Skip to main content
Nebraska

Around the Horn: Previewing Nebraska baseball's regional path

Joseph Maierby:Joseph Maier•05/29/25•

JosephMaier29

Nebraska baseball's Luke Broderick vs. Penn State
Photo Credit: Nebraska Athletics and Dillon Galloway

Nebraska baseball will make its 19th NCAA Tournament appearance this weekend. That statement may have seemed asinine two months ago — or even a week ago — but after a dominant 4-0 finish at the Big Ten Tournament, the Huskers punched their ticket to the big dance on Sunday.

The Chapel Hill Regional awaits, as No. 5 overall seed North Carolina plays host to Nebraska, Oklahoma and Holy Cross. The Huskers will open the weekend with an old Big 12 rivalry matchup on Friday at 4 p.m. CT.

Here’s a preview of all three potential opponents:

Join HuskerOnline today and get your first month of a premium subscription for just $1!

First Up: Oklahoma

The Sooners are Nebraska’s only guaranteed matchup, as the two rivals will square off in a pivotal outing on Friday.

Oklahoma makes its fourth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance, and its 42nd in program history. Under head coach Skip Johnson, the Sooners finished 33-19 overall and 14-16 in league play in their first season in the SEC. They earned the No. 12 seed in the conference tournament, taking down Kentucky and No. 7 Georgia before falling to No. 1 Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals.

Thanks to 10 ranked wins, Oklahoma enters the tournament ranked No. 27 in the RPI. However, Nebraska avoids a matchup with projected top-10 MLB draft pick RHP Kyson Witherspoon (2.47 ERA), whom the Sooners opted to save for a potential matchup with North Carolina. Witherspoon’s brother, RHP Malachi Witherspoon (3-8, 5.53 ERA) is set to start on Friday instead.

LHP Jackson Brockett (3.41 ERA) gets the nod for the Huskers on Friday. In the biggest spot of his career, the senior tossed six stellar innings in a a Big Ten Tournament win over No. 4 Oregon. He held a potent Ducks offense to one run on six hits. Oklahoma’s offensive numbers don’t jump off the page, with just the 163rd-most runs (361) and 181st-ranked batting average (.274) in the nation.

Easton Carmichael is the Sooner’s best hitter by a significant margin. He earned All-SEC Second Team honors while leading the team with 71 hits, 55 RBIs and 14 home runs. Jaxon Willits is the only other Sooner batting above .300 on the year. The short stop has tallied nine home runs and 42 RBIs, only trailing Carmichael in both categories.

Sam Christiansen leads all Oklahoma batters with a .458 on-base percentage thanks to 44 walks and 19 HBP. Dylan Crooks is one of the best closers in the nation, ranking third among all pitchers with 14 saves. In 29 innings pitched, he has a 1.10 WHIP and 31 strikeouts.

The Hosts: North Carolina

Following an ACC Tournament championship, the Tar Heels will host a regional for the 14th time in program history. They finished the year 18-11 in league play, one win shy of a regular-season title, and cruised through the conference tournament. Despite earning the No. 5 national seed, North Carolina ranks No. 1 in the latest D1Baseball and USA Today Coaches polls.

Nebraska is no stranger to high-profile aces — taking down a pair of sub-2.50 ERA arms in the Big Ten Tournament — but the path to a super regional could run through two more. Kyson Witherspoon is the flashier MLB prospect, but North Carolina’s Jake Knapp concluded a six-year collegiate career with a sensational 2025 campaign. After returning from Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2024 season, the right-hander posted a 12-0 record on his way to winning the ACC Pitcher of the Year award.

He finished the regular season with a 2.14 ERA, the lowest among all Power Four pitchers. In 87.0 innings of work, Knapp struck out 78 hitters and allowed an opposing batting average of .187. His 1.34 walks per nine innings ranks No. 12 nationally and first among Power Four pitchers. Knapp outdueled Florida State’s Jamie Arnold — fellow superstar pitcher and future top-10 pick — in a nine-inning complete-game effort to conclude the regular season.

North Carolina’s pitching staff is far from reliant on its ace, as the Tar Heels’ two other weekend starters, Jason DeCaro and Aidan Haugh, are both sub-3.75 ERA arms. They combined for 8.0 innings and lifted North Carolina to a win over No. 6 Florida State in the ACC Tournament. Haugh was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2024 MLB draft but chose to return to Chapel Hill.

The Tar Heels have a loaded bullpen as well, with two relievers — Ryan Lynch and Walker McDuffie — who have racked up 24 appearances, 48+ innings pitched and 60+ strikeouts apiece.

Despite hitting just .268 on the year, Luke Stevenson is the highest-ranked catcher prospect in the 2025 draft cycle and will likely be a first-rounder. He has one of North Carolina’s most powerful bats, slugging .593 and leading the ACC with 18 home runs. Stevenson is one of just four Tar Heels with 50+ RBIs on the year.

First baseman Hunter Stokely leads the team with 70 hits and 55 RBI while hitting .327. His 13 home runs rank third on the team, only behind Stevenson and third baseman Gavin Gallaher (14). North Carolina ranks in the ACC’s bottom half for batting average and total hits, but the offense is productive enough to aid a pitching staff that leads the conference in ERA by an entire run.

If North Carolina takes care of business against Holy Cross on Friday at 11 a.m., it will play the winner of Nebraska vs Oklahoma at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The Underdogs: Holy Cross

The 1952 College World Series champs return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2017. Holy Cross snapped Army West Point’s six-year Patriot League title streak, walking off the Black Knights in a 10-inning thriller in the final game of the conference tournament.

The trend of strong pitching staffs continues, as the Crusaders sport two eye-catching arms in Jaden Wywoda and Danny Macchiarola. Macchiarola leads the staff with a 3.02 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 89.1 innings pitched. Wywoda (3.65 ERA) isn’t far behind. Both right-handers have made 15 starts on the year.

In its last 30 games, Holy Cross is 20-10, outscoring its opponents 29-to-3 in the first inning over that stretch. The offense is averaging eight runs a game and hitting .292 as a team with 21 home runs and 204 RBIs since the end of March.

Four different Crusaders are hitting above .300, including Chris Baillargeon, who leads the team with 76 hits, 52 RBIs and a .523 slugging percentage. He has reached base in 16 consecutive outings, slashing .466/.558/.724 with two home runs and 26 RBIs during the streak.

Center fielder Gianni Royer hit a walk-off double to win the Patriot League championship, adding to his team-high 24 extra-base hits. Holy Cross only has 33 home runs on the year, as outfielder John LaFleur leads the team with seven.

If the Crusaders fall to North Carolina on Friday, they will face the loser of Nebraska vs. Oklahoma on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Chapel Hill Regional Schedule

Friday, May 30

  • Game 1: North Carolina vs. Holy Cross – 11 AM CT – ACC Network
  • Game 2: Oklahoma vs. Nebraska – 4 PM CT – ESPN+

Saturday, May 31

  • Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – 11 AM CT
  • Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 5 PM CT

Sunday, June 1

  • Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser – 11 AM CT
  • Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 5 PM CT

Monday, June 2 (if necessary)

  • Game 7: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser – TBA

Never miss breaking news or another HuskerOnline article again. Click HERE to sign up for our Daily and Breaking News Newsletters.

You may also like