Sanderson's Walk-Off Blast Lifts Huskers in Extras

Case Sanderson’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted Nebraska to a 5-4 win against Michigan State in the Big Ten opener on Friday evening at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

Nebraska (8-5, 1-0) scored five runs on 13 hits, while Michigan State (3-9, 0-1) totaled four runs, 10 hits and two errors.

Sanderson led the Big Red with a 3-for-5 performance, a double, home run and an RBI. Jeter Worthley was 3-for-4 with a run scored, and Jett Buck went 2-for-3 with a solo homer and two runs scored. Rhett Stokes drove in a run on a single, and Devin Nunez and Mac Moyer each had an RBI.

Ty Horn tossed seven strong innings, allowing one run on five hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Kevin Mannell was tagged for three runs in the ninth, while J’Shawn Unger came on to deliver two scoreless innings and earned his second win of the season.

Nebraska broke through in the second inning with a pair of singles. Buck singled to shortstop and stole second, while Nunez’s RBI single to right field brought home Buck to give the Big Red its 1-0 advantage.

Michigan State tied it in the fifth when a single and wild pitch had a runner on second, before an RBI single to right made it a 1-1 game.

Buck answered with a solo shot to right field in the bottom of the sixth to put Nebraska back in front at 2-1. In the seventh, Worthley singled and reached second on a throwing error by the shortstop, setting the table for Moyer’s RBI single to center that pushed the lead to 3-1.

Stokes singled home Sanderson in the eighth after Sanderson had doubled to left, extending the lead to 4-1 heading to the ninth.

The Big Red ran into trouble in the ninth, however, as a leadoff walk and single led to a three-run homer that evened the score at four. Unger came on and stranded the go-ahead run at third to send the game tied at four into the bottom of the ninth.

The Husker offense was retired in order in the bottom of the ninth, before Unger worked around a one-out double and stranded the go-ahead run at third for the second consecutive inning in the top of the 10th.

Down to the final out in the bottom of the 10th, Sanderson blasted a 2-1 pitch down the right-field line for a 416-foot walk-off homer to give the Huskers a 5-4 victory.

Nebraska and Michigan State continue the weekend series tomorrow afternoon at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park. First pitch between the Big Red and Spartans is set for 1 p.m. on B1G+.