Around the Horn: Nebraska baseball begins Big Ten play at Northwestern

Riding a seven-game winning streak and with a 17-5 record in hand, Nebraska baseball travels to Evanston this weekend to take on Northwestern in its Big Ten opener.

The Huskers posted a 15-9 conference record in 2023, which was good enough for a fourth-place finish in the league standings. Nebraska has won seven consecutive weekend series dating back to last season. Should the Huskers’ push their winning streak to eight games with a win on Friday, it would be the best winning run for NU since 2014.

Here’s more on the Huskers’ weekend bout with the Wildcats complete with notes on Northwestern, Brett Sears nation-leading WHIP and more.

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Projecting Nebraska’s pitching matchups

Friday, 3:00 p.m., RHP Brett Sears (Stats: 4-0, 1.14 ERA, 39.1 IP, 43 K) vs. LHP Nolan Morr (Stats: 1-3, 6.39 ERA, 31.0 IP, 29 K)

Saturday, 1:00 p.m., RHP Drew Christo (Stats: 1-1, 4.12 ERA, 28.1 IP, 20 K) Vs. RHP Kyle Potthoff (Stats: 2-0, 2.28 ERA, 27.2 IP, 14 K)

Sunday, 1:00 p.m., RHP Mason McConnaughey (Stats: 2-2, 1.65 ERA, 16.1 IP, 25 K) Vs. RHP Luke Benneche (1-1, 4.30 ERA, 29.1 IP, 15 K)

What to watch for the Huskers

Areas to improve as the conference slate begins

What changes for Nebraska entering Big Ten play? Nothing.

“We obviously are feeling good, We’ve played well up to this point,” Bolt said. “(The mindset is) not to change anything. It’s not to say, ‘Now we’re playing in conference. We have a different record associated with our name.’ It’s just to stick to our process and be very, very consistent with what we do and not make it more than it needs to be, which has exactly been the strength of this team.”

Of course there are still some areas for improvement. Bolt sees fielding percentage is front of mind of late. As of now, the Huskers are about middle of the pack in this area. NU owns the seventh-lowest fielding percentage in the conference (0.967) and is in a three-way tie for the fifth-most errors (27).

The return of Josh Overbeek to the lineup helped according to Bolt, and allowed Nebraska to rotate Rhett Stokes to second.

“Dylan Carey is getting more comfortable every day, Caron is doing a nice job and we’ve done a good job in the outfield,” Bolt said. “I still think that’s an area where we can become an above average team and we’re not there yet but we can continue to strive to get there.”

For his part, Overbeek seems ready to roll.

“As we head into Big Ten play, I think we’re really excited about what we’ve done so far, but none of that matters,” Overbeek said. “It’s a new season, it’s a clean slate and we’ll be ready to go.”

Nebraska’s “stick to the process” mantra has been present since the early days of the season. If the team’s 17-5 nonconference record is any indication, it should serve the Huskers well the rest of the way.

Can the Huskers keep picking each other up?

Nebraska’s team resilience has been a major theme this year. Along with a higher rate of ground balls, it’s one of Bolt’s theories about why the Huskers’ have had so much two-out hitting success. Nebraska is batting a cool .300 with two outs this year and 60 of the team’s 149 RBIs have come in such situations.

“It’s happened several times this year where we’ve had a runner at third with less than two outs and we don’t get the job done, and the next guy steps right up and picks him up,” Bolt said. “I think you’ve got to have that team aspect of it as well.”

All three of NU’s representatives at Wednesday’s media availability referenced picking each other up multiple times.

Of course, that mentality extends to and may be most recently best represented by the pitching staff. Drew Christo will be the first to admit he didn’t have the greatest of outings against New Mexico State last Saturday. But, Kyle Froehlich relieved Christo and got out of his jam to hang a zero in the fifth.

Then Jalen Worthley did the same for Froehlich in the sixth and Evan Borst returned the favor to Worthley in the seventh.

“It doesn’t matter who it is, we believe that each guy that comes out of the bullpen is going to pick us up and do what’s right for the team,” Christo said. “It’s a huge confidence booster when you’re on the mound knowing that the guys coming in after you are going to dominate.”

Those are two real examples of how Nebraska’s depth has paid off.

Data Dive: Brett Sears among the nation’s best

Brett Sears is on another level.

In his last three starts, he has a 0.82 ERA, a 0.63 WHIP and 22 strikeouts to nine walks. Believe it or not, that’s a worse WHIP than he owns this season at 0.58. His first start of the season (in which he went 5 1/3 innings) is his only outing that did not meet quality start standards. He has not allowed more than two runs in an appearance this year.

“I think what separates him is that he’s not a thrower, he’s a pitcher,” Overbeek said. “He mixes speeds. His fastball has good jump to it. He’s got a good changeup and a good breaker. He’s out there competing and that’s all that matters. He trusts his stuff and he trusts the defense behind him.”

Overbeek also said Sears’ preparation is another of his key attributes.

Here’s a closer look at how Sears’ numbers compare to other arms around the country. Below are the top 10 pitchers in terms of ERA nationwide. Their base runners allowed this season are charted below. The group is sorted by WHIP and each has his WHIP noted above their bar.

Sears is 4-0 and Nebraska has won all six of his starts. He is one of four arms in the NCAA with more than 30 innings pitched and 40 plus strikeouts while allowing fewer than five earned runs. His hits allowed per nine innings sits at 3.66, good for third nationally. Perhaps most impressive is that only four of those hits have gone for extra bases.

Nebraska baseball notes

***Three Huskers rank in the top 10 of the Big Ten’s fewest walks allowed. Will Walsh has issued just two walks this year which is the lowest number in the conference. Brett Sears and Drew Christo are also in the top 10.

***When Nebraska holds its opponents to six or fewer runs, the Huskers are 13-0. NU has kept foes below five runs in each of the last five games.

***Cayden Brumbaugh has reached base in each of the 16 games he has appeared in this season. His .339 batting average is the third-best on the team.

***Only 11 pitching staffs in the country have an ERA less than 4.00 with a WHIP below 1.25. Nebraska is one of them.

Know the foe: Northwestern

***It took the Wildcats 19 games to match their win total from the 2023 season. Northwestern finished with an abysmal 10-40 record in the team’s first and only year under head coach Jim Foster, who was fired amidst abuse allegations this past July.

Ben Greenspan, the former Michigan associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, took Foster’s place. The Wildcats last completed a full season above .500 in 2000 (27-23).

***Northwestern is 8-3 this season when allowing five or fewer runs.

***Nebraska last lost a series to Northwestern in 2019 after dropping the first two of a Saturday-Sunday-Monday weekend series. NU leads the all-time series 17-10 and has won the last six meetings.

***Freshman Jackson Freeman has reached base in 21 of his 22 collegiate games. The Ladera Ranch, California, native is batting .276 with three doubles, two triples, two home runs and 12 RBIs.

***Player to watch: C/1B Bennett Markinson

Markinson leads the Wildcats in hits (32), batting average (.360) and is tied for the lead in RBIs (18). He is one of two Northwestern bats with an average higher than .300 (Owen McElfatrick). The junior native of Tarzana, California, is well ahead of his 2022 production (.273 BA, 33 hits, 15 RBI). Markinson had nine multi-hit games a year ago and has recorded 11 through 22 games this season.

Around the Big Ten

Here are a few Big Ten series to keep tabs on this weekend as well as the conference standings. Records are as of Wednesday evening:

Series:

Minnesota (10-10, 0-0) @ Iowa (13-10, 2-1)

Purdue (16-10, 1-2) @ Ohio State (10-11, 0-0)

Penn State (13-9, 1-2) @ Illinois (11-12, 2-1)

Standings:

Broadcast Information

TV: Big Ten+: HERE

Radio: Huskers Radio Network (Radio simulcast found HERE)

Stations: Lincoln (1400 AM), Omaha (590 AM)