Nebraska baseball overcomes early blitz, eliminates Niagara with 7-5 win

STILLWATER, Oklahoma – Survive and advance. Nebraska baseball’s 2024 season will last at least one more day after the Huskers bested Niagara 7-5 in an elimination game Saturday afternoon.

Nebraska shrugged off an early 4-0 deficit and outscored the Purple Eagles 7-1 the rest of the way thanks to two solo shots from Gabe Swansen and Case Sanderson’s four RBIs. Will Bolt’s Huskers have a 40-win season for the first time since 2014 and the 19th in program history.

Bolt didn’t believe his team came out with a lack of energy despite a slow start on the field.

“It appears that way when you go three up, three down and you give up a three-spot,” the Husker skipper said. “It certainly wasn’t from a mentality standpoint. We were ready to rock.”

The Huskers showed that over the final seven innings and rallied with a host of hits in big moments. Additionally, Mason McConnaughey rebounded from a tough pair of opening frames and recorded double-digit strikeouts for the third time in his last four starts.

“We don’t win that game if he doesn’t stay in the fight for us and give us some length,” Bolt said. “That’s what a big horse like him, that’s what he can do.”

Here’s the full rundown on how the Huskers got past Niagara at the Stillwater Regional.

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— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) June 1, 2024

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McConnaughey did not get off to a good start.

The opening five pitches of the bottom of the first resulted in a hit batter, a single to left and a three-run homer for Eric Rataczak, his 17th of the season. Niagara kept the pressure on in the second with a leadoff bloop double and a sacrifice fly that made it a 4-0 Purple Eagle advantage.

“Just made a mistake there in the first inning, but it’s a long game of baseball,” McConnaughey said. “There’s nine full innings so trying to come back and compete and I know my guys got me and I’ve got them.”

Dylan Carey became the first Husker leadoff batter to reach all weekend when he delivered a single to start the third. A Joshua Overbeek walk set things up for Sanderson who gave Nebraska a much-needed shot of energy with a three-run bomb into the Niagara bullpen in left.

Sanderson new he needed to make a game-changing play.

“I felt like it was a great swing,” Sanderson said. “I was through it and I thought it was maybe a 50-50 ball. Thought maybe the wind gave it a little bit of a jolt but overall it came our way.”

Nebraska took the lead in the fifth, an inning that was jumpstarted by Overbeek’s first triple of the year. Sanderson brought him in on a sacrifice fly and Swansen homered for the fifth time this postseason to put the Huskers in front 5-4.

That lead didn’t last long.

Brady Desjardins went yard on the first pitch of the fifth to tie the game and break a streak of six consecutive retired by McConnaughey. Nebraska quickly countered in the form of a leadoff double from Tyler Stone in the sixth. Rhett Stokes put a bunt down the first-base side and Niagara right-hander Ryan Minckler airmailed the throw to first allowing Stone to score.

The Huskers failed to do further damage against MAAC Reliver of the Year Zach Cameron, despite loading the bases.

Swansen lead off the seventh inning with another deep shot. He sent a 0-1 pitch 414 feet to the deepest part of the park and gave Nebraska a 7-5 cushion with his second bomb of the day.

The Huskers haven’t had a player hit multiple home runs in a NCAA Regional since Jake Opitz in the 2008 Lincoln Regional.

“It’s a great feeling,” Swansen said. “I’ve just been seeing the ball and I’ve been having a good approach at the plate. Hopefully I’ll keep doing that and we’ll keep it going these next couple games.”

Jalen Worthley did the rest. He relieved McConnaughey for the start of the seventh after he struck out 10 in six innings while issuing one walk.

“You look up and it’s one walk and 10 punchouts,” Bolt said. “If he gives any freebies whatsoever throughout that game, it probably gets a little more sideways than it did.”

Worthley gave the Huskers a 1-2-3 frame in the seventh and the southpaw proceeded to cut through the Niagara order. He only allowed two hits en route to his fifth save over the game’s final three innings punctuating it with a strikeout of Rataczak, Niagara’s top bat who represented the tying run with two outs.

“I didn’t finish off the last game last week,” Worthley said. “So, it feels good to finish that one off, especially on a big stage.”

The Huskers flipped Friday’s leadoff script and more Gabe Swansen fun

Less than 24 hours removed from Nebraska leadoff batters going 0-for-9 in a 5-2 loss to Florida, the Huskers opening batters hit for the cycle against Niagara.

NU leadoff hitters batted a cool .556 to counter the Purple Eagles’ .444 mark. Carey logged a pair of singles, Stone posted the double, Overbeek delivered the triple and Swansen hit the home run.

“If we can get the leadoff hitters on, we can put pressure on them with our run game and our ability to bunt and do some different things,” Bolt said. “We can get more fastballs for our guys and have a chance to drive some balls out of the park.”

Swansen is obviously a critical piece of the Huskers’ success.

Since the start of the postseason, the junior from Johnston, Iowa, owns a a .515 batting average with six home runs and 14 RBIs. Three of those bombs have come in the last two games. Meanwhile, Josh Caron is 1-for-8 in the Stillwater Regional making Swansen’s contributions all the more important.

“He’s unconscious at the plate,” Bolt said. “Everybody’s got good stuff this time of year. The big hit can be elusive at times. There’s guys that have wipeout stuff on the mound. You’ve gotta have slug. You’ve gotta have the ability to hit doubles and homers and drive runners in from first and yourself in scoring position when you’re in the batter’s box. That’s what the better teams have. That’s what he’s provided us this post season.”

What’s next for Nebraska?

Nebraska has extended its season one more day and must win two games on Sunday in order to push the Stillwater Regional to a seventh game on Monday. ESPN+ will carry both contests. The Huskers will face the loser of Saturday night’s Oklahoma State-Florida game at 1:00 p.m. and would meet the winner of the same matchup at 6:00 p.m. should NU advance.