Coming off a Big Ten championship in 2025, the Nebraska baseball team has high hopes in 2026, according to junior first baseman Case Sanderson.
“Our team goals are to make it to Omaha and host the regional,” Sanderson said Monday afternoon. “That’s always been our goal, and as that goal, we have very high expectations and priorities in keeping that standard to the level it’s supposed to be. That means showing up every day and doing what it takes to just go display that, work hard and just make the most of each day.”
The Huskers officially began spring practice on Monday, under a sunny sky with temperatures landing in the mid 50s, making it an ideal day to start preparation.
“The weather doesn’t get much better than this this time of year,” said redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Cooper Katskee. ” I think we’re all pretty fired up. The boys were itching to get back on the field over winter break, so it’s going to be a good year.”
In 2025, the NCAA passed a new rule allowing teams to start preseason practice 35 days before their first game, after previously letting them begin 21 days ahead of the season. Nebraska head coach Will Bolt said he’s helping his team adapt to the changes that went into effect on Aug. 1, 2025.
“I think it will be new for us just in terms of figuring out, all right, how hard to push this early, just in terms of their legs,” Bolt said. “We’ve talked ad nauseam before everybody left about, ‘Hey, it’s going to be a little different this year, we don’t have two weeks to kind of ramp up before we really get going.’ So, it will be interesting, but I think from a pitching standpoint, I think it will be great to have just our hands on them for a little bit longer, and hopefully what is a few more real live game situations.”
Katskee said the earlier practices are very beneficial after having to wait in prior years.
“Any extra time that you can get, especially with the guys, kind of getting acclimated coming back from winter break, to just get in the flow of things, it makes a world of a difference,” Katskee said. “Especially stepping into that first series in Arizona.”
Going into the 2026 season, Bolt provided some key injury updates. Senior third baseman Joshua Overbeek is good to go after suffering a foot injury late last season and undergoing surgery, while sophomore right-handed pitcher Blake Encarnacion is working his way back from Tommy John offseason surgery.
With 22 new faces this season, Bolt is looking to some of his older, more experienced players to guide the team after winning back-to-back Big Ten championships in 2024 and 2025.
“The best teams are player-led, and you have to have those guys in your organization that really buy into the process, honestly is what it takes,” Bolt said. “You can’t be great before you’re good. You’ve got to be consistently good, and these guys have bought into that.”
Sanderson echoed the sentiment.
“A lot of guys have bought into this culture,” Sanderson said. “We’ve got a lot of good camaraderie, a lot of trust, a lot of confidence in our guys out there. I think this fall has really shown what guys can do, and it’s really just shown as a team that we are capable of beating anybody who steps on the field with us.”
For now, the Huskers will continue to prepare for their season opener while getting everyone on board.
“I think the thing we have to continue to impress upon the newcomers is that you don’t just fast forward the season and get to that point,” Bolt said. “The process is the process. We have to be consistently good in the next four weeks to give ourselves a chance. Again, this schedule this year is no easier than last year’s schedule. It’s just as daunting and difficult, so it’s going to come down to those five games. We talk about that all the time. If we can be consistently good here over the course of the next four weeks, then we’ve got a shot to get off to a good start.”
Nebraska opens its season against UConn at the MLB Desert Invitational in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Feb. 13.
