‘We’ve got to put the throttle down’: Scuffling NU offense does just enough to edge

One of the country’s most unproductive offenses had enough to get past one of the nation’s most mistake-prone defenses Friday night.

The Nebraska baseball team once again struggled to produce much of anything at the plate, largely failing to take advantage of a whopping six Ohio State errors, but did enough to edge the Buckeyes 5-3 in the series opener between the teams in Columbus, Ohio.

Nebraska (10-14, 2-2 Big Ten) never trailed, getting a solo home run from Cam Chick on the fifth pitch of the game, and adding a second run thanks to two Buckeyes errors in the second inning.

But the rest of the game was a showcase for both squads’ weaknesses.

Nebraska, which came into the series at or near the bottom of the Big Ten in batting average, scoring, on-base percentage and strikeouts, produced more of the same Friday.

After going 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position Tuesday night against Creighton, Nebraska started Friday’s game 0-for-10 in the same situation. Ohio State starter Isaiah Coupet, who threw 124 pitches, struck out 14 Huskers in seven innings as NU flailed away against a breaking ball no one in the lineup could solve.

The Huskers finished 2-for-16 Friday with runners in scoring position.

“We were aggressive in the first inning to set the inning up. And then we took a ton of pitches with runners in scoring position,” NU coach Will Bolt said during his postgame radio interview. “I think we took the first two strikes with just about every at-bat with a chance to drive in runs until the eighth inning.”

Meanwhile Ohio State, with the worst defense in the Big Ten and one of the worst in the country by fielding percentage (.947), continued to give Nebraska opportunities with a hard-to-watch defensive performance.

The Buckeyes (8-14, 0-2) committed five errors in the first five innings, but were bailed out by Coupet’s strong night on the mound.

The mistakes finally caught up to OSU late. Holding a 3-1 lead in the ninth inning, Nebraska loaded the bases with no outs and scored two runs as Ohio State threw the ball away trying to complete a double play.

Those two runs proved to be the difference after Ohio State scored twice in the bottom of the ninth.

Right-hander Shay Schanaman, making his first Friday night start for Nebraska, picked up the win after allowing one run on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. Schanaman struck out eight and walked three.

Griffin Everitt finished 2-for-5 with a double for NU, the only Husker with more than one hit. Chick scored twice.

Nebraska will go for the series win Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.

“When you’re scuffling you just kind of feel for it a little bit,” Bolt said of NU’s struggling offense. “And we’ve got to put the throttle down; that’s how we’re going to get going offensively.”