Nebraska baseball stunned by eight-run first in 14-5 loss to No. 4 Ole Miss

MINNEAPOLIS –Nebraska baseball’s five-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday afternoon at the hands of No. 4 Ole Miss.

The Rebels threw an eight-run haymaker in the top half of the first and the Huskers couldn’t recover. Despite two home runs and eight total hits, head coach Will Bolt and company suffered their fourth loss of the season in the final game of the Cambria College Classic falling to 5-4-1.

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All eyes were on the freshman.

Caleb Clark made his third career start against the defending national champs and their vaunted explosive offense. The Canadian stayed cool through the first five batters he faced despite allowing a pair of base runners on via a single and hit batsman.

Things turned with runners on second and third and two outs. Clark brought home a 2-2 pitch that just missed the top of the zone. On the next pitch, Anthony Calarco knocked a bloop single to left that scored two runs. The next seven Rebels reached base as Ole Miss brought in eight runs on six hits bursting out to an 8-0 lead.

“He’s gotta have secondary pitches,” Bolt said of Clark’s struggles. “He had his fastball going and got a punchout. I thought he made his pitch to Calarco. He made a good pitch and got jammed. That’s a good hitter finding a way to get the ball where he needs to get it and just putting the ball in play. (Clark) has to have a slider, changeup or something else to put him away with.”

Michael Garza entered the game in relief and the fifth-year senior had some words of encouragement for the youngster Clark.

“I told him to stick with it,” Garza said. “He’s gonna bounce back. Obviously he’s a good pitcher. It’s gonna hurt for a little bit but he’ll get over it.”

After a quiet second inning, Nebraska got on the board in the third. Casey Burnham lead off with a single and then Brice Matthews entered the batter’s box. The junior shortstop put together a 10-pitch at-bat that culminated in a two-run blast to left cutting the Rebel lead to 8-2.

Garza picked up the first two outs of the frame without difficulty. Dylan Carey had the chance to make it a 1-2-3 inning for his pitcher. But, the freshman failed to make a catch on a popup in foul territory and the Rebels capitalized by loading the bases.

Carey got his chance at redemption. Calarco popped up to the third-base side and Carey made an incredible over-the-shoulder catch to end the Ole Miss threat.

What a catch for the freshman.

👏 @dylancarey08 pic.twitter.com/K63Ap4hBn2

— Nebraska Baseball (@Husker_Baseball) March 5, 2023

Efry Cervantes gave the Huskers another lift in the fifth. The fifth-year senior went yard for the second time in his Nebraska career. But the Cervantes solo shot was not the last time the Huskers would score in the frame. Carey hit a sharp grounder off the ankle of Rebel reliever Brayden Jones that rolled lazily into right and allowed Matthews to score making it 8-4.

Nebraska remained aggressive, but Max Anderson lined into a double play at first base on a hit and run. That wiped the bases clean and ended the inning.

“We got within 8-4 and Max lines out on a 3-2 pitch,” Bolt said. “The ball gets down the right-field line, we score another run, who knows what’s going to happen in that inning.”

Ole Miss got those runs right back in the home half of the fifth. Two hits off of Jaylen Worthley led to two runs and Garrett Anglim exited the game after suffering an injury in left field. Charlie Fischer replaced him in the lineup and moved to right field while Gabe Swansen shifted from right to left. The Rebels held a 10-4 advantage into the sixth.

“(Anglim) is probably going to be out for a while,” Bolt said. “He’s got a hammy that’s bothering him.”

Nebraska didn’t make any noise in the next two innings. The same couldn’t be said of Ole Miss which added three runs off a single hit taking advantage of four Husker free passes. Down by nine runs, a Anderson double in the seventh would make it a 13-5 ballgame.

Ole Miss plated a run in the bottom of the eighth to push the Rebel lead to nine. Tommy Henninger shut it down in the top of the ninth and Ole Miss knocked off Nebraska to claim the Cambria College Classic championship.

“It’s just baseball,” Matthews said. “Things happen and they found a way to get it done. It’s just a learning point. We’ve just gotta keep building on it and what we’ve done this past weekend and go to the next weekend.”

A sour Sunday shouldn’t sully a good Husker weekend

Sunday’s results sting. There’s no doubt.

Nebraska baseball was in position to piece together its best weekend in quite some time. The opening inning put the Huskers squarely behind the 8-ball. From the second through the ninth, the Rebels outscored Nebraska 6-5. Bolt’s squad didn’t quit, but it’s a nine-inning ballgame.

“There’s a lot of little plays within the game that can define you and define the game,” Bolt said. “I thought it was the same way in this one today. I thought we had some opportunities early to put our stamp on the game early and didn’t do it.”

In spite of the loss, the Huskers finished 2-1 at the Cambria College Classic. That result seemed impossible following the San Diego series. Nebraska won’t leave the state for the rest of the month and is above .500 entering a very manageable section of its schedule. Plus, the win over Hawaii on Saturday looked a lot better after the Rainbow Warriors took down No. 18 Maryland 9-3 earlier in the day.

“We can play baseball with anybody,” Matthews said. “We compete with the best of the best and we love being around each other.”

Ultimately, Nebraska will leave Minneapolis pleased but not satisfied.

“I think we learned a lot about our team,” Bolt said. “It was a good weekend. It could have been a great one.”

What’s next for Nebraska?

The Huskers return home for a 10-game home stand beginning with Northern Colorado and former Nebraska head coach Mike Anderson on Tuesday. The game gets started at 4:00 p.m. and will be streamed on BTN+ and can be heard on the Huskers Radio Network.

Of the Huskers’ next 15 games, 14 are at Haymarket Park.