Around the Horn: Nebraska baseball closes out nonconference play with New Mexico State
Only one nonconference series remains on Nebraska baseball’s schedule. The Huskers (15-5) welcome New Mexico State to Lincoln which marks an end to NU’s eight-game home stand.
It’s Nebraska’s second consecutive five-game week and the Huskers are off to a 2-0 start with a 11-5 win over Omaha and 3-1 takedown of North Dakota State. The Aggies are 10-11 with losses in five of the last six games including a 14-4 midweek drubbing at the hands of in-state rival New Mexico on Tuesday.
Here’s more on the matchup for head coach Will Bolt and company with a look at Nebraska’s strikeout numbers, storylines to monitor and notes on both teams.
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Projecting Nebraska’s pitching matchups
Friday, 4:05 p.m., RHP Brett Sears (Stats: 3-0, 1.44 ERA, 31.1 IP, 34 K) vs. RHP Treyjen Meza (Stats: 2-0, 5.87 ERA, 30.2 IP, 33 K)
Saturday, 2:05 p.m., RHP Drew Christo (Stats: 1-1, 4.88 ERA, 24.0 IP, 16 K) Vs. LHP Josh Sharman (Stats: 0-0, 7.36 ERA, 22.0 IP, 16 K)
Sunday, 1:05 p.m., RHP Mason McConnaughey (Stats: 2-2, 1.65 ERA, 16.1 IP, 25 K) Vs. LHP Hayden Walker (1-0, 4.30 ERA, 23.0 IP, 25 K)
What to watch for the Huskers
Nebraska must keep its winning streak alive through the weekend
If the Huskers want to keep achieving their yearly goal of hosting a regional a possibility (and prevent any major hits to their at-large hopes), they need to take all three games this weekend. That would extend Nebraska’s winning streak to eight games with a critical midweek against Kansas State and the first Big Ten series of the season looming.
The week is already off to a good start.
Both Mason McConnaughey and Will Walsh lasted longer five innings or longer in the Huskers’ two midweek games that are already in the books. Once again, the Nebraska bullpen is in great shape entering the weekend.
New Mexico State’s starting rotation is by far the worst the Huskers have faced this year. Combined, the unit has a 5.83 ERA and the entire staff carries a 7.75 mark. Strikeouts are a strong point for the weekend trio with 74 strikeouts to 30 walks (2.47 K-BB). In spite of that, Nebraska should still find plenty of success at the plate.
Taking momentum to Manhattan next Tuesday to take on the 14-6 Wildcats (No. 46 in the RPI), will be incredibly valuable.
What happens on Sunday?
There are a couple of angles to this question.
After throwing 74 pitches in five innings on Tuesday, how long does Mason McConnaughey go four days later? His career-high pitch count is 101 and came last year with Cloud County Community College.
When he committed to Nebraska last summer, McConnaughey’s strikeout-walk ratio jumped out immediately. A freshman posting a 4.04 strikeout-walk ratio with 93 punchouts in 68 1/3 innings at any level is beyond impressive. McConnaughey is averaging 3.57 strikeouts per walk as a Husker.
Bolt’s postgame evaluation of the right-hander from Tuesday comes to mind.
“Absolutely,” Bolt said of McConnaughey’s chances to crack the weekend rotation. “He was pretty dominant tonight. He threw strikes and he put guys away when he had two strikes. Yeah, he looked like a starter to me tonight.”
Now for the second aspect of this question. Sunday’s forecast calls for intermittent rain and cool temperatures. The latter condition is set to be a theme for the weekend.
Even if McConnaughey can’t go for long, it’s a position that Nebraska is used to. No Husker starter has lasted longer than four innings in the final game of the series. Making this move now before conference play begins with Northwestern next week is the right move, too.
Data Dive: Nebraska’s strikeouts in 2024
It’s time to revisit a significant theme of the first half of Nebraska’s season. In the second week of the season, I broke down the Huskers’ strikeouts per game over the last three years of the Bolt era. Now here’s how NU is faring in 2024.
At 8.36 strikeouts per game, the Huskers are right on the national average of 8.35.
The chart below features that strikeout average compared to runs per game. There is a general (and somewhat obvious) relationship between those two variables. Fewer strikeouts usually equate to more runs except for some outliers such as Ohio State.
All Big Ten teams are labeled along with any team with more than 10 runs per game and less than the strikeout average and any team with more strikeouts than average and less than four runs per game. All numbers are through Tuesday night’s games.
Some of these numbers are a bit artificially boosted. Iowa has played midweek games against Loras, St. Thomas and Grand View and outscored their opponents 54-12. Nicholls’ offense in the lower right corner is also fairly efficient but has played a weak schedule. Meanwhile, Nebraska is overperforming offensively despite its strikeout issues where there is still plenty of room to improve.
Nebraska baseball notes
***One week from the start of conference play, Nebraska’s pitching staff leads the Big Ten in team ERA (4.08), saves (10), and has the fewest walks (59). The Huskers are second in batting average (.236) and home runs allowed (15).
***Nebraska ranks eighth in the conference fielding percentage (0.967) and has the the fourth-most errors (25). Indiana is worst in each of those categories with 32 errors and a 0.957 fielding percentage.
***Riley Silva is the only Husker to tally 20 hits and score 20 runs so far this season. He has reached in 18 of the 19 games he has appeared in this year. Silva is one of 12 Division-I players to be hit 12 or more times this year.
***Mason McConnaughey has not allowed an earned run in his last five appearances. During that span he has pitched 12 1/3 innings with 21 strikeouts and issued six walks.
Know the foe: New Mexico State
***Nebraska leads the all-time series with New Mexico State 8-2 and the Huskers are 2-0 at Haymarket Park. Those games were played in 2022 and NU won 12-6 and 6-5. Friday marks the start of an eight-game road trip for the Aggies.
***Nine different Aggies enter the weekend with an on-base streak and five others own a hitting streak. New Mexico State leads Conference USA in seven different categories including team batting average at .321. It’s the Aggies’ first season in CUSA.
***This is the first season for New Mexico State head coach Jake Angier who came to Las Cruces from Oregon where he spent the previous three years as the team’s pitching coach. Angier is a South Dakota State graduate and was named by Baseball America to its list of top 50 names to watch in the 2023 cycle.
***Player to watch: C Nick Gore
The senior and native of Scottsdale, Arizona, leads his team in batting average (.403), hits (31), RBI (32) and home runs (6). Gore has hits in 11 of his last 13 games and has tallied multiple hits in 10 games this season. He was also an All-WAC Defensive selection in 2023.
Around the Big Ten
Here are a few Big Ten series/games to keep tabs on this weekend. Records are as of Wednesday evening:
Friday, March 22:
Michigan State (8-9) @ Maryland (16-5), 5:30 p.m. CT
Iowa (11-9) @ Purdue (15-7), 3:00 p.m. CT
Illinois (8-11) @ Indiana (11-10), 5:00 p.m. CT
Michigan (7-14) @ Penn State (11-7), 4:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, March 23:
Michigan State (8-9) @ Maryland (16-5), 1:00 p.m. CT
Iowa (11-9) @ Purdue (15-7), 12:00 p.m. CT
Illinois (8-11) @ Indiana (11-10), 1:00 p.m. CT
Michigan (7-14) @ Penn State (11-7), 1:00 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 24:
Michigan State (8-9) @ Maryland (16-5), 12:00 p.m. CT
Iowa (11-9) @ Purdue (15-7), 12:00 p.m. CT
Illinois (8-11) @ Indiana (11-10), 12:00 p.m. CT
Michigan (7-14) @ Penn State (11-7), 12:00 p.m. CT
Broadcast Information
TV: Big Ten+: HERE
Radio: Huskers Radio Network (Radio simulcast found HERE)
