Nebraska fell 8-3 against South Dakota State on Wednesday night at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
The Huskers (22-15-1) had three runs on seven hits, while the Jackrabbits (18-17) extended their win streak to 11 games with eight runs on 13 hits and two errors.
Jackson Brockett allowed four runs on four hits in two innings to drop to 2-1 on the season. Brett Sears tossed the next four innings, surrendering two runs on four hits with a career-high seven strikeouts. Mason Ornelas recorded two outs for the Big Red, while Jalen Worthley pitched the final 1.1 innings.
Dylan Carey and Charlie Fischer led NU at the plate with two-hit performances. Casey Burnham, Gabe Swansen and Ben Columbus had one hit apiece for the Huskers.
The Jackrabbits leaped out to a four-run lead with four runs on three hits in the second inning. A two-RBI triple to the right-center gap, followed by an RBI groundout had SDSU out front 3-0. Ryan McDonald grew the lead to four with his 17th home run of the season.
The Huskers had a pair of baserunners in the bottom half of the second, but a double play turned by the Jackrabbits kept the Big Red scoreless through two.
Sears retired the first two SDSU hitters in the sixth, before a plunked batter and a single placed runners on first and second with two outs for the Jackrabbits. Jess Bellows came through for SDSU, roping a two-RBI double down the left-field line to expand the lead to 6-0 in the sixth.
Nebraska loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the sixth but couldn’t plate the Big Red’s first run of the night.
The lead grew to seven in the seventh after an RBI single up the middle by Luke Ira.
The Huskers climbed back within four after plating all three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Efry Cervantes and Brice Matthews drew one-out walks to set up Burnham’s RBI single through the right side. Fischer and Swansen added back-to-back two-out RBI singles to make it 7-3 heading into the final two innings.
SDSU loaded the bases in the eighth after an intentional walk with two outs, but Worthley recorded a three-pitch strikeout to prevent the Jackrabbits from adding to the lead.
Three singles in the ninth loaded the bases for the visitors, before Bellows was hit by pitch to plate the Jackrabbits’ eighth and final run of the night.
Nebraska returns to play this weekend, welcoming Minnesota for a three-game series at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park on Friday-Sunday, April 28-30.