Five key storylines as Nebraska baseball enters the Big Ten Tournament

The field is set and Nebraska baseball opens Big Ten Tournament play at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon against No. 5 Rutgers.

From the Huskers’ health to a wide open bracket, there is no shortage of storylines to watch. Here are a few important ones to keep tabs on, not just for Nebraska, but the tournament field, too.

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1. The health of Brice Matthews

This is the perhaps Nebraska’s most important variable this weekend. The Huskers need Brice Matthews at full strength. Taking last weekend off should help and it definitely had a “load management” feel to it.

But, this comment from Will Bolt on the Huskers Radio Network following Saturday’s win makes it seem like it could be or could have been more serious.

“Brice Matthews’ health is going to be pretty important for us in the tournament,” Bolt said. “I felt like it was pretty important to give him the entire weekend to try to get better. We gotta get him to 100% because we obviously missed his presence on the field and in the box.”

It’s obvious that Matthews is a huge part of Nebraska’s offense. Still, it helps to see some numbers that put his value in perspective. The junior has 13% (73) of his squad’s hits, 21% (20) of its home runs, 35% (19) of stolen bases and 17% (65) of RBIs. Matthews leads the team in walks with 43 and the next closest Husker has 22.

This comes while hitting in the leadoff spot and missing the last three games of the season. Matthews is in the midst of his final days as a Husker so it’s hard to imagine him not leaving it all out there. However, it’s critical to Nebraska’s success that Matthews is at full strength.

2. Nebraska faces a compressed schedule

Nebraska plays its first-round game on Wednesday. They (and Rutgers) are the only teams in that position in the new format which allows the No. 1 seed to select that timeslot or the night game on Tuesday.

With the later start, the Huskers have the potential for one day off once the tournament begins. To do that they’ll have to win their first two games.

Crowd sizes will be an interesting thing to watch, too. A loss on Wednesday would mean a 10 a.m. start for a elimination game on Thursday. A win in the tournament opener puts Nebraska in a night game for the second round and a potential elimination game Friday.

Bottom line: Winning on Wednesday sets the Huskers up well from a “home-field” advantage perspective for their entire tournament run.

3. Which Huskers meet the moment?

Bolt has made it clear he needs someone to step up and provide an unlikely boost when the Huskers need it the most.

“You’re going to maybe have some unsung heroes in this tournament,” Bolt said on Saturday. “That’s what you have to have to go win it. It’s gonna have to particularly be on the mound for some guys to step up and continue to give us a shot.”

There are a number of candidates on the hill. Could Nebraska lean on Drew Christo to start a game deeper in a run? Perhaps freshman like Jalen Worthley and JC Gutierrez will be called on to eat innings. A rebound from Jackson Brockett would be a big help, too.

At the plate there are a pair of candidates primed for a breakout. Charlie Fischer is fresh off a weekend in which he went 5-for-12 with two homers and four RBIs. The week prior he went 0-for-4 against Penn State but had entered that series with hits in seven of his last eight games.

Meanwhile, Dylan Carey has a six-game hitting streak and is batting .400 with four RBIs in that stretch.

4. Can Maryland finish the job?

Maryland is the favorite for many this week and it’s easy to see why. The Terps haven’t lost a Big Ten series in two years. Nebraska happens to be the last Big Ten foe to defeat Maryland back in Lincoln during the 2021 season.

The Terps lead the conference in batting average, home runs by 19 blasts, and RBIs by a margin of 95. There’s a lot to like as Maryland hopes to win its first Big Ten Tournament crown.

But, let’s look at a counternarrative that features some serious red flags.

Throw aside some of the obvious critiques. For example, Charles Schwab isn’t a home-run friendly ballpark or the Terps 1-2 showing in last year’s tournament in which they were outscored 26-18.

Of the eight teams in the 2023 field, Maryland’s 6.01 team ERA is the worst. That’s 11th in the Big Ten and only Penn State and Northwestern were worse. Not a single starter has an ERA lower than 4.66 and no pitcher is lower closer David Falco Jr’s 4.58 mark.

Maryland has won high-scoring affairs several times this year. In fact, the Terps have emerged victorious in five games in which their pitching staff allowed more than 10 runs. Still, pitching is a major issue for Maryland’s postseason goals.

5. Who’s the dark horse?

Let’s be honest, this field is wide open.

It wouldn’t be a shock for a team to make a surprise championship run like Michigan did in 2022. The Wolverines finished the regular season 34-26 before winning the Big Ten Tournament with a 5-1 record as the No. 5 seed.

This is a shot in the dark, but my eye is on Rutgers (another No. 5) as a team with the potential to do something similar. The Scarlet Knights bore a lot of similarities to 2022 Nebraska at the beginning of the season. They received plenty of preseason hype and met that with disappointment in the early part of the year.

But unlike last year’s Husker squad, the Rutgers rallied and made it to Omaha. With a stout starting rotation, some solid bats in the lineup and quality relivers, the Scarlet Knights are certainly capable of doing some damage.