Nebraska baseball has been here before, right? The Huskers have built some momentum, only to see it diminish during a weekend Big Ten series, which is why they’re 5-10 in conference play and tied for 13th. Minnesota and Purdue also are 5-10.
And remember, only the top 12 qualify for the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha. So Nebraska needs to maintain its momentum in the five remaining conference series, 15 games.
The Huskers’ momentum is a result of a 6-4 victory against Iowa Sunday and a 6-3 victory against Creighton Tuesday night in Omaha. They have struggled against Creighton of late, so the victory, which included Dylan Carey going 3-for-3 with two doubles and two runs-batted-in, was significant leading into a weekend series against Northwestern at Haymarket Park.
Northwestern is 10th in the Big Ten, with a 7-8 conference record. The Wildcats are 16-18 overall and have lost their last three games, including 27-11 to Northern Illinois Tuesday.
“Obviously, we still need to put together a stretch of consecutive wins here,” Coach Will Bolt said before Thursday’s practice. “Have we played better at times? Yes. Obviously, your momentum comes from the next day’s pitcher. So we’ve done a better job here of late.”
Reliever Tucker Timmerman’s return influencing that is “no coincidence,” said Bolt.
The sophomore right-hander, sidelined by a facial injury suffered in a Feb. 15 appearance against Vanderbilt until a successful relief appearance at Iowa Sunday, was a significant Bolt subject Thursday. Having him back is “huge because just the attitude he brings to the park every day is infectious, him in the dugout and then just when he takes to the mound, he’s a bulldog,” Bolt said.
Bolt also described senior right-hander Drew Christo as a “bulldog” out of the bullpen. “He’s been awesome,” said Bolt. “But we need three, four, five guys that are showing the way for those young guys. It’s really important for a guy like Tucker because he’s just one of those guys that everybody really respects, because he’s awesome in the weight room, with his nutrition, in every area of his life.
“So the more the better that we have of those guys.”
The Huskers used six pitchers against Creighton Tuesday night — Timmerman didn’t make the short trip to Omaha because of the flu. Freshman right-hander Pryce Bender earned the victory and junior right-hander Luke Broderick got his Big Ten-best eighth save.
Carey’s three hits were among 12 by Nebraska against eight Creighton pitchers. He raised his batting average to .290 and has a team-high 31 runs-batted-in.
Case Sanderson and Joshua Overbeek had two hits each. Sanderson leads Nebraska with a .307 batting average. Devin Nunez, who didn’t play, is hitting .300.
The Huskers are batting .263 as a team, comparable to Northwestern’s .259. But Wildcat pitchers have a combined earned-run average of 7.46; Nebraska’s ERA is 5.63.
Freshman right-hander Matthew Kouser has 10 starts for the Wildcats, with a 3-3 record and 5.72 ERA. Right-hander Sam Hliboki, the scheduled starter Friday night, and left-hander Crawford Wade, both grad students, have seven starts each. Hliboki is 2-2 with a 4.08 ERA, Wade, 3-4 with a 5.40 ERA.
Will Walsh has stepped in as Nebraska’s Friday-night starter, following the loss of Mason McConnaughey. At times, however, Saturday and Sunday starters, Ty Horn and Jackson Brockett, have had problems getting through five innings, the standard. But as the season has gone on, the young pitchers in the bullpen have started to earn more confidence from Bolt and his staff.
“Again, having a guy like Tuck back and having some of these freshmen start to get a little confidence, I think, helps your decision-making in going to the pen a little earlier at times,” Bolt said. “If Will can go six or seven (innings) that sets up the rest of the pen.”
As mentioned earlier, Nebraska faces must-wins if it’s to make the Big Ten Tournament.
“It’s important to find that consistency we haven’t really found in terms of putting together three, four, five games in a row,” said Bolt. “You’re pitching well, hitting well and you’re playing good defense, and so we did that very, very well in all three phases on Tuesday … We know that doesn’t guarantee anything for Friday. You really just show up and try to do the same thing.”
