After being held scoreless on four hits over the first five innings of Saturday’s home opener at Hawks Field, the Nebraska baseball team (1-7, 0-0 Big Ten) exploded for seven runs on five hits in the sixth inning to win its 35th straight home opener with a 8-5 victory over the New Mexico Lobos (2-5, 0-0 Mountain West). Down 5-0 going into the bottom of the sixth in front of 1,592 fans on a chilly day at Hawks Field, Nebraska rallied from a five-run deficit for the first time since Feb. 25, 2011, when NU won 12-8 over Northern Colorado after falling behind 7-2 in the fourth inning.
Senior Chad Christensen delivered his third three-hit performance of the season, as he was 3-for-4 with a double, while Austin Darby and Kash Kalkowski each drove in a pair of runs on the afternoon. Every hitter in the Husker lineup either produced a hit or scored a run on the afternoon. Nebraska sent 12 batters to the plate in the sixth inning, the first time the NU offense has batted around this season.
With a 7-5 lead heading into the seventh inning, Josh Roeder and Dylan Vogt combined to throw three shutout innings down the stretch, with the pair striking out four Lobos. Vogt pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his first save of the season.
Nebraska will look to sweep the two-game series with the Lobos when the two teams meet at 12:05 p.m. tomorrow at Hawks Field. Junior Christian DeLeon is scheduled to take the mound for the Huskers against New Mexico righty Sam Wolff.
