On the edge: Previewing Nebraska baseball's elimination showdown with Niagara

Nebraska baseball will fight for its season when it faces Niagara at O’Brate Stadium at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon (ESPN+).

The Purple Eagles dropped a 19-7 slugfest with the Stillwater Regional hosts Oklahoma State on Friday night. Niagara fell behind 11-1 after three innings before rallying over the next inning and a half to cut the deficit to 11-6. The Cowboys outscored the opposition 8-1 the rest of the way.

Combined, both teams totaled 27 hits and 12 of those belonged to Niagara. Head coach Rob McCoy’s squad logged three extra-base hits to go along with three errors. Centerfielder Nick Groves posted two of those doubles and led the team with three RBIs.

Purple Eagles pitching allowed 16 earned runs on 15 hits and issued 12 walks on 237 pitches. Eight total arms took the hill for Niagara and none lasted longer than two innings. Team leaders in innings pitched Maximillian Ramirez IV (6.38 ERA, 55 IP) and reliever Zach Cameron (2.95 ERA, 55 IP) did not pitch.

Here’s more on the Purple Eagles ahead of their tilt with the Huskers this afternoon.

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Stat	Batting Average	Slugging	On-Base Percentage	OPS	Home Runs	ERA	WHIP	Opponent Batting Average	Strikeouts Per 9	Walks Per 9
Purple Eagles	.306	.478	.410	0.888	69	5.40	1.68	.262	8.6	6.09

ICYMI: More on the Purple Eagles from Around the Horn and other preview materials

Niagara

***The Purple Eagles’ 10-6 win over Fairfield in the MAAC this past Saturday captured Niagara’s first MAAC Baseball Championship. It marked the third straight postseason game that the Purple Eagles logged over 12 hits. Five different Niagara bats tallied multiple hits.

***This is the first NCAA Tournament appearance for the Purple Eagles.

***Niagara owns a team ERA of 5.40 and is led by right-handed senior starter Maximilian Ramierez IV with a 6.38 ERA. Preston Prince’s 4.95 ERA is the best among Purple Eagle starters but has pitched 36 1/3 innings. Grad student Zach Cameron is the team’s top reliever with a 2.95 ERA and is tied for the team lead in innings pitched at 55.0 along with 11 saves.

***Player to watch: OF/1B Eric Rataczak

Rataczak is a redshirt junior who transferred to Niagara after playing in 32 games at Arizona Western College. He leads the team in batting average (.402), hits (86), doubles (14), home runs (16), and RBIs (67). There is an extremely wide gap between Rataczak and the next best Purple Eagle bat. He topped the MAAC in RBIs, batting average and on-base percentage.

Niagara prepares for new experience far from home

Niagara head coach Rob McCoy is in his 16th year with the Purple Eagles. His 261 wins are the most by a coach in program history. His program has produced six MLB Draft selections. Niagara’s 38 wins are the most in program history.

What impresses McCoy the most, is the variety of ways his team has logged those victories.

“Some years you have a great offensive team,” McCoy said. “It takes pressure off your pitching and defense, but also if you don’t pitch and play defense, it puts a lot of pressure on your offense. The one thing this team has been really good at is finding different ways to win.”

The crowd isn’t something he’s concerned with.

The Purple Eagles split a midweek series with NCAA Regional qualifier James Madison earlier this year. A year ago Niagara beat Oregon on the road in a midweek setting and took the series opener with then-No. 14 Florida State during the 2020 campaign.

“When you come from where we come from and you play small to mid-major Division-I baseball and you don’t have it, it’s not intimidating,” McCoy said. “It’s crazy, it’s remarkable but it’s not gonna affect us. When we step between the white lines, the bases are 90 feet, the mound is 60 feet-6 inches and this park is very similar to the dimensions of our park at home.”