Nebraska baseball run-rules Northern Colorado 12-1 in home opener
Nebraska baseball (6-4-1) run-ruled Northern Colorado 12-1 in its home opener at Haymarket Park on Tuesday. The Huskers scored 12 runs on 13 hits with no errors in seven innings. Their pitching staff only gave up five hits and one run to UNC (2-9).
Starting pitcher lefty Jackson Brockett pitched four innings, allowed two hits and struck out five batters. He didn’t allow a run.
UNC gave Nebraska and Brockett a scare as lead-off hitter Hayden Heinze doubled down the right-field line. Brockett and the Husker defense settled in and got out the next three batters, leaving Heinze on third.
Shortstop Brice Matthews got the bats going as he doubled to right center field as the ball bounced off the backstop. After Dylan Carey fouled out to first base, Max Anderson hit Matthews home with a single through the right side.
Nebraska’s offense broke up the back half to the first inning as Josh Caron singled and then Charlie Fischer hit one to left and the left fielder dove for the ball but was just short. Anderson scored on the double.
Ben Columbus was the last hit of the inning with a double that landed in left-center to allow Fischer and Caron to score. Casey Burnham, the last hitter in the batting order, struck out looking to end the inning, Nebraska up 4-0.
Brockett sat down the next three UNC batters and the Huskers’ bats were back swinging.
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After Matthews fouled out, the Bears put in left-handed pitcher Jayden Brown. Brown gave up a triple to Carey then a double to Anderson, both were down the right-field line. The pitcher struck out the next two Huskers to end the inning.
Palma singled up the middle in the top of the third but a fielder’s choice play got him out at second. Brockett struck out Romero for the third out of the inning and his fourth strikeout of the game.
UNC brought in pitcher right-handed pitcher Jake Carvajal. He didn’t start off great as Gabe Swansen launched a homerun 432 feet to deep left-center field for his second homer of the season.
Burnham was hit by a pitch after two strikeouts. He stole home after a Matthews single to help NU go up 7-0 in the bottom of the third.
The Huskers sat down the UNC batters in the top of the 4th, including another strikeout for Brockett.
Nebraska baseball went back to work at the plate in the fourth as Fischer hit a three-run home run to left field to take a 10-0 advantage over UNC.
“It was a fastball, he had thrown a few at that at-bat and I wasn’t going to let him beat me with one,” Fischer said. “I knew I hit it well but I didn’t know with the wind, it’s my first career game here. I’ll take it though.”
Two batters later, Will Walsh crushed a home run to center field for two more runs.
UNC was forced to pull right-hand pitcher Andrew Isdale and put in righty Kevin Sharp, their fourth pitcher in four innings. Sharp walked Anderson, his first hitter, Carey was lined out and then Anderson was hit by a pitch.
The Bears’ pitching was clearly a struggle all game long. They had six pitchers in seven innings.
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Caron, the 11th batter as he singled earlier in the inning, grounded out at shortstop to end the inning.
Nebraska baseball scored five runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth against UNC. Caron left three batters on base as he grounded out.
Brockett retired after four innings. He struck out five players and gave up two hits. Right-handed pitcher Austin Berggren took the mound and walked his first batter, Bradley Hallock. He settled in and struck out Luke Byler.
Berggren and Nebraska baseball gave up their first run of the game to UNC in the top of the fifth. Palma singled to left field with two outs to hit in Hallock.
The Huskers sat down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth. Berggren returned the favor as he struck out three straight Bears in the top of the sixth.
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Nebraska didn’t score again in the bottom of the sixth despite having two on base. Walsh singled to left and Efry Cervantes reached on a catcher’s interference call.
Cervantes (third) and Blake Mozley (second) came in to hit in the bottom of the first and stayed in to play infield during the last inning. Carey moved to shortstop from third base.
Right-handed pitcher Brett Sears came in for Berggren for the top of the seventh. He gave up a single to Bunn and Hallock to start the inning. However, he buckled down and struck out two batters, including the last one.
“Bears beared down at the end,” Husker Head Coach Will Bolt said. “That’s big because he’s going to be a big part of our bullpen. It’s been a tough start to his year. He landed slide, he landed change up.”
Bats catch fire in Haymarket Park
Nebraska’s offense came to life after a 14-5 loss to No. 4 Ole Miss on Sunday. The Huskers had 13 hits and scored 12 runs in seven innings. Swansen, Fischer and Walsh all hit a home run to different parts of the park. Fischer raked up a team-high four RBIs with his three-run homer.
“Coach Bolt, through the game, was talking about just playing our brand of baseball and I think we truly did that,” Fischer said. “We took advantage of the mistakes that they made as well as playing our game whether that is hard 90s down to first or turning singled into doubles by putting a good swing on the ball. It’s a lot of fun and I think this year will be a lot of fun if we can keep playing our brand of baseball.”
Matthews and Anderson both hit over .400. Anderson got on base twice, was walked and hit by a pitch. He hit .533 against UNC and is now hitting .512 this season. As for Matthews, he had two hits on his three times at bat.
Nebraska’s bats are on a roll but Fischer said they are focused on “playing hard, fast and loose.” Good hitting comes with that mentality.
“The biggest thing right now is trusting the process, we just spent the last five and a half, six months, working every day to come out here and have fun and enjoy it,” Fischer said. “We talk about playing hard, fast and loose. I think all the work that we put in has led to that and has given us the ability to come out here and do that.
“Obviously, I think we’re hitting well. I think it’s going to continue, just trusting each other and knowing we don’t have to do too much by ourselves and that it’s a team game.”
Brockett could lock down mid-week start spot
Nebraska baseball left-handed pitcher Jackson Brockett had a solid outing in his four innings against UNC. He could have potentially locked down a mid-week starting spot. The sophomore said he’s winning to be the mid-week starter or come in on the weekends.
“I’m up for anything,” Brockett said. “Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do.”
Bolt was pleased with Brockett’s innings but thought there was more he could do.
“We need some guys to eat some innings,” Bolt said. “We need some guys to show that they can land multiple pitches. I still don’t think he necessarily landed a ton of secondary pitches the way he is capable of doing but I did feel like after those first couple of batters, he got on the attack. At the end of the day, he didn’t walk anybody and had some good pitches.”
Next up
Nebraska and UNC are scheduled to play at 2:05 p.m. on Wednesday at Haymarket Park. It is likely to rain so keep an eye on the weather.
