Nebraska dropped into the losers' bracket at its regional Saturday after suffering a 3-2 defeat to UC Irvine at Haymarket Park.
The Huskers, 41-15-1, now must beat Oral Roberts in Sunday's 1 p.m. game, then beat UC Irvine twice to advance to the super regional round. Nebraska would need a win Sunday against the Anteaters, then beat them again Monday to make it to the next stage of the tournament.
Johnny Dorn pitched well in a losing effort, but it was one mistake that wound up being the difference -- a solo homer by Ollie Linton in the sixth that broke a 2-2 tie. Other than that, Dorn was solid, allowing three runs on 11 hits in eight innings of work.
The Anteaters scored first in the second on an RBI double by Eric Deragisch. Nebraska bounced back with two in the third, coming off the bat of Jake Opitz. Opitz hit his third homer of the regional, a blast to right that gave the Huskers a 2-1 edge.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the third when Jeff Cusick singled home Linton to tie the game at 2-2. Both Dorn and UC Irvine pitcher Daniel Bibona settled into a solid pitcher's battle that was ultimately decided by Linton's blast.
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