Nebraska baseball (21-23, 9-12) grabbed momentum as it heads down the home stretch for the regular season with its series victory over Maryland. The highlight came with the Huskers crushing the Terrapins 21-5 in the rubber match on Sunday.
Here are metrics from Nebraska winning two of three in College Park:
Hitting
Seniors, left fielder Gabe Swansen and third baseman Joshua Overbeek, led the way in the series finale, grabbing 12 of Nebraska’s 21 RBIs.
The Huskers racked up 39 hits in 110 at-bats for a .355 average over the series. Four dingers were smacked in the three games, two of which came from junior second baseman Cayden Brumbaugh. Sophomore first baseman Case Sanderson nailed the lone homer in game two’s 7-2 Nebraska win.
Sanderson snapped out of his slump at the plate. He was a force in game two, going 3-for-3, posting three RBIs and drawing two walks — Maryland couldn’t put him out, as he drew another two walks on Saturday. Sanderson finished the series going 4-for-8, snagging four total RBIs.
The Huskers’ plate approach was well-coordinated. Nebraska only struck out 17 times over the three contests, for a 15% strikeout rate. The Huskers also took advantage of the weak pitching staff, drawing 20 walks. Overall, this was a strong offensive performance — a great series for Nebraska’s hitting stats — the series finale was a significant help.
Pitching
Lefty Will Walsh (4-6, 5.27 ERA) had a grueling outing in the series opener 12-5 loss. The senior starter entered Friday with a 4.72 ERA, which jumped after his outing the week prior. Walsh posted only three innings on the mound, allowing five earned runs off three hits. In his past two starts, he’s only thrown six total innings. Walsh’s struggle is a concern, as the Huskers head to the finish line. They need their ace on the mound.
Righty Ty Horn (2-4, 6.31 ERA) carried his strong performance from last week into Saturday. The sophomore starter posted six innings, allowing zero earned runs off six hits. Quite the performance for the talented arm. He added five strikeouts to his two walks allowed.
Lefty Jackson Brockett (2-3, 4.01 ERA) followed Horn with his outing in the rubber match. The senior starter posted five strong innings, only having some trouble in the fourth. Although five runs were scored with Brockett on the mound, only two of them were earned, thanks to two Nebraska fielding errors.
Both Horn and Brockett have now picked up back-to-back wins. If Walsh can get back in the groove, the starting pitching will be set up well for the Huskers to make a run.
Schneider is a sports journalist who covers Nebraska baseball and football. Follow him on X @bschneider33 for more coverage.