LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska's Joe Acker hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday to give the Huskers a 4-3 win over the Illinois baseball team. The Illini gave Nebraska 11 free base runners with nine walks and two hit by pitches to help the Huskers even the series.
"We beat ourselves," said head coach Dan Hartleb. "Three of their runs came off two walks and a hit by pitch. Nebraska has been struggling at the plate lately and the only way they scored was by us giving it to them, then they took advantage of it. You have to give them credit for that."
Nebraska (23-15, 12-5 Big Ten) scored single tallies in the second, fourth, seventh and ninth innings. The second and fourth inning runs were scored by players that drew leadoff walks and the winning run reached base on a hit by pitch to start the ninth.
Illinois (27-14, 7-7 Big Ten) used five pitchers with none going longer than Nathan Lavender's 2 2/3 innings. Ty Weber (2.0 IP, 1 R), Lavender (2.2 IP, 1 R), Josh Harris (1.0 IP, 1 R) and Quinten Sefcik (1.1 IP, 1 R) all allowed one run, while Sean Leland (1.1 IP, 0 R) kept Nebraska scoreless through the fifth and sixth innings.
The Illini jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning but the bats went quiet for most of the next eight innings. Zac Taylor provided a solo homer to center field in the third and that was Illinois' last run.
Jeff Korte was the only player in the game with multiple hits and Taylor scored two runs. Kellen Sarver drove in a run in the first on a single and Cam McDonald added a sac fly.
Acker was never retired in the game, going 1-for-1 with three walks. His game winning hit went barely under the glove of third baseman Grant Van Scoy to score Aaron Palensky from second.
Illinois snapped a five-game winning streak, setting up Sunday's 11 a.m. CT rubber match.
Notes
• Illinois snapped a five-game winning streak.
• Illinois is 13-10 all-time against Nebraska, including 10-10 since theHuskers joined the Big Ten.
• Illinois has only one error in the last seven games. The Illini played error-free for the third straight game.
• Illinois has a fielding percentage of .988 in Big Ten games (six errors in 14 games).
• Illinois' bullpen has a .178 batting average against, 3.25 ERA and 182 strikeouts in 157 2/3 innings pitched.
• Opponents are hitting .196 with runners in scoring position against Illinois this season (73/372). Nebraska is 2-for-14 in the series with runners in scoring position.
• Illinois is outscoring opponents 34-7 in the first inning. Illinois has allowed only four earned runs in the first inning for a 0.90 team ERA in the opening frame.
• Grant Van Scoy is on a career-long 24-game reached base streak. Van Scoy is hitting .377 (34-90) during the 24-game streak with six doubles, one triple, two homers and 13 RBIs.
• Hitting streaks: Massey 8, Van Scoy 7, Taylor 5
• Reached base streaks: Van Scoy 24, Taylor 13, Yalowitz 12, Massey 9, Sarver 9
• Jack Yalowitz wore Cyrillo Watson's No. 22 uniform because his luggage was lost by the airline. Yalowitz's luggage arrived at the game in the top of the fourth inning.
