Walsh Deals Gem in Win vs. Bison

Photo Credit: NU Athletics

Will Walsh tossed six scoreless innings and recorded a season-high nine strikeouts in Nebraska’s 3-1 win vs. North Dakota State on Wednesday night at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

Nebraska (15-5) picked up its fifth win in a row with three runs on seven hits. North Dakota State (5-15) recorded one run, six hits and an error.

Garrett Anglim led the Huskers at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Tyler Stone tallied two hits, while Joshua Overbeek, Ben Columbus and Dylan Carey recorded one hit apiece.

Walsh moved to 2-0 on the season after posting his second consecutive quality start. The Leawood, Kan., native allowed just four hits across six scoreless innings, while issuing zero walks with the season-high nine punchouts. 

Kyle Froehlich allowed one run on two hits in 1.2 innings of work, before Jalen Worthley struck out the lone batter he faced. Rans Sanders collected his first save with the Huskers after dealing a scoreless inning in the ninth.

Some wild pitching in the first loaded the bases for the Huskers, while a four-pitch walk to Anglim gave the Big Red the 1-0 lead in the opening frame.

Walsh kept the Bison off the board in the second and third innings to keep NDSU scoreless through the first time through the order.

Nebraska doubled its lead in the third, tacking on a second run behind a pair of hits. Case Sanderson was hit by the pitch and moved to third on a one-out single from Stone. Anglim came through with his second RBI of the night, this time lacing a 1-1 pitch to center for an RBI single to plate Sanderson.

Walsh hung scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth, before recording three strikeouts in the top of the sixth to move his strikeout total for the night to nine.

The NU offense generated its third run of the night in the seventh to stretch the lead to 3-0. Sandersson drew a leadoff walk, while Bryce Hughes entered as a pinch-runner and stole second. Anglim followed with a single up the middle to put runners on first and third with one out. Hughes plated Nebraska’s third run on a play where Anglim was caught stealing second to make it 3-0 through seven innings.

NDSU plated its lone run of the night after a two-out RBI triple to the wall in right-center brought the Bison within two. Worthley replaced Froehlich on the mound and struck out the lone batter he faced to keep it a 3-1 advantage for the Big Red.

Sanders took the mound in the ninth and retired the Bison in order to preserve the 3-1 win for the Huskers.

Nebraska wraps up its eight-game homestand this weekend with a three-game series against New Mexico State on Friday-Sunday, March 22-24. First pitch of Friday’s series opener between the Huskers and Aggies is set for 6:05 p.m.