Lincoln — First Nebraska showed it could rally, then it showed its power.
The No. 20th-ranked Huskers erased a four-run deficit for a 5-4 win in eight innings against Northwestern before a five-inning 14-1 victory to complete the sweep Friday at Bowlin Stadium in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
In the first game, the Wildcats jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning thanks to a pair of two-out, two-run hits from Kristin Scharkey and Mari Majam. The runs snapped Tatum Edwards’ streak of 3323 innings without allowing an earned run. But the junior settled down from there, allowing one hit in the next six innings.
Meanwhile, the Huskers chipped away at the lead by scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth and then tying the game in the sixth on Mattie Fowler’s two-run homer.
In the bottom of the eighth, Fowler drew a leadoff walk. A one-out walk to Alicia Armstrong and a two-out walk to Gabby Banda loaded the bases for Taylor Edwards. Edwards was then hit by a 1-0 pitch to score Fowler with the winning run.
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In the nightcap, the Huskers produced their season-high run total — and their second most in a conference game — thanks to big first and third innings.
Nebraska went up 8-0 in the first, highlighted by Fowler’s two-run single. NU added six runs in the third to cap the scoring as five Huskers produced at least two hits.
The teams hope to play game three on either Saturday or Sunday. An announcement on the game will be posted on Huskers.com on Saturday morning.
Northwestern ........................... 040 000 00—4 5 0
At Nebraska ........................... 000 202 01—5 4 0
W: Tat. Edwards, 14-4. L: Letourneau, 8-7. 2B: Neb., Tat. Edwards 2 (6). 3B: Nor., Majam (2). HR: Neb., Fowler (2).
Northwestern (14-12, 0-2) ........................... 001 00—1 5 1
At Nebraska (22-6, 2-0) ........................... 806 0x— 14 11 1
W: Lockman, 8-2. L: Lamberth, 6-4. 2B: Neb., Banda (4), Decker (5).
