Nebraska scored 18 runs over the final three innings and rolled to a 21-6 win over UC Riverside in the 2019 season opener for both teams Friday in the suburbs of Los Angeles.
The Huskers' 21 runs were their most in a season opener since putting 23 on New Mexico State in 1996, and the fourth-most in the 130-year history of the program.
Not bad for a team that didn't practice outside at all this preseason before traveling to California.
"I figured there would be some defense in there that would be a little tough, and that was the case," Nebraska coach Darin Erstad said on the Husker Sports Radio Network. "And with Chad (Luensmann) on the mound never having started and trying to find his way through it, there were going to be some ups and downs.
"But like I've said from Day 1, we have a team that fights. This team isn't going anywhere, and they're going to be annoying to face."
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Nebraska (1-0) trailed 5-3 going to the seventh inning before scoring six runs with two outs in the frame. The Huskers tacked on seven more in the eighth and five in the ninth to blow the game open.
Sophomore Jaxon Hallmark led the Nebraska offense with a career night, going 4-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored. The big night was somewhat unexpected. Hallmark has battled a wrist injury most of the fall and winter after getting hit by a pitch in summer ball, and was struggling to find his swing in preseason workouts.
"I can tell you this much: He saw the ball a lot better outside than he did inside," Erstad said. "He's been working really hard just to get his swing feeling good the last few weeks and hasn't really shown well. But boy, the lights turned on and he really delivered."
In all, 10 Huskers had at least one hit. Mojo Hagge came off the bench for three hits.
The Huskers also got a strong performance on the mound from Lincoln Southeast product Connor Curry.Â
The sophomore left-hander, who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, gave the Huskers four innings of scoreless baseball in relief of Luensmann.
Luensmann, a junior, was also making his first appearance in more than a year after recovering from his own Tommy John surgery. Riverside scored five of its six runs off Luensmann, though all five were unearned.
The Huskers started three freshmen, three sophomores and four total newcomers, and threw two pitchers who missed all of last season.
The newness didn't show itself early on as NU took a 3-0 lead after three innings. Freshmen Spencer Schwellenbach was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Nebraska's first run of the season, and another freshman, Cam Chick delivered a sacrifice fly in the top of the third to put the Huskers up 2-0 before Hallmark delivered the first of his RBIs shortly after.
Riverside scored a pair of unearned runs with two outs in the bottom of the third, and tacked on three more in the fourth thanks to two more Husker errors.
But it was all Nebraska after that. Curry settled in, and Ben Klenke pitched the final two innings to close it out.
The teams are scheduled for a doubleheader Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.