Cougars fall 1-0 to Nebraska in a pitching duel

LINCOLN, Neb. — A two-out RBI single by Nick Wimmers in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Nebraska a 1-0 victory over BYU in game one of a four-game series at Haymarket Park on Thursday. 

“Jack did everything we asked him to do tonight on the mound and gave us a chance to win,” said BYU interim head coach Trent Pratt. “Tip your hat to Nebraska. They got great pitching and found a way to scratch out a run. I thought we hit a lot of balls hard tonight, they just seemed to be right at guys.”

The Cougars (17-13, 6-6) got an outstanding pitching performance from sophomore starter Jack Sterner who went 6.2 innings, surrendering just three hits and one earned run while striking out seven. Sterner and Nebraska starter Koty Frank both had no-hitters going through six innings before leaving the game in the seventh. 

The Cornhuskers (13-18, 4-5) scored the only run of the game in the top of the seventh. After surrendering the first Cornhusker hit of the night on a leadoff single, Sterner got Nebraska third baseman Max Anderson to ground into a double play. With two outs, a double down the right field line and a single to left brought home the only run of the game before Collin Reuter threw out Tyle Palmer trying to steal second base. 

BYU’s best scoring opportunity came in the top of the seventh when Jacob Wilk singled with two outs and Ryan Sepede was hit by a pitch to move Wilk into scoring position, but Austin Deming grounded out to end the threat. 

Wilk had the only hit of the night for the Cougars, while BYU pitchers Sterner and Nate Dahle combined for a three-hitter.  

Games two and three of the series are scheduled for Friday, April 15, at 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., at Haymarket Park. Both games will be broadcast live on the Big 10+ network as well as the BYU Radio Network—BYUcougars.com, BYU Cougars App and 107.9 FM in the local Utah market.