Never mind the opponent, that Nebraska’s 11-1 win against North Dakota State Wednesday dropped the Bison to 2-14 or that this weekend’s opponent for three games at Haymarket Park, Maine, is 2-13.
A win is a win, and the Huskers, 11-5 with six consecutive wins, aren’t looking past the Black Bears, even though they’ve lost 10 in a row. It’ll be all-hands-on-deck, as it was Wednesday, you might say.
Cooper Katskee was the starting and winning pitcher, as he was last Tuesday, when Nebraska defeated Omaha. He pitched six innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs and striking out 10, without a walk against Omaha. Then he pitched in relief against Michigan State Saturday, two hitless innings, with two strikeouts and a walk, to earn the save. And Wednesday he earned his second win, starting and pitching five innings, allowing two hits and one run, while striking out eight and walking one.
It was a near flawless performance, except that it began with a home run on the first pitch of the game. Then Katskee retired the next nine batters, before the walk (picked off). His second hit was a double to lead off the sixth inning, after which Caleb Clark came on to strike out the next three.
Katskee threw just 67 pitches.
“The first pitch of the game goes out of the park and he just keeps throwing the ball over the plate,” Coach Will Bolt said. “And he really helps the offense and the defense because he works fast and throws strikes. The defense stays on their toes, and then we can keep the momentum in our dugout (offensively) because there’s not a bunch of 20-pitch innings out there.”
As was the case last week, though Bolt had indicated otherwise, Katskee will likely be available in relief this weekend. “We’ll just kind of see how it plays out,” said Bolt.
“It’s good to feel like we have four guys that are capable of starting.”
He was including the weekend starting rotation: Ty Horn, Carson Jasa and Gavin Blachowicz.
Katskee is “comfortable doing both,” Bolt said, starting and relieving. “Obviously, he bounces back well.”
OK, back to the game …
An oddity that helped keep the offense moving was six hit-by-pitches thrown by North Dakota State’s pitchers. Not a record though. Bolt said he was told Nebraska had seven HBPs in a 2024 game.
Three occurred in Wednesday’s second inning, as the Huskers sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs. Jett Buck had a two-run double, and Mac Moyer, Dylan Carey, Case Sanderson and Preston Freeman also drove in runs, Carey on a bases-loaded walk, Freeman on a ground out.
Buck doubled in the 11th run with one out in the bottom of the seventh — reaching the 10-run rule. He was 3-for-3, and was the first Husker to be hit by a pitch. Moyer was 3-for-4, with three runs scored.
Moyer now leads the team with a .444 batting average.
“It’s not that easy the way he’s making it look,” Bolt said.
Teams that play Moyer, a left-handed hitter, to pull the ball can be surprised.
“I mean, that’s a hard thing to do, to hit the 105 mile-per-hour line drive to left,” said Bolt. “He’s just setting the table, trusting his approach, and he’s got a really good swing. He’s got a great approach going.”
What have the Huskers learned during their six-game winning streak?
“The level of focus needed to beat people,” Bolt said. “And it’s … in these type games, the mid-week, showing up and playing our game, not the elements (weather) or anything else, just the type of game we need to play to win. Throw strikes, that’s where it starts, and just be relentless, one through nine in the lineup.”
Regardless of the opposition.
