Nebraska baseball bests Penn State 2-1 for first Big Ten Tournament Championship

For the first time since Nebraska joined the Big Ten, the Huskers have won the conference baseball tournament.

Behind a pitching gem from Jackson Brockett, and clutch hits from Josh Caron and Gabe Swansen, Nebraska (39-20) is the first team to win the Big Ten Tournament Championship after losing its opening game since 1995.

Will Bolt’s squad denied eight-seeded Penn State’s upset bid with a 2-1 comeback victory scoring a pair of runs over the final three inning. Brockett earned the win pitching eight innings with five strikeouts. Brett Sears came in from the bullpen for the save.

Josh Caron tied the game in the seventh with his tournament record-setting sixth home run of the week and Gabe Swansen drove in the winning run with two outs in the top of the ninth.

Roughly 13,300 fans watched it happen.

“Haymarket gets pretty packed on the weekend, but this was crazy,” Brockett said. “I don’t think I’ve ever played in front of this many fans and it just really shows how passionate our fans are about our sports and baseball especially. When Gabe hit that double and Josh hit that home run, it gave me goosebumps.”

Sunday’s win caps a run of five straight victories in elimination games following a 15-2 run-rule loss to Ohio State on Tuesday.

“A lot of memories come flooding back of being part of dogpiles as a player, winning championships as a coach,” Bolt said. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been around a group of young men quite like these and just how absolutely resilient they are.”

More on the Huskers’ second Big Ten crown in the Bolt era.

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The rally began with a two-out single from Ben Columbus in a ninth-inning 1-1 tie.

Cayden Brumbaugh replaced the Huskers’ cleanup man on the bases before Swansen stepped in the box. Quickly he found himself in a two-strike hole. Then the speedy Brumbaugh swiped second and Swansen battled his way to a 3-2 count.

That’s when the junior lit the powder keg at Charles Schwab. Swansen crushed a breaking ball to plug the right-center gap, and the Husker crowd erupted as the go-ahead run crossed home plate.

“For Gabe to be able to control his heartbeat in the box, in that moment, in that situation and not let it get too big with how loud the crowd was, kudos to him,” Bolt said. “But certainly I think it affected their guy in a positive way for the Huskers.”

That marked Swansen’s 13th hit, fourth double and 10th RBI of the tournament. He had five RBI and three extra-base hits entering the week.

Leading 2-1, Nebraska knew exactly who it would go to for the ninth.

“We had talked about every scenario we could talk about and most of them involved a few other pitchers after Brockett and the bridge to get to Brett Sears,” Bolt said. “There was no doubt that if we got to the ninth inning with a lead, Sears was the guy who was going to go finish it out for us.”

Sears’ second appearance of the tournament featured one strikeout and on 13 pitches, he retired the side for the win and the first save of his Husker career.

Nebraska pitching allowed one base runner after the first inning.

Penn State made the most of several Nebraska miscues in that frame.

A leadoff walk and two singles with two outs loaded the bases against Jackson Brockett. The southpaw turned and fired for second on a pickoff throw that went under the glove of Dylan Carey and scooted into the outfield. With one run in, Brockett coaxed a groundout and escaped without further damage.

After his shaky first, Brockett settled in and went blow for blow with Nittany Lion ace Travis Luensmann. He retired 14 straight from the end of the opening frame until a Adam Cecere double with one away in the sixth. The southpaw bounced back with a pair of groundouts en route to ending the inning and hanging seven consecutive zeros.

Brockett followed a three inning, three-run outing in his last appearance in Omaha with eight innings of work while allowing a single run.

“Our guys never stopped believing,” Brockett said. “No matter who is on the mound or who’s at the plate, the biggest thing is we all have trust in everyone. I knew if I just went out there and just gave my defense a shot, gave my hitters a shot, I knew they’d pull through.”

Reliving an incredible tournament run

After Nebraska’s opening-round dud against Ohio State, the Huskers had two options.

“We can go back and practice, or we can stay here and play baseball everyday,” Bolt said. “The choice is ours.”

Caron’s leadership may have been just as valuable to the Huskers this week as his bat. Bolt said his catcher had been an offensive-minded guy in his first two years in the program. This year, it became all about helping the pitching staff. Bolt added Caron had some tough words for the team in the wake of its loss to the Buckeyes that were critical in sparking a turnaround.

“Every great team has that,” Bolt said. “You’ve gotta have the guys that are willing to put themselves out there and hold everybody to a high standard.”

Of course, Caron’s ability in the box didn’t hurt. His 11 RBIs finished two shy of the tournament record.

“I told him last night, ‘I saw Dan Johnson hit five home runs in a conference tournament before to lead (a team) to a Big 12 Tournament Championship. I’ve never seen six so, you may as well get six,'” Bolt said. “Sure enough, he did it.”

Pitching coach Rob Childress told the team it had the pitching depth to make a run out of the loser’s bracket. His staff delivered. Nebraska’s starting arms allowed seven earned runs during 34 innings throughout the week. That’s a 1.85 ERA.

To catch fire like the Huskers did this week, there needs to be a host of players who step up. All-Tournament team selections Will Walsh, Rhett Stokes, Josh Caron and Gabe Swansen all fit that bill. Outings from Brockett and Drew Christo deserve recognition, too.

Now Nebraska will bring a shiny new trophy back to Lincoln, and plenty of juice for the NCAA Tournament.

“Every single guy and what they were able to provide the team throughout the week, they draw from that and take it into preparation,” Bolt said. “When we figure out where we are going to go, whether we get on a bus or a plane, we’re gonna take those experiences with us and that confidence with us into a regional.”

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What’s next for Nebraska baseball?

The Huskers will await their NCAA Regional destination tomorrow. ESPN2 will host the NCAA selection show at 11:00 a.m. CT on Monday. Nebraska will make its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2021 when the Huskers traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to a regional hosted by No. 1 overall seed Arkansas.