Sanderson's walk-off homer lifts Nebraska baseball to series win over Michigan

Nebraska baseball (26-25, 13-13) defeated Michigan (30-19, 14-12) in walk-off fashion on Saturday, 5-2, to secure a series victory. Case Sanderson smacked a three-run bomb in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the Huskers to a senior-day win and their third walk-off in the last two weeks.

“It’s just exciting. You’ve got the blood flowing,” Sanderson said postgame. “Anything you can do for your boys. It’s just so exciting to see that and just to be in that opportunity. To be put in that position.”

Ty Horn (6.28 ERA) posted another strong start as Nebraska won its fourth consecutive Saturday contest. The right-hander tossed six frames, allowing two runs on four hits. Will Walsh relieved Horn and retired all seven batters he faced.

The Huskers overcame a nine-inning, 101-pitch start from Wolverine right-hander David Lally Jr. Hogan Helligso‘s two-run shot in the fifth kept them alive and sparked an altercation that resulted in Michigan head coach Tracy Smith’s ejection.

Here is a recap of the victory:

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Horn posts another strong outing

After overcoming some early season struggles, Horn has turned it on over the last month. The right-hander tossed six frames on Saturday, giving up just four hits and striking out four.

He retired the first seven batters he faced and opened the day with three scoreless innings.

“Command is a lot better. He’s kind of settling in,” head coach Will Bolt said of Horn. “He got to the point where he realized he needed to really grow and mature, or it was going to be somebody else’s turn.

“To his credit, the competitor kind of came out in him and he’s really just commanded the ball better. He’s throwing more sliders, less curveballs as well. The changeup has been a weapon.”

Michigan finally broke through in the fourth. Mitch Voit smacked a line drive down the right-field line and into the corner. Robby Bolin misplayed the ball, allowing Voit to reach third base with time to spare.

Jeter Ybarra brought home the game’s first run one at-bat later. Ybarra swung at the first pitch he saw, driving a sacrifice fly deep to left field. Voit tagged from third and scored to give the Wolverines an early 1-0 lead.

Fifth-inning fireworks

Through four innings, the Huskers had only recorded two hits, both off the bat of Riley Silva. Lally Jr. was incredibly efficient, needing just 33 pitches to rack up four scoreless frames. He threw 101 total pitches in 8.1 innings of work on Saturday.

“He was just using a lot of up-and-in fastballs. He was keeping us on our toes,” Sanderson said of Lally Jr. “He was landing the slider, he was doing a good job moving in and out.”

In the fifth, Dylan Carey tallied Nebraska’s first extra-base hit with a double down the left-field line. With two outs, Helligso smacked a two-run shot that narrowly stayed inside the left-field foul pole.

Michigan adamantly protested that the 365-foot blast snuck foul, but the original call was upheld after review. Wolverine head coach Tracy Smith was tossed out after confronting the umpire crew.

“My view was that he put an awesome swing on it and it went our way,” Bolt said of Helligso’s home run. “It was good to be on the right side of a close call.”

The ejection lit a fire under the Wolverines. Benny Casillas answered on the first pitch of the sixth, blasting a solo home run to right. After a double from Voit and a walk put runners on the corners with two outs, Horn escaped the jam with a flyout to center. The game was knotted up at 2-2 heading into the seventh.

“It was a short-lived lead. It was one pitch it lasted, but just proud of [Horn] for not allowing that leadoff home run to turn into more than that,” Bolt said.

Sanderson delivers walk-off heroics

After relieving Horn in the seventh, Walsh retired seven straight Wolverines to keep the game tied down the stretch.

“Huge on senior day, just like the professional that he is,” Bolt said of Walsh. “He had a chance to go one way or the other and he gave us a quality start on Tuesday and then came out of the bullpen today when we needed it most. It was an awesome performance.”

Michigan opted to leave Lally Jr. on the mound in the ninth. He finally showed signs of slowing down, hitting Cael Frost with a pitch and walking Gabe Swansen on a full count.

With Sanderson up to bat, the Wolverines dipped into the bullpen for the first time. Dylan Vigue (4.80 ERA) took the bump but only lasted seconds.

Sanderson hammered the first pitch he saw, blasting a three-run walk-off homer 423 feet into the parking lot.

“I trust him in that spot,” Bolt said. “He’s one of our best hand-eye coordination guys and when he swings aggressively, good things normally happen. I’d say that was a pretty aggressive swing.”

A gatorade bath ensued at home plate and continued during Sanderson’s post-game interview.

“I threw some Gatorade at him,” Horn said. “He hit a pull-side home run first time in his career, I think, which is good. He’s more of just a slap guy so it’s good to see that.”

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