Larry the Cable Guy would say, “Git-R-Done.” And Nebraska baseball did.
Coach Will Bolt would say, “Gritty beats pretty.” Which it did, and not just Sunday.
“Oh man, tell me about it. That was not a lot … very sweet about anything we did offensively this weekend, except we put the ball in play with two strikes quite often, we got some runs on some good base-running plays, with the infield in, and yeah, just what it took to win,” Bolt said following Nebraska’s series-winning 8-3 victory against Minnesota before 5,602 at Haymarket Park Sunday.
“We’ve lost and looked better. We’ll take a win any time we can get it.”
Lost and looked better? Even though Golden Gopher starter, Austin Thornsteinson had a 2-3 record and 7.59 earned-run average, Nebraska managed only five hits, four of them singles, through 5 2/3 innings. But his afternoon ended with two outs in the sixth, when Dylan Carey hit a home run.
A no-doubt home run to left, it should be noted, cutting Minnesota’s lead to 2-0. “I think that kind of got us ignited a little bit,” said Bolt. “We just didn’t give this big crowd much to cheer for until we hit that home run … told our dugout it’s our job to just continue to stay behind our guys.”
Still, Thornsteinson had been effective. And the Golden Gophers did respond with a run in the seventh. Grant Cleavinger, Nebraska’s fourth of six relievers after starter Jackson Brockett gave up five hits and two runs in 4 2/3 innings, contributed to a “huge momentum swing,” Bolt said.
After Minnesota’s run in the seventh, Cleavinger came on with two baserunners and one out. He struck out the first batter he faced and got the second on a fly to right.
Then the Huskers “got-r-done,” by scoring three runs in the seventh and four in the eighth, with Gabe Swansen and Case Sanderson each driving in two.
Nebraska benefitted from three walks and a wild pitch by four Minnesota relievers.
It was the type of offensive assault predicted by Ty Horn, who went the first six innings Saturday before giving way to Tucker Timmerman, the winner in the 5-4 victory. Robby Bolin had a walk-off single in the ninth. In case you forgot, the Huskers lost Friday night’s 10-inning game, 6-4.
Anyway, Horn was pumped after Saturday’s win. “Coach talked to us and … that’s not who we are (Friday). We’re a lot better than that team. And I think tomorrow it’s going to show,” he said. “They brought four guys in today that they pitched yesterday, which is a bad look for a team.
“They’re not going to throw again tomorrow.”
He was referring to four relievers who pitched Friday and Saturday. He was wrong, one did Sunday.
“So I think it should be a domination game, pretty much,” Horn said.
It wasn’t for seven innings, offensively anyway.
Defensively? Well, for example, third baseman Joshua Overbeek caught a foul ball with two on and two out in the eighth inning Bolt described as “unbelievable. I can’t wait to see the replay on that,” said Bolt. “He played awesome third base all weekend long.”
With the weekend victories, Nebraska is .500 overall (24-24), including 11-13 in the Big Ten, which puts the Huskers alone in 11th place. Creighton is next up on Tuesday at Haymarket Park, followed by a weekend conference series against Michigan, the final regular-season home games.
With the series win the Huskers went 3-1 last week, including a 7-6 win against Kansas State Tuesday. “This was a big week,” said Bolt. “All the games could’ve gone either way. It just shows the resilience of this group. They’re going to continue to fight, no matter what.
“We just gotta take care of business Tuesday and then keep winning series in the league.”
Get it done, any way they can.
- Total attendance for the weekend was 17,543, with a season-high 6,785 Saturday.
- Max Buettenback, who has been hitting in the third spot, suffered an injury that sidelined him Saturday and Sunday and Bolt wasn’t sure of his availability for Tuesday.
