Nebraska baseball pulls away late to down Baylor 4-1 in season opener

Nebraska baseball is 1-0 for the first time in four years after the Huskers dispatched the Baylor Bears 4-1 by scoring three runs in the game’s final two innings. The last time NU opened its season on top was a 19-9 victory over Baylor in 2020.

Head coach Will Bolt’s squad overcame 14 team strikeouts with the help of three two-out RBIs and a pitching staff that recorded nine strikeouts without issuing a walk. As a group, Husker pitchers fired strikes on 79-of-117 pitches (67.5%). Here’s more on the Huskers’ Opening Day win.

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Baserunners came at a premium through the first five innings. Starters Brett Sears and Mason Marriott, who each had their fair share of struggles in 2023, put on a pitching clinic. The duo opened with five scoreless innings each and combined for 17 strikeouts and two walks.

Sears tied his career high with seven strikeouts in the first three innings while both arms saw runs of seven or more batters retired consecutively.

Nebraska tallied its first hit of the game in the top half of the sixth from leadoff man Cayden Brumbaugh. After poking a ball into right field for a one-out single, the Huskers’ second baseman advanced to second on a wild pitch. Dylan Carey stepped into the box with two outs and pounded a ball to the left-center gap, plating Brumbaugh and giving Nebraska a 1-0 advantage.

It didn’t take long for Baylor to find a way to counter. Sears exited the sixth with a runner on first after allowing a one-out single and the Huskers gave the ball to Tucker Timmerman out of the pen. Two pitches later, the Bears’ Hunter Simmons doubled to centerfield to drive in the tying run.

A scoreless seventh gave way to more late action for the Nebraska half of the eighth. Baylor plunked Riley Silva to leadoff the inning and the speedster moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Brumbaugh. With two outs, Carey stepped in yet again and delivered once more with a bloop double to left off freshman reliever Stephen Sepulveda. That gave the Huskers a 2-1 edge.

Reliever Kyle Perry hung a zero in the home half of the inning and Nebraska was hunting insurance in the ninth. Garrett Anglim, who made a critical catch in left during the previous inning, came through with some fireworks and launched the Huskers first home run of the year to left.

Silva got another chance to show off his legs by advancing to first on a wild pitch on the third strike of his at-bat. He later swiped second base and scored on a Brumbaugh RBI single to make it 4-1. Casey Daiss entered in the bottom half of the frame and worked around a leadoff single to earn a save and clinch a Nebraska victory.

Sears shoves in first start

While he may end up being overshadowed by the late rally from Nebraska’s bats, Sears outstanding first start should be the top storyline of the day.

The right-hander quickly worked to silence any questions about whether or not his summer in the Northwoods League would transition to the spring by striking out five of the first eight batters he faced. As the Huskers’ offense struggled to find its footing, Sears notched three 1-2-3 innings and was never really seriously challenged.

He faced 20 of Baylor’s 34 batters, threw 63.8% of his pitches for strikes and did not walk a batter in 5 1/3 innings. Given the questions surrounding Nebraska’s starting rotation entering the season, that’s about as good of a sign to begin the year as the coaching staff could have.

Meanwhile, Tucker Timmerman, Kyle Perry and Casey Daiss were all solid in relief. Timmerman earned the win and the freshman managed to battle for 1 2/3 despite allowing several hard-hit balls. Perry bridged to Daiss with relative ease and Nebraska fans have to like what they saw in the ninth from the potential closer.

Starts like Sears’ combined with the relative depth in the bullpen could make for a powerful combo for the 2024 Huskers.

Nebraska’s season-opening strikeout Déjà vu

Strikeouts were definitely the lowlight for the Nebraska offense. Friday’s game marked the third time in the last four seasons that the Huskers had tallied 14 or more strikeouts on Opening Day. Of Nebraska’s nine batters, five were punched out multiple times led by Josh Overbeek with three strikeouts.

There’s no doubt that the Huskers had several horrible at-bats against Baylor. The difference between this opener and in years past was that Nebraska executed when it counted in clutch situations.

Carey came up in key situations with his pair of two-out doubles to tally a multi-RBI showing after reaching that mark in nine games last year. Brumbaugh added some extra cushion for Daiss with his single in the ninth. He and Carey were the only Huskers to record multiple hits. As a team, the Huskers finished 3-for-8 (.375) with runners in scoring position.

Nebraska managed to prevail despite its strikeout woes this time. Should this trend continue against tougher competition, things could get hairy fast.

What’s next for Nebraska baseball?

Nebraska baseball returns to Globe Life Field for their second game in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown. The Huskers will face their first ranked opponent of the season in No. 21 Texas Tech.

First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. CT as Nebraska southpaw Will Walsh (4.24 2023 ERA) faces right-handed pitcher Zane Petty (5.68 2023 ERA). The game can be streamed on FloSports and heard on the Huskers Radio Network.