Nebraska baseball notebook: Stillwater Regional Week

Nebraska baseball (39-20) will make its 15th NCAA Regional appearance in the last 24 seasons on Friday when the Huskers take on Florida (28-27) at 2:00 p.m. CT (ESPN+).

On the heels of the team’s first Big Ten Tournament Title, here’s a notebook of a number of intriguing topics developing around Nebraska in the last few days.

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

Plenty of good reviews from Big Ten coaches

Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer had seen enough of Nebraska after dropping four of five meetings with the Huskers throughout the back half of May.

“We kept running into those doggone Huskers, man,” Mercer said.

“They’ve made it pretty tough on us the last couple of weeks. I wish we’d played literally anybody else.”

What in his mind makes the Huskers so successful? The team’s balanced makeup jumped out right away.

“They’re gonna have a real chance to make a run in the postseason,” Mercer said. “They’re a Super Regional team. They’ve got the pitching, they play the defense, they hit for enough power, they’re gonna play enough small ball, they’re gonna steal some bases, they’re going to push bunt and drag and do some things. They can go at you different ways and play in a ballpark like (Charles Schwab).”

Nebraska was in the middle of the Big Ten pack in about every offensive category. When it comes to pitching, that’s a different story.

The Huskers led the league in team ERA (4.40), WHIP (1.26), walks per nine innings (2.9) and posted the fewest walks as a staff (170). Ohio State skipper Bill Mosiello thinks that’s the primary reason Nebraska could go far.

“I think Nebraska is built to play long in a regional,” Mosiello said. “Some of the other clubs, as much as I think they’re really good clubs, the depth is really hard. You’ve gotta really pitch to get into some of those things.”

Food for thought entering a fascinating week.

Rob Childress deserves plenty of recognition

Nebraska doesn’t make a run like that in the Big Ten Tournament without Rob Childress. Husker starters had a 1.85 ERA in NU’s five wins in Omaha.

When the bullpen was called upon, those arms answered the bell, too. According to Mercer, the Huskers can easily and often play on a variety of different tools to keep opposing batters guessing.

“Each one of their guys has a unique pitch package, and you can tell that he’s coaching them really well on that,” Mercer said. “They execute that pitch package and each one is different.”

Mercer said if an opponent wants to get to Nebraska’s pitchers, typically they have to do so early. Throughout the Huskers’ winning streak, leadoff hitters were held to a 9-for-45 mark (.200). Meanwhile, Drew Christo, Jackson Brockett and Will Walsh all escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first or second inning without allowing more than one run.

The steady hand and brilliant pitch-calling mind of Childress is the reason why.

“I lean on him a lot because he’s been a coach for 16 years before he came here,” Bolt said. “He’s as selfless a human being as I’ve ever met. He’s the reason I came to Nebraska in the first place. He’s meant a lot because he’s very, very confident and just convicted about what he does and it just permeates through his pitchers. He’s said it’s not a goal to lead the Big Ten in fewest walks per nine innings. That’s what we’re gonna do.”

Nebraska’s infield playing at a high level

The Huskers starting infield of Josh Overbeek, Dylan Carey and Rhett Stokes was charged with two errors throughout the Big Ten Tournament. Nebraska’s fielding percentage is .975 for the season which is down from a .978 mark last year.

That doesn’t sound inspiring at first. But, the Huskers finished conference play at .982.

Bolt said another thing to consider was that all three of those players are in relatively new positions. Carey is a natural shortstop but was transitioning from third base a year ago to playing the position at this level. Overbeek had not played third base before, Cayden Brumbaugh was an outfielder and Stokes was in a similar position to Carey.

“A lot of new guys and new faces,” Bolt said. “We’ve seen them get better and better through repetition and experience. I think they’ve played really well. They’ve held their own and not just not making errors but making really difficult plays look routine as well.”

Five consecutive scoreless innings from 33. ✊

Time to get the bats going. pic.twitter.com/UyKprIQwxn

— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) May 26, 2024

Husker depth starting to show

Four months ago, Bolt walked to the podium for a preseason press conference and said the Huskers weren’t sure who would be a part of the weekend rotation. As many as 23 guys could fill the role.

That group is whittled down to closer to five now with pocket aces at the top of the rotation. Bolt said this is the first time the entire staff is firing on all cylinders.

Bumps in the road were a worthwhile price to pay so guys like Jackson Brockett could find themselves.

“It took Brockett getting off the roster to get where he’s at now,” Bolt said. “There’s just no question about it. He had to get to a rock-bottom moment before he was going to flip his switch.”

Now the depth Bolt said he knew the team had, is starting to come through. Look for Brockett, Drew Christo, Jalen Worthley, Caleb Clark and others to be called on as the Stillwater Regional goes on.

Quick hits

***Bolt on long-time play-by-play voice Greg Sharpe, who is battling cancer, and his presence at Sunday’s game:

“I was thrilled that he was able to be there and call that game,” Bolt said. “That was a pretty special moment for him personally and it was great to see him after the game. Hopefully he can be with us in the postseason. I know it’s just going to be up to his treatments and those type of things but his voice still sounds great.”

***As far as the pitching plan, Bolt said Nebraska will go with Brett Sears and then Mason McConnaughey this weekend. Will Walsh and Jackson Brockett would certainly be in the mix for a third game. Drew Christo will likely come out of the bullpen before that point.

***Bolt said he got the idea for the team pictures Nebraska takes after each win from current LSU head coach Jay Johnson. While at Arizona, Johnson did the same thing with his team when they reached the College World Series final in 2016.

“It chronicles that feeling you’re chasing,” Bolt said. “It’s not the win, it’s the feeling. The feeling you get when you get to slap hands and you get to have the talk after the game and get fired up.”

Walsh is in charge of putting the pictures up in the team’s locker room because in Bolt’s words, “he’s one of the taller guys in the locker room.” Christo and Dylan Carey said the photo after Brockett’s no hitter is their favorite.

“That’s the reason why I play the game is to chase that feeling of winning,” Christo said. “It really captures that moment for me.”

***Bolt on the exclusion of Josh Caron from the Big Ten’s All-Conference teams:

“I thought it was pretty ridiculous that he wasn’t at least named somewhere in there,” Bolt said. “They’ve got three teams. That’s not to take anything away from the catchers because the three catchers were incredible. Their stats pop off the page, all three of them. But then you’ve got the utility, the DH, there’s a way to slide guys in all-conference teams.”