Around the Horn: Nebraska baseball faces key Big Ten road test at Michigan

Nebraska baseball (16-9-1) is away from Haymarket Park yet again this weekend for its first Big Ten road series of the year at Michigan (16-12).

This is the first of seven consecutive Big Ten weekends for the Huskers, four of which are on the road. Nebraska faces a Michigan team that has won seven of its last eight games under first-year head coach Tracy Smith.

Here’s more on the matchup including details on Smith, Wolverines to watch, Husker notes and how the Big Ten is shaping up entering the third month of the season.

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Projecting the pitching

Friday, 3:00 p.m., LHP Emmett Olson (5-1, 3.37 ERA, 42.2, 44 K) vs. LHP Connor O’Halloran (5-1, 2.09 ERA, 47.1 IP, 59 K)

Saturday, 1:00 p.m., RHP Jace Kaminska (5-1, 2.77 ERA, 39 IP, 23 K) vs. RHP Chase Allen (3-2, 5.11 ERA, 37.0 IP, 34 K)

Sunday, 11:00 a.m., LHP Will Walsh (1-1, 2.87 ERA, 15.2 IP, 17 K) Vs. TBD

What to watch for the Huskers

A chance to prove something

Nebraska has a golden opportunity this weekend.

This is one of two road series the Huskers need to win if they wish to solidify themselves in the Big Ten race. The other is a visit to Iowa in two weeks. Michigan is 5-1 in conference play with a sweep of Penn State and a series with over Illinois last week.

The Wolverines are a perennial conference power that has finished outside the top three in the Big Ten standings just once since 2017. Michigan checks in at No. 67 in the RPI and owns a 3-4 record against Quad 1 foes. The Wolverines faced an intense nonconference schedule including a week in which they faced No. 23 UCLA, then-No. 10 TCU, No. 22 Texas Tech and No. 18 Louisville in a five-day span.

With a series win or sweep, the Huskers can officially put the rest of the league on notice.

Walsh steps into the Sunday role

The tale of Will Walsh is one defined by adversity and resilience. The redshirt sophomore from Leawood, Kansas, has recovered from Tommy John surgery, had a hamate bone removed, repaired his labrum and worked back from an MCL injury.

Walsh finally started to feel like himself again this past summer when he won MINK player of the year and hit .331 driving in 48 RBIs with the Clarinda A’s.

Now he has a chance to write a new chapter in his story as Nebraska’s Sunday starter. It’s the Huskers’ most gaping hole. No Nebraska Sunday starter has lasted longer than 4.1 innings and in total such pitchers have a combined ERA of 20.65.

Walsh hopes to buck that trend after lasting seven innings and striking out 11 in his last start.

As it happens, Michigan has also struggled mightily to lock down a third starter. Four different Wolverines have started the final game of a three-game set. There the longest outing belongs to Noah Rennard and his 5.2 inning start against Penn State two weeks ago. Michigan starters have combined for a 5.01 ERA in weekend finales and the Wolverines are 3-3 in those games surrendering 5.5 runs on average.

Walsh could very well get a shot at winning the series for Nebraska on Sunday. If the Huskers want to make a serious run at the postseason they need him to deliver once again.

Anderson at the top of his game

Brice Matthews was the subject of attention last week. But considering Will Bolt’s, “Our dudes are being dudes,” comment after the win over Kansas State, it seemed more than fair to look at Max Anderson, too.

First off, each is hitting above .400. Nebraska is one of three teams in the country with multiple starters hitting at or above that mark. The others are No. 3 Florida and Georgia.

Anderson has been on a tear all season long but he’s taken it to another level of late. He has multiple hits in four of his last five games and has homered in three consecutive contests. Anderson posted multi-hit games in 16 of 26 opportunities thus far and three hits in six games.

Following a start to the year where he smashed a single home run in 16 games, Anderson owns eight jacks in his last 10 games. He leads the team with nine blasts and Matthews is nipping closely at his heals with eight home runs.

Nebraska baseball notes

***Nebraska holds a 17-15 edge in the all-time series with Michigan. The Wolverines triumphed in Lincoln last year shrugging off a Husker win on Friday night to claim the last two games of the series.

***Anderson and Matthews have a shot to cross the double digit home run territory this weekend. Nebraska’s top home run slugger has finished with 10 long bombs in the last two years. Scott Schreiber’s 18 blasts in 2018 was the last time a Husker went beyond 10 home runs. The last duo to hit 10 or more homers was Adam Bailey and Cody Asche in 2010.

***Nebraska’s bullpen has not allowed a run in the last 18.1 innings. Opponents are hitting .177 in that stretch and the Husker arms have struck out 25 batters while issuing just eight walks. Shay Schanaman (7.0 IP), Jake Bunz (4.1IP) and Corbin Hawkins (3.1 IP) have received the most action of late.

***Casey Burnham’s .472 on-base percentage is second on the team. Matthews is the only Husker with a better number in that category (.492) and has Burnham to thank for plenty of his 41 RBIs.

***The Huskers have scored first in 18-of-26 games this year. Nebraska is 14-4-1 in those games.

Know the foe: Michigan

***Coach Smith is off to a solid start in Ann Arbor. He arrived at Michigan with 25 years of coaching experience where his most recent stop was Arizona State. Smith spent seven seasons with the Sun Devils in which he went 201-155. Overall he is 821-624-1 as a head coach.

***Connor O’Halloran tops the Big Ten in ERA, strikeouts and is tied with Jace Kaminska and Emmett Olson for the league lead in wins with five. His ERA is 39th nationally entering the weekend.

***Mitch Voit is in the midst of a strong 10-game stretch. The freshman infielder from Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, is hitting a mean .389 with 14 RBIs in that span. Voit has homered three times in the last four games.

***Nebraska has not visited Ann Arbor since 2016. The result? A series sweep at the hands of the Wolverines. The Huskers have not beaten Michigan on the road in nine years (2014).

***Player to watch: Johnathan Kim

Kim is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the week and is coming off a weekend in which he went 9-of-16 against Illinois with five RBIs. He is the third different Michigan freshman to earn the award this season marking only the second time that has occurred in program history. Overall, Kim is hitting .456 in 57 at-bats to go along with six doubles, two homers and 16 RBIs.

Around the Big Ten

Here are a few Big Ten series to keep tabs on this weekend:

Iowa (21-6) @ Indiana (20-9)

Rutgers (15-13) @ Maryland (17-11)

Ohio State (14-13) @ Michigan State (16-9)

Conference standings

SCHOOL	CONF	PCT	HOME	ROAD	OVERALL	PCT	HOME	ROAD	NEUTRAL	LAST 10	STREAK
Indiana	5-1	.833	3-0	2-1	20-9	.690	15-0	4-8	1-1	8-2	L1
Michigan	5-1	.833	3-0	2-1	16-12	.571	7-3	5-4	4-5	7-3	W1
Michigan State	4-2	.667	2-1	2-1	16-9	.640	3-1	8-5	5-3	8-2	L1
Nebraska	2-1	.667	2-1	0-0	16-9-1	.635	7-2	4-5-1	5-2	6-4	W1
Maryland	2-1	.667	0-0	2-1	17-11	.607	9-3	8-5	0-3	7-3	L2
Minnesota	2-1	.667	0-0	2-1	7-20	.259	3-8	4-5	0-7	4-5	W1
Purdue	3-3	.500	2-1	1-2	12-15	.444	3-3	1-8	8-4	3-7	L1
Illinois	2-4	.333	1-2	1-2	12-13	.480	2-4	6-7	4-2	3-7	L1
Iowa	1-2	.333	1-2	0-0	21-6	.778	10-2	3-3	8-1	7-3	W2
Rutgers	1-2	.333	1-2	0-0	15-13	.536	6-2	8-9	1-2	5-5	W2
Northwestern	1-2	.333	0-0	1-2	3-20	.130	1-0	2-18	0-2	2-8	L2
Penn State	1-5	.167	1-2	0-3	14-11	.560	5-3	1-6	8-2	4-6	L3
Ohio State	1-5	.167	1-2	0-3	14-13	.519	5-4	4-5	5-4	3-7	W1

Broadcast Information

TV: Big Ten Network (Friday), BTN+ (Saturday, Sunday | Link: HERE)

Radio: Huskers Radio Network (Radio simulcast found HERE)

Stations: Lincoln (1400 AM), Omaha (590 AM)