Darin Erstad had one word for Nebraska’s performance following the Huskers’ 5-2 loss to Creighton on Tuesday night: lethargic. He felt that was the case from the get-go.
“I take a lot of pride in helping our guys get to the same spot every day and I didn’t do my job today,” Erstad said. “I wasn’t able to help them get there. It was a very lethargic performance and it’s on me.”
Erstad also felt sophomore pitcher Matt Waldron looked lethargic. He threw for 4.0 innings during his sixth start of the season. The Bluejays scored three runs (with one earned) while Waldron was on the mound.
Nebraska still had plenty of chances to get back in the game though. Even in the top of the ninth inning when the Huskers trailed with two outs, Erstad felt confident his players could pull it off.
“I always feel confident with our guys regardless,” Erstad said. “We’re down three with two outs and I’m still thinking we’re going to come back. That’s just the mindset you have to have.”
Creighton got out to an early lead in the first inning, scoring on a two-out single to center. The Bluejays scored another two in the third inning, which included a run as a result of an error in the infield. Nebraska later responded in the sixth inning with two runs but that would be it for the Huskers. Creighton added two insurance runs in the eighth inning and Nebraska never recovered.
Erstad once again found himself disappointed in Nebraska’s hitting. While the team was aggressive in some ways, it wasn’t the type of aggression Erstad was looking for.
“I’m fine if they’re aggressive but it’s out of control and out of hand aggressive,” Erstad said. “Again, I’m the hitting coach and we haven’t hit and I’ve got to figure it out quickly because it’s not good right now. It’s very inconsistent. Our approach, which we do a lot of stuff with, I haven’t been able to get the message across and that’s on me. I have to get better at my job.”
Nebraska now has two days to prepare before making the trip to Minnesota. Senior Ben Miller knows the Huskers have to shake off the loss to Creighton before the weekend series, but he also doesn’t want to forget too quickly.
“Flushing it is important but we don’t want to forget about it, that’s for sure,” Miller said. “We want to learn from it and bring it every day because there’s not much time left for hiccups like this. From here on out, it’s getting pretty tough so we need to play our best every day and bring a lot of energy and bring it every day.”
Erstad plans to use the time between now and Friday’s game to hopefully find some answers. In addition to improving Nebraska’s hitting, he would also like to eliminate the minor errors that add up. Creighton took advantage of those errors and Erstad knows a team like Minnesota will too.
“I’ve got to find a way to get to them pretty quickly here because like Benny said, we don’t have any rooms for hiccups,” Erstad said.
Nebraska heads to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a three-game series this weekend with the Gophers. The first game is set for Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
