, but a perfect relay throw from shallow left field by the Hoosiers’ shortstop gunned down a sliding Evans at the plate to preserve the two-run lead.

The Huskers broke through in the fifth inning to make it a one-run game. Cayden Brumbaugh drew a two-out walk, followed by Sanderson’s single through the right side to put runners on first and third. Caron ripped a 1-0 pitch to left for an RBI single, scoring Brumbaugh.

Sears worked around a one-out double in the sixth and retired the Hoosiers in order in the seventh to keep the Huskers within a run going into the seventh-inning stretch.

The Big Red grabbed its first lead of the night with Caron’s two-run blast into the right-center berm. Sanderson drew a one-out walk before Caron deposited the first pitch he saw for his team-leading ninth homer of the season.

A solo home run to begin the top of the eighth inning for the Hoosiers locked the game at three. Indiana had the bases loaded with two outs, but Olsen induced a fielder’s choice to second to elude the damage.

The Husker offense scratched across two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead back at 5-3. Back-to-back singles from Stone and Carey to begin the inning set up Silva’s sacrifice bunt attempt, which moved the pair to second and third with one out.

Clay Bradford, pinch-running for Stone, slid around the tag at the plate on Overbeek’s RBI fielder’s choice to give the Big Red its second lead of the evening. Carey moved to third on the run-scoring play, before coming home on Rhett Stokes’ sacrifice fly in foul territory in right.

Indiana poured in seven runs on six hits in an error to clinch the series-opening win on Friday night. A double, followed by a one-out RBI single brought the visitors within a run at 5-4. With runners on first and third and one out, a sacrifice fly lifted to center locked the game at five.

The Hoosiers had the bases loaded with two outs after consecutive walks, including one intentional walk. The Huskers appeared to get out of the inning tied at five after a pickoff play at second base, but an errant throw brought home the go-ahead run and kept the inning alive.

The visitors drove in four more runs in the inning with a pair of two-RBI singles to extend the lead to 10-5.

Nebraska and Indiana continue the weekend series tomorrow night at 6:02 p.m. at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park. Saturday’s matchup can be seen on Big Ten Network, while fans can listen to Ben McLaughlin call the action on the Huskers Radio Network.

HUSKERS BREAK TWO SCHOOL RECORDS, OTABOR WINS TITLE ON FRIDAY

Nebraska track and field earned an event title and broke two school records during the opening day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Rhema Otabor went back-to-back in the women’s javelin, bringing in her second-straight conference title with a distance of 189-5 (57.75m). The Huskers earned 22 total team points from the women’s javelin, with Eniko Sara placing fourth with a 163-2 (49.75m), Mirta Kulisic taking fifth with a 161-4 (49.18m) and Emanuela Casadei placing sixth with a 156-1 (47.59m).

Dash Sirmon launched a 265-3 (80.86m) on his final javelin attempt, breaking the school record, claiming the silver medal and moving up to third in the NCAA this season. Tyler Brown earned the bronze with a distance of 224-11 (68.57m).

Henry Zimmerman secured second place, his highest-career conference meet finish, with a 222-5 (67.81m) in the hammer throw. Seth Schnakenberg made the final in his conference meet debut, going on to place ninth with a 201-0 (61.27m). Hillevi Carlsson (203-5, 62.00m) and Cammy Garabian (198-2, 60.41m) provided top-eight finishes in the women’s hammer throw, placing sixth and seventh.

Jessica Gardner cleared 13-4 1/4 (4.07m) in the pole vault to claim sixth.

In his first time racing the 200m this outdoor season, Garrett Kaalund broke the school record with a 20.50. The sophomore will open Sunday’s final seeded second. Kavian Kerr placed 11th with a 21.21.

Abrielle Artley punched her ticket to the 400m hurdles final, clocking the sixth-fastest prelims time with a 59.35. In the men’s 400m hurdles, Cory Berg finished 10th with a 52.50 and Joseph Clifford finished 11th with a 52.80. Berlyn Schutz covered the track in 4:22.66 to earn a spot in the 1500m final.

Ali Bainbridge and Brynna McQuillen broke the all-time list in the 10,000m. With a time of 34:27.09, Bainbridge finished 10th and climbed to sixth all-time. With a time of 35:14.30, McQuillen placed 16th and moved to 10th all-time. In the women’s 200m, Arianna Walker ran a 24.43 to place 20th and Bariborve Deebom ran a 24.44 to place 21st.

Matthias Algarin and Kolby Heinerikson represented NU in the opening day of the decathlon. With two event wins and two personal-bests, Algarin sits in third with 3,853 points through five events. He tied for first in the 100m with a 10.67, won the long jump with a 23-10 (7.26m), threw a 39-8 (12.09m) in the shot put, cleared 5-10 ¾ (1.80m) in the high jump and ran a 50.26 in the 400m. Heinerikson is in ninth with 3,589 points, with his highest placements coming from the long jump (22-6 ¼, 6.86m), shot put (42-0, 12.80m) and high jump (5-10 ¾, 1.80m).

In the heptathlon, Favour Wanjoku posted three personal-best marks to finish the first day in fifth with 3,157 points. She ran a 14.21 in the 100m hurdles, jumped 5-0 ½ (1.54m) in the high jump, threw 39-6 ½ (12.05m) in the shot put and ran a 25.10 in the 200m.

Through four events, the women are in first with 30 points. Through three events, the men are in first with 22 points.

The meet resumes tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. (CT) for combined events, 12:20 p.m. (CT) for field events and 3 p.m. (CT) for running events.

HUSKERS FALL TO HOOSIERS IN 8 INNINGS

The Nebraska softball team took a one-run lead into the seventh inning Friday but Indiana tied the game with a single run in the seventh and then scored six times in the eighth to rally for a 9-5 victory in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal matchup in Iowa City.

With the loss, Nebraska (30-23) came up one game short of making the Big Ten Tournament Championship game. The Huskers will now wait to see if their name is called on Sunday when the 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament is announced.

Nebraska jumped on Indiana starting pitcher Brianna Copeland, hitting two home runs in five batters while building a 3-0 lead after two innings. But the Huskers struggled against reliever Sophie Kleiman (14-4) in regulation, as Kleiman gave up only three hits from the second through the seventh innings - all singles to Billie Andrews. Kleiman earned the win after giving up three runs in 7.0 innings.

Sarah Harness (9-6) took the loss for Nebraska. Harness threw every pitch for Nebraska at the Big Ten Tournament and tossed her second complete game in two days against the Hoosiers. Harness allowed just two runs in the first 6.0 innings.

Offensively, Billie Andrews went 4-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Ava Bredwell and Peyton Cody also homered for the Big Red.

Nebraska grabbed a 1-0 lead when Billie Andrews hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning.

In the bottom of the second inning, Ava Bredwell led off with a home run to give Nebraska a 2-0 lead. Following a pitching change, Caitlynn Neal drew a one-out walk and Katelyn Caneda worked a two-out walk. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch before an RBI infield single from Billie Andrews scored Neal and put the Huskers on top 3-0.

Indiana got a run back in the top of the fourth when Sarah Stone led off with a home run to left center that cut the Husker lead to 3-1.

In the top of the fifth, a hit batter and a sacrifice bunt put a Hoosier on second base with one out for the top of the order. Brianna Copeland then delivered an RBI single up the middle to make it a one-run game. 

In the bottom of the inning, Bella Bacon was hit by a pitch, Billie Andrews singled with one out and Sydney Gray drew a two-out walk but the Huskers left the bases loaded.

In the top of the seventh, a miscommunication led to a dropped foul ball which proved costly as two pitches later Brooke Benson hit a game-tying home run to right center.

In the top of the eighth, a leadoff walk, a bunt single and a sacrifice bunt gave Indiana runners at second and third with one out. Aaliyah Andrews then lined a 1-2 pitch into center field for a two-run single that gave Indiana a 5-3 lead. An RBI single and a three-run homer capped the six-run inning and gave Indiana a 9-3 lead.

As it has done all season, Nebraska continued to fight in the bottom of the eighth. Emmerson Cope was hit by a pitch to start the inning and with two outs, Cody hit a long pinch-hit home run to cut the lead to 9-5 but the Huskers would get no closer.

Post-Game Notes

• Nebraska played its 10th extra-inning game of the season. The 10 extra-inning games are one shy of the school record of 11 extra-inning games during the 1982 season.
• Billie Andrews hit her 18th home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the first inning. The 18 home runs rank in a tie for fourth in school history.
• The home run was the 61st of Andrews' career, moving her into a tie for fifth place on the Big Ten's all-time home run list. 
• The home run was Andrews' third home run of the Big Ten Tournament. Her three home runs rank in a tie for second for most home runs in a single Big Ten Tournament, as Andrews became the fifth player to hit three home runs at a Big Ten Tournament.
• The home run was also the 100th extra-base hit of Andrews' career.
• With two RBIs in the game, Andrews moved into seventh place on Nebraska's all-time list with 157 career RBIs.
• Billie Andrews also had a stolen base in the game, the 50th steal of her career. Andrews is the first player in program history with 50 career home runs and 50 career stolen bases.
• Billie Andrews went 4-for-4 to tie her career high in hits.
• Ava Bredwell hit her eighth home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the second inning.
• Peyton Cody hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh inning, her fourth home run of the season.
• Sarah Harness tossed her second complete game in as many days and her third complete game of the season. Her 8.0 innings were a season high.

HUSKERS RELEASE 2024 SOCCER SCHEDULE

The Nebraska soccer team is set to play 18 games this fall, as the Huskers announced their 2024 schedule this week. NU will play seven non-conference games, 11 conference matches and a pair of exhibitions. 

The Huskers will host 10 regular season games in the 10th year of Hibner Stadium, after hosting nine matches in the 2023 season and four post-season games. 

The Big Red will face a challenging schedule as seven opponents qualified for the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Michigan, Rutgers and Indiana lost in the first round, Iowa and Wisconsin advanced to the second round, Michigan State fell in the third round and Penn State joined Nebraska in the Elite Eight.  

NU will host Kansas City in a friendly to start the season on August 5, before traveling to Oklahoma for the second and final exhibition game of the season on August 9. 

The following week, the Huskers will host Oklahoma State and Colorado State to open the regular season. The Big Red will face the Cowgirls on Thursday, August 15, and the Rams on Sunday, August 18. 

The Huskers then continue their five-match homestand as they welcome Duke (August 22), Creighton (August 25) and Omaha (August 29) to close out the month of August. 

The following week, NU hits the road to start a streak of five away matches in a row. The Huskers face Oregon State (September 5) and Portland (September 8) before opening Big Ten conference play with Iowa (September 12), Michigan State (September 19) and Michigan (September 22). 

To close out the month of September, the Big Red will return home to host Illinois (September 26) and Penn State (September 29). The Huskers will then start a streak of three-straight away games, facing Wisconsin (October 6), Rutgers (October 10) and Maryland (October 13).

NU will wrap up the regular season at home, welcoming Oregon (October 17), Washington (October 20) and Indiana (October 27). 

The 2024 Big Ten Tournament starts Thursday, October 31, with the opening round before the quarterfinals take place on Sunday, November 3, semifinals on Thursday, November 7, and the finals will be played Sunday, November 10.