LINCOLN — Northern Colorado rallied for three runs in the final two innings Tuesday to beat Nebraska 6-3 and run its winning streak to six games.
Nebraska dropped its second nonconference home game in six days, managing just five hits off five Northern Colorado pitchers and committing three errors. The Bears had entered the two-game series with a 6-45 all-time record vs. NU.
The Huskers (9-7) had tied the game 3-3 with a three-run sixth inning at Haymarket Park, started by a Luke Roskam two-run single.
But Northern Colorado (11-5) regained a 4-3 lead on a Dean Lawson sacrifice fly in the eighth, then Nebraska helped the Bears in a two-run ninth with an error, walk, hit batter, wild pitch and passed ball.
NU then went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth against Connor Leedholm, who pitched two innings for his fourth save. Leedholm relieved Corey Nakakura (2-0), who got the win after allowing one hit and striking out three over two innings.
Scott Schreiber had three of the Huskers’ five hits, but NU struck out 11 times.
Nebraska had scored 35 runs in two wins over Cal Poly on Saturday, which coach Darin Erstad called “one of the better doubleheader days I’ve ever seen.” That four-game series, however, had started with a 14-8 loss to the Mustangs last Thursday.
Matt Waldron left after four innings Tuesday with Nebraska trailing 1-0. The junior right-hander allowed six hits and struck out two.
The Bears then scored twice in the fifth for their 3-0 lead, with Evan Johnson coming home on a fielder’s choice and Jack Pauley on a Husker error after the Bears had loaded the bases.
Pauley went 3 for 5 for Northern Colorado, and Cole Maltese had two hits and scored twice. The Bears were coming off a four-game weekend sweep of South Dakota State.
The two teams will play again Wednesday at 1:35 p.m. at Haymarket Park.
