Nebraska baseball, 20th-ranked and the top seed in its regional, was all-in on South Dakota State Friday. Never mind that the Jackrabbits were the fourth seed with a 24-31 record.
Carson Jasa was the Huskers’ starter, and after he threw 92 pitches in 6.1 innings, J’Shawn Unger, Nebraska’s closer, came in to finish what would be a 4-1 victory.
“We knew we would go to him as early as the seventh inning,” Coach Will Bolt said.
And so they did. Never mind the opponent and its losing record.
As it turned out, that was probably the right approach. The Jackrabbits held the Husker offense in check much of the game. Nebraska scored two runs in the fourth, on Trey Fikes’ RBI single and Mac Moyer’s sacrifice fly. South Dakota managed a run in the seventh inning, despite some questionable base running, before the Huskers sealed the deal with eighth inning home runs by Dylan Carey and Jett Buck.
Buck, the left fielder, also threw out a Jackrabbit trying to score on a fly out in the seventh.
“You’ve gotta find different ways to win,” said Bolt.
As mentioned, Jasa was among those ways. He allowed five hits, walked two and struck out eight. He hit a batter leading off the seventh, allowed a single and got an out at home on a bunt before giving way to Unger, who allowed back-to-back singles and a walk before settling in.
Unger retired the final seven batters, including four by strikeout, to earn his 13th save.
Jasa is now 10-2. His objective, “to throw strikes,” he said, crediting the play of those behind him. He also credited Husker fans, who “are amazing. They gave us a lot of juice.”
Official attendance was 7,828, many of whom entered Haymarket Park in a light rain.
Jasa, a sophomore, drew praise from Bolt for the development he’s shown this season. “Unbelievable,” Bolt said. “I’m so proud of him for how far he’s come. He’s always had the ability. He’s worked really hard on the mindset piece of it, first of all, to get himself in the right frame of mind, where he’s never going to lose confidence. Well, how do you do that?
“That goes back to your preparation, knowing who you are as a pitcher, knowing who you are as a young man, and just going and executing day in and day out … I said it before the season, Jasa’s quite possibly going to be the biggest X-factor we’ve ever had, one of ‘em, at Nebraska.”
Carey and Buck led the offense. Carey was 3-for-3, with a walk and the home run, his 15th. Buck was 2-for-4, with a double, two runs scored and his 10th home run.
Jasa got the ball Friday “to set the tone,” said Bolt, “pound the strike zone and get a win.”
Nebraska won on a day when there were upsets in the first round of regional play, including top overall seed UCLA, which lost to St. Mary’s 3-2, and fourth seed Auburn, which lost to Milwaukee 13-8.
If Auburn were to lose again and Nebraska were to win its regional, the Huskers would host a super regional instead of the Tigers. I’m just saying…
Bolt was asked if he’d settled on a starter for Saturday’s game. He would “wait and see how tonight plays (out),” he said, referring to two-seed Ole Miss against three-seed Arizona State. As of this writing, that game, scheduled for 8 p.m., had yet to begin because of a rain delay.
Nebraska will play the winner at 7 p.m. CT Saturday, South Dakota State the loser at 2 p.m.
Anyway, for the time being, Jasa is the focus of Husker pitching. He did “exactly” what Nebraska needed him too do, Bolt said.
