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Around the Horn: Nebraska baseball hosts Washington to open Big Ten play

Joseph Maierby:Joseph Maier•about 9 hours•

JosephMaier29

Nebraska baseball vs. Sam Houston
Photo Credit: Nebraska Athletics

Nebraska baseball (4-6, 0-0) welcomes Washington (5-8, 0-0) this weekend for its first home series of the season.

The Huskers’ first game at Haymarket Park comes a few days later than anticipated. After weather canceled the home opener against South Dakota State, Friday’s contest was also pushed back. Nebraska will play a doubleheader on Saturday before the series finale on Sunday.

The Huskies opened the 2025 campaign with a dominant win over Kansas State, but have dropped eight of 12 games since. They left the Las Vegas Classic 1-2 with one-run losses to both No. 15 Texas and Illinois before finishing the weekend with a win over Texas Tech.

Nebraska will look to rebound from back-to-back 1-2 weekends of its own.

Here’s more on the weekend including an opponent preview, pitching matchups, the biggest storylines and broadcast information:

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Projecting Nebraska’s pitching matchups

Saturday at 1 p.m: RHP Ty Horn (0-1, 5.52 ERA, 14.2 IP, 14 K) vs. RHP Jackson Thomas (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9.2 IP, 13 K)

Saturday at 4 p.m: LHP Will Walsh (2-1, 2.77 ERA, 13.0 IP, 14 K) vs. RHP Reilly McAdams (0-1, 6.75 ERA, 12.0 IP, 13 K)

Sunday at 12 p.m: LHP Jackson Brockett (0-1, 5.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 8 K) vs. RHP Tommy Brandenburg (0-1, 6.28 ERA, 14.1 IP, 11 K)

Weekend storylines to watch

Who will step up in McConnaughey’s absence?

Nebraska received crushing news this week, as Will Bolt announced that Friday starter Mason McConnaughey suffered a season-ending arm injury against Sam Houston. His absence leaves a gaping hole in the Huskers’ pitching rotation.

LHP Will Walsh returns to a starting role alongside Ty Horn and Jackson Brockett. Outside of two disastrous innings against Louisiana, Walsh has been stellar. He’s pitched 11 scoreless frames including a valiant bounce-back effort in relief of McConnaughey against Sam Houston. Neither Brockett nor Walsh have matched McConnaughey’s consistency as weekend starters, but their prior back-and-forth battle for the Sunday job should pay dividends.

The mid-week pitching is where questions arise, ultimately thinning Nebraska’s bullpen depth. Drew Christo and Caleb Clark are the most likely options with 10 and three starts in 2024, respectively.

Can the bullpen find its rhythm?

Nebraska’s relievers have been inconsistent for much of the season. With Tucker Timmerman already out for extended time due to facial surgery, McConnaughey’s injury only puts more pressure on the bullpen.

Four of Nebraska’s relief pitchers have an ERA of 7.00 or above, including Drew Christo. The veteran right-hander has toed the rubber in multiple precarious situations, but his ERA is up to 15.88 in just 5.2 frames. Grant Cleavinger and Carson Jasa had rough outings against LSU while TJ Coats gave up back-to-back home runs against Kansas State. The Huskers desperately need to improve in the middle innings, and that trio will play a key role in doing so.

Jalen Worthley has been a bright spot out of the bullpen this season, along with multiple freshman relievers. RHP Pryce Bender has yet to allow a run in 3.1 innings, and both Gavin Blachowicz and Colin Nowaczyk flashed potential in their limited appearances. It’s all hands on deck for the Huskers going forward, but they have various young arms who could reasonably make a jump.

Devin Nunez is on fire. Can anyone else stay consistent at the plate?

Nebraska’s talented freshman has been a spark plug for the offense. Nunez is hitting .500 on the year with nine hits and four RBIs, all in just 18 at-bats. He finished off a dominant weekend in Frisco with an inside-the-park home run to give the Huskers a chance late against Kansas State.

But outside of Nunez and Cayden Brumbaugh, the Huskers’ bats have been inconsistent at best. Cael Frost finally got his first hit last Friday before leaving Texas with five RBIs and two home runs. Dylan Carey was on pace for a nightmare series but saved his weekend with a 3-hit, 2-RBI Sunday outing. Gabe Swansen has been ice cold, tallying just three hits since his huge day against Vanderbilt.

Nebraska has potential up and down its batting order, but consistency continues to be a pitfall.

Know the Foe

***Washington’s first-ever Big Ten baseball series will be played at Haymarket Park this weekend. The Huskies have had a slow start to the season, including multiple heartbreaking losses. They battled back from a 9-1 deficit against No. 15 Texas last Friday before ultimately falling 9-10, and on Saturday, they lost to Illinois by the same score.

***First-year head coach Eddie Smith came to Washington from Utah Valley, where he rebuilt the Wolverines from 10-47 to 34-24 in just two seasons. They fell one game short of an NCAA tournament bid in 2023 after losing the WAC Tournament title game. Smith was an offensive assistant coach at multiple power programs including LSU and Virginia. Since 2020, four hitters coached by Smith have signed million-dollar contracts in the MLB.

***Washington’s ace, RHP Max Banks, is not slated to start this weekend. The Division III transfer began the year with two stellar outings, including a 2-hit, 9-strikeout performance against Kansas State. The wheels fell off against Texas, though, as the Longhorns posted seven hits and seven runs against the veteran pitcher. Even in the loss, Banks struck out eight.

***Kansas State is the lone common opponent between Nebraska and Washington. The Huskies opened their 2025 season with a dominant win over the Wildcats, 9-2. Kansas State didn’t score until the ninth inning.

***Player to watch: Outfielder AJ Guerrero

Guerrero ranks No. 4 all-time for career home runs at Washington with 36. He hit a grand slam against Texas for his first blast of the season and carried the momentum into three straight games with a home run. The senior leads all Washington players with a .378 batting average to go along with 12 RBIs, and is currently on a nine-game hitting streak.

Quick Hits

***Washington first baseman Casen Taggart leads the team with a .492 on-base percentage. The Washington State transfer has been hot as of late, with six hits and four RBIs over the last week. He has also walked a team-high 12 times.

***Nine Huskies have tallied a multiple-hit game and eight have generated a multi-RBI outing. Four Washington batters, including Guerrero and Taggart, are hitting .300 or better.

***Washington is fresh off its home opener, where the Huskies secured a 3-0 shutout win over Portland on Tuesday. RHP Jase Evangelista threw 3.2 scoreless frames in relief and earned the win. Washington’s pitching staff only allowed three total hits on the day.

***The Huskies have already turned 13 double plays this season, including six in one weekend at the Las Vegas Classic.

***Washington’s Saturday starter, Reilly McAdams, has been solid this season, but his ERA is inflated due to a nightmare inning against Stanford. The right-hander gave up eight runs on seven hits to the Cardinal in one frame. He has only allowed one additional run all season.

***Tommy Brandenburg, the Huskies’ Sunday starter, spotted Texas Tech five runs on seven hits in just 3.2 innings last weekend. In a blowout loss to Coastal Carolina, Brandenburg gave Washington five strong frames before the bullpen fell apart late.

Broadcast Information

TV:  Big Ten Plus: HERE

Radio: Huskers Radio Network (Radio simulcast found HERE)

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