Carson Jasa was Nebraska baseball’s starting pitcher at Kansas State late last March in Manhattan, giving up eight runs in one inning, on four hits, three walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch.
Only three of the runs were earned, nevertheless…
“I remember it sucked, so I owe ‘em one,” Jasa said Wednesday. “If they’re scouting me off of last year, they’re gonna have the wrong thing coming.”
Those comments were the result of his being the scheduled starter against Kansas State Saturday in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Global Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
But that’s the Huskers’ second game there, so let’s back-track. Nebraska opens play Friday against Louisville and finishes against Florida State Sunday. Coach Will Bolt was asked what he knew about the teams. His focus is on Louisville, right now. But all three teams had something in common.
“Louisville, their aspiration is to win a national championship, just like the other two teams,” he said.
The Cardinals, 2-2, are coming off a 23-11 victory against Xavier Tuesday.
Ty Horn will start the Louisville game, Gavin Blachowicz Sunday’s game against Florida State. It’s the same rotation that started the first three games, all wins, last weekend in Arizona.
Cooper Katskee, who was originally slated to start the third game in Arizona, was held out for health issues. He’ll be available this weekend, said Bolt. “He’s in a good spot.”
So is Nebraska, despite the 11-6 loss to Stanford Monday in Arizona, based on what he saw, said Joshua Overbeek, who played third base and batted fourth in all four games.
“Buying into an offense and an identity that we have, it’s just a blessing to see what happens when you go out there and you execute, play for your team and not for yourself,” he said.
Overbeek hit .471 and drove in a team-high seven runs. Jett Buck also batted .471, and drove in four runs. Case Sanderson batted .500, Will Jesske .462 and Dylan Carey .450.Those five all had 13 or more official at-bats. Mac Moyer had only seven official at-bats, with five hits. Do the math, .714. Cole Kitchens hit .333 and drove in six runs, as did Carey.
And Jesske hit two home runs, Carey one.
Jasa earned a pitching victory, as did relievers Chase Olson and Caleb Clark. Olson didn’t allow an earned run in 1.1 innings. He was among seven relievers who didn’t allow a run. Olson, a redshirt freshman left-hander, “has really made a move, particularly in the last four weeks,” Bolt said. “We’ve seen him kinda make that move, and he’s kind of given our hitters some fits (in practice) the last four weeks.”
Bolt made it a point to compliment all the young relievers.
“Win or lose the first weekend, every weekend you play, you find something out,” said Bolt. “I think that first week kinda gives you an indication like, ‘OK, this is the parts we thought we had; they showed up’ . . . Maybe the personality of the team more than anything, too — we thought we had a group of guys that were going to play at, have the intensity level that it takes to win, and all those things showed up the first weekend. But we’ve just got to keep it up.”
Jasa plans to keep it up Saturday in his rematch with Kansas State.
“It’s electric, seeing him fill up the (strike) zone with multiple pitches,” Oerbeek said. “It just makes it so much more fun to go out there, make a play for him … just give it all to him.”
Jasa struck out nine, including seven in a row after giving up three runs.
But first on the mound Friday, it’s Horn, who gave up just one run in 4.2 innings.
Friday’s game is slated for a 3 p.m. CT start, Saturday’s 7 p.m., Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. Kansas State goes in 4-0, Florida State 3-0. The games will be streamed on FloBaseball.
