Huskers Trounce No. 12 USC in Seven Innings

Carson Jasa recorded his second complete-game start and the Husker offense slugged three homers in the third inning, as Nebraska run-ruled No. 12 USC 12-2 in seven innings in front of a season-high crowd of 7,602 on Saturday afternoon at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

Saturday’s attendance of 7,602 ranks 25th all-time in ballpark history and is the second-largest crowd in the Big Ten era, trailing a crowd of 7,650 in a doubleheader against Michigan on May 29, 2021.

Nebraska (30-9, 14-3 Big Ten) scored 12 runs on 12 hits and one error, while USC (30-10, 13-7 Big Ten) tallied two runs on five hits and two errors.

Drew Grego finished 3-for-4 and a triple shy of the cycle with a double, a home run and four runs driven in to pace the offense. Dylan Carey was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a home run, and Case Sanderson homered and drove in three runs on a 2-for-4 afternoon. Jett Buck doubled and scored three times, and Mac Moyer, Joshua Overbeek and Trey Fikes tallied a hit apiece.

Jasa was dominant on the mound, going the distance in the seven-inning game to improve to 7-1. He allowed just two runs, one earned, on five hits with seven strikeouts and only two walks.

Nebraska wasted no time, sending eight batters to the plate and scoring four runs in the first inning. Sanderson grounded out to score Moyer, and Buck doubled home Carey before Grego doubled to right-center to plate Buck. Overbeek added a run-scoring single through the right side to cap a four-run first.

The Huskers poured it on in the third with three more runs on three solo homers. Sanderson and Carey led off the inning with back-to-back solo blasts, and Grego drilled the first pitch he saw into the berm in left field to give the Big Red a seven-run lead.

Nebraska added two more in the fifth when Grego singled to left scored Carey and Buck, who had each stolen bases to set up the big hit, extending the advantage to 9-0.

USC plated its two runs behind three hits and an error in the top of the seventh to make it a 10-2. A one-out solo homer to center scored their first run of the afternoon, while an NU fielding error after a pair of hits allowed the Trojans to score a second run in the inning.

The Big Red answered immediately with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to clinch the series with 12-2 run-rule victory. Buck and Stokes reached on walks to put runners on first and second, setting up Fikes’ RBI single to left that brought home Buck and allowed Stokes to score on a fielding error.

Nebraska and No. 12 USC conclude the series tomorrow afternoon at 12:02 p.m. at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.