BYU baseball drops series opener 1-0 to Nebraska

In the first game in the post-Mike Littlewood era, BYU baseball lost a 1-0 pitching duel at Nebraska Thursday night, ending the Cougars’ three-game win streak.

Both teams struggled to get any offense going, each going hitless into the seventh inning. 

The turning point in the game came in the bottom of the seventh, when Nebraska catcher Griffin Everett doubled with two outs in the inning and was singled in to score by Nick Wimmers.

Jack Sterner was on the mound for the Cougars, pitching a gem of a game despite the loss. Sterner pitched 6.2 innings, struck out seven Cornhuskers and only gave up three hits and the lone earned run.

As for BYU’s offense, its lone hit came in the seventh inning from Jacob Wilk. The Cougars only tallied three total baserunners for the game. 

Taking the mound for Nebraska was Koty Frank, who only gave up one hit through 6.2 innings pitched and didn’t allow any runs while striking out seven batters.

This was the first game for BYU since the announcement Monday that 10-year head coach Mike Littlewood would be resigning immediately due to personal reasons. Assistant coach Trent Pratt is filling in for the remainder of the season as interim head coach.

BYU came into tonight’s game coming off a three-game sweep of conference foe Santa Clara last weekend in Provo. The loss tonight pushes the team’s record to 17-13 on the season.

The win tonight ends Nebraska’s four game losing streak and puts their record for the season at 13-18.

Both teams will hit the diamond again Friday for a doubleheader, with Ryan Brady slated to take the mound for the Cougars and Shay Schanaman for the Huskers in the first game of the twinbill.