PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Gunner Hellstrom had five hits and two RBIs and Jesse Wilkening was 4 for 6 with a double and a triple as Nebraska crushed Rutgers 12-4 Saturday to snap a three-game losing skid.
Wilkening finished a home run short of the cycle as the Huskers (17-20, 4-8 Big Ten) recorded 19 hits, including five in a five-run first inning.
With two outs in the inning, Hellstrom singled home Jaxon Hallmark, and Scott Schreiber scored on a wild pitch.
Zac Repinski followed with an RBI single to score Hellstrom, and the Huskers picked up two more runs when Carter Cross reached on an error by Rutgers second baseman Kevin Welsh.
After the Scarlet Knights (20-15, 5-6) scored in the bottom of the inning, Luke Roskam drove in Wilkening in the second, and Wilkening followed with a two-run single in the third.
Repinski, who finished 3 for 5 with two RBIs and three runs scored, tacked on a solo home run in the fourth, extending the Huskers’ lead to 9-1. NU scored in all but two innings on the day.
Matt Waldron (4-2) allowed two earned runs and struck out seven in six innings, while his brother, Mike Waldron, allowed one run in three innings to earn his first save.
Wilkening raised his average to .331 on the season with 39 RBIs, while Matt Waldron lowered his ERA to 3.80. He also improved to 3-1 in five starts in conference play.
The Huskers led 10-3 in the seventh when Wilkening tripled and scored on an RBI single by Hellstrom.
After losing 4-2 to the Scarlet Knights on Friday, the Huskers will go for the series win on Sunday at 11 a.m. on KNCY 1600 AM, 105.5 FM in Nebraska City.
