No. 10 Texas drops pitcher’s duel at No. 30 Nebraska, 3-1

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LINCOLN, Neb. -- For four innings starting pitchers Parker French and Chance Sinclair took turns mowing down opposing  batters, but Nebraska broke through with a three-run fifth inning to propel the No. 30 Cornhuskers to a 3-1 victory over No. 10 Texas Friday night at Hawks Field.

Sinclair, a senior right-hander, kept Texas hitless until Zane Gurwitz singled up the middle in the sixth inning. He allowed just two hits and a run in 7 2/3 innings work, striking out six and walking two.

French cruised through the first four innings, retiring 11 straight between a leadoff single in the first and a two-out base knock in the fourth. The senior right-hander struck out three and threw just 37 pitches in the first four frames, but ran into trouble in the fifth.

Nebraska (19-7) used five hits – three of them not leaving the infield – to take a 3-0 advantage. After a leadoff single up the middle that second baseman Brooks Marlow snagged but had no play on, Austin Christensen doubled and Elijah Dilday delivered a RBI single just above the outstretched glove of shortstop C.J Hinojosa.

Another single, this time on a bunt, and a RBI groundout made it 2-0 before Nebraska’s fifth hit of the inning increased the lead to 3-0. Lefty reliever Ty Culbreth came on and prevented further damage by inducing a 6-3 double play on the second pitch he threw.

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Culbreth (1 2/3 IP) and lefty Travis Duke (2 IP) kept Texas within striking distance by combining to allow just one base runner.

The Longhorns (17-9) got on the scoreboard in the eighth, when Bret Boswell drew a leadoff walk, Michael Cantu followed with a single and Gurwitz lifted a RBI sac fly a batter later. Texas, though, wasn’t able to get any closer as Nebraska reliever Colton Howell came on to record the final out of the inning and strand a man on second.

Sinclair, who retired the side in order five times, picked up the win to improve to 4-3. Josh Roeder worked around a double by Collin Shaw in the ninth for his eighth save of the season, while French (2-2) took the loss.

The Longhorns and Cornhuskers play game two of the series at 2:05 p.m. Saturday.

Brian Kendall

Part-time journalist turned full-time blogger, Brian is an online staff writer at Horns Illustrated and serves as senior staff writer for digital marketing agency Speak Social. Brian currently resides in Austin and you can read his blog at the following address: briankendall.wordpress.com

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