Case Sanderson tallied a career-high three hits and added an RBI single in the seventh inning, as Nebraska took the series over New Mexico State with a narrow 2-1 win on Saturday at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
It marked the Huskers’ fifth straight series victory to begin the season, as NU has won 13 of its last 15 games, including nine of 10 at home.
Nebraska (17-5) scored two runs on six hits with two errors, while New Mexico State (10-13) totaled one run on seven hits with an error.
Sanderson led the Big Red at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a trio of singles and an RBI, while Tyler Stone finished 1-for-3 and drove in the Huskers’ other run of the game. Josh Caron went 1-for-4 with a double for the Big Red’s only extra-base hit of the afternoon.
Drew Christo dealt 4.1 shutout frames in his fifth start of the season, issuing three walks to go along with four punchouts. Over the last four games, NU starting pitchers haven’t allowed a run in 23.1 innings of work, posting 31 strikeouts to only five walks.
Kyle Froehlich retired three of four batters faced out of the bullpen, while Jalen Worthley imrproved to 2-0 with a scoreless inning. Evan Borst and Casey Daiss kept the Aggies off the board in the seventh and eighth frames.
Rans Sanders gave up a run on two hits, while Kyle Perry got the final out to preserve the one-run win for the Huskers.
Both teams exchanged scoreless frames across the first three innings, with Christo retiring nine of the first 11 Aggies that came to the plate.
The Husker offense put runners on first and second with two outs in the third frame, as Dylan Carey reached on an error followed by Sanderson’s second hit of the day. However, Aggie starter Trey Meza forced Overbeek to groundout to short putting an end to the NU threat.
NMSU loaded the bases with one out in the fourth frame, before Christo picked off a runner at second base and induced a flyout to center field to leave a trio of Aggies on base as the game remained scoreless.
Christo issued a walk to open the fifth inning, who was subsequently caught stealing before a one-out double ended the junior’s day. Froehlich entered and retired the next two batters to keep the contest even at 0-0.
The Aggies once again worked a runner into scoring position, tagging Froehlich for a leadoff double and moving to third on a groundout. Worthley replaced Froehlich on the mound, who forced a popout and flyout to keep NMSU off the board.
Nebraska finally scratched across a run in the sixth inning after a pair of outs. Caron slapped a two-out double into the left-center gap, before Stone followed it up with an RBI single through the right side to put the Huskers up 1-0.
Borst entered the game in the seventh frame with runners on first and third with one out, forcing a strikeout before a walk loaded the bases again. The right-hander fielded a bunt down the third-base line and fired to first to end the inning and keep the Huskers ahead by a run.
Nebraska added an insurance run in the bottom half after Riley Silva and Carey were each plunked. Sanderson singled through the right side to double the Huskers’ lead and give the freshman a career-high three hits on the afternoon.
Daiss then hurled a shutout eighth frame, striking out two of four batters faced to give him five straight scoreless appearances.
Two hits off Sanders in the ninth inning plated the Aggies’ first run of the day, before Perry entered and punched out his lone batter faced to secure his third save of the season.
