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Nebraska falls 7-4 to Oklahoma in regional opener

by:Carter Owens•05/31/25
Will Bolt-delivers-first-reaction-facing-Skip-Johnson-Oklahoma
Nebraska baseball head coach Will Bolt (Photo via Nebraska Athletics)

Nebraska (32-28) couldn’t solve Oklahoma starter Malachi Witherspoon and fell 7-4 to the Sooners (36-20) Friday night in the NCAA regional opener.

Witherspoon (5.09 ERA) baffled Husker hitters, pitching six scoreless innings while allowing just three hits, two walks, and striking out nine.

The Huskers had their best chance in the first inning, loading the bases on a Devin Nunez single, a hit-by-pitch to Gabe Swansen, and a walk to Case Sanderson. However, Dylan Carey’s groundout to the pitcher ended the threat. Nebraska hit just .167 for the game, went 0-for-9 with two outs, and 1-for-15 with runners on base.

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Sooners build early lead

Oklahoma struck first in the second inning, scoring two runs off Nebraska starter Jackson Brockett. Drew Dickerson’s one-out, two-run homer to right gave the Sooners an early lead. Easton Carmichael added a solo homer leading off the third to make it 3-0.

A three-run seventh inning extended Oklahoma’s advantage to 7-0. Nebraska issued a walk, hit a batter, and committed an error to load the bases. The Sooners cashed in with an RBI groundout and a two-out, two-run single.

Nebraska rally comes up short

Nebraska mounted a late rally in the eighth. With the bases loaded, Max Buettenback lined a three-run triple down the left field line to cut the deficit to 7-3. Pinch hitter Will Jesske followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-4, but that was as close as the Huskers would get.

Nebraska will face Holy Cross (31-26), which dropped its opening game to North Carolina 4-0, in an elimination game at 11 a.m. CT Saturday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+. Head coach Will Bolt and pitching coach Rob Childress are expected to consider Ty Horn or Will Walsh as the starting pitcher. Nebraska, which has excelled in elimination scenarios the past two years, will need four straight wins to reach a super regional.

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