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Around the Horn: Nebraska baseball set for Big Ten Tournament

Joseph Maierby: Joseph Maier05/19/25JosephMaier29
Nebraska baseball vs. Michigan
Photo Credit: Nebraska Athletics and Dillon Galloway

The Big Ten Baseball Tournament is here in all its glory. Nebraska baseball (28-27, 15-15) returns to Omaha on Tuesday, seeking to defend its title from a year ago.

The Huskers’ path to a trophy — and an NCAA Tournament bid — looks vastly different this time around. The Big Ten overhauled its bracket after conference expansion, opting for a pool-play system that has already drawn criticism from fans and the media alike.

Nebraska enters the tournament in Pool A as the No. 8 seed. The Huskers will face 12th-seeded Michigan State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and the No. 1 overall seed Oregon on Friday at 6 p.m. They need to win both games to advance out of the pool, as Oregon would own the tiebreaker in a scenario where all three teams go 1-1.

Should Nebraska finish 2-0 in pool play, it would move on to a four-team single-elimination tournament on Saturday and Sunday. With an RPI ranking of No. 64 and effectively no shot at an at-large bid, the Huskers need a 4-0 weekend to keep their season alive.

Here’s more on the tournament including opponent previews, projected pitching matchups and the pool-play schedule:

Projecting Nebraska’s pitching matchups

Friday at 6 p.m. vs. Michigan State: RHP Ty Horn (4-6, 5.66 ERA, 68.1 IP, 62 K) vs. LHP Joseph Dzierwa (8-3, 2.31 ERA, 85.2 IP, 98 K)

Friday at 6 p.m. vs. Oregon: LHP Jackson Brockett (3-3, 3.62 ERA, 54.2 IP, 37 K) vs. LHP Grayson Grinsell (9-2, 2.33 ERA, 88.2 IP, 93 K)

Know the Foe: Michigan State

***Player to Watch: Pitcher Joseph Dzierwa

As a reward for finishing as the No. 8 seed, Nebraska will face off against one of the best arms in the country.

Dzierwa earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors four times this season, the first Spartan in program history to do so. He won the award in back-to-back weeks to open May, tossing 16 combined scoreless frames in ranked wins over Oregon and USC. The left-hander threw a 119-pitch complete game against the Ducks, striking out 11, and followed it up with a seven-inning, eight-strikeout performance against the Trojans.

Dzierwa sits atop the Big Ten with a 2.31 ERA and ranks top-five in the conference for strikeouts (98), hits per nine innings (6.44) and WHIP (0.96). The southpaw is a semifinalist for the 2025 Dick Howser Trophy and the 2025 Golden Spikes Award. Nebraska’s Ty Horn will get the nod against Dzierwa in the biggest spot of his young career.

***Infielder Sam Busch is Michigan State’s best slugger. He leads the team with 15 home runs, the most by any Spartan since 2002. His 60 RBIs rank No. 10 in the Big Ten, single-handedly lifting his team to multiple wins. No other Michigan State hitter has more than 36 RBIs on the year. Bucsh tallied three multi-home run outings this season, including a 4-RBI day in the Spartans’ run-rule victory over USC last week.

***Infielder Ryan McKay is one of just two Spartans hitting over .300 on the year. Even with just five home runs, he racked up a .500 slugging percentage thanks to a team-high 19 doubles. McKay is a trusty leadoff man with a .424 on-base percentage and 35 walks. He is currently riding a five-game hitting streak.

***The rest of Michigan State’s offense struggled this season. As a team, the Spartans have a .267 batting average and the fourth-fewest hits in the Big Ten (457). However, they are disciplined at the plate with just 360 strikeouts on the year compared to Nebraska’s 423.

***Spartan head coach Jake Boss Jr. is in his 17th year at Michigan State. His 468 wins rank No. 3 in program history.

Know the Foe: Oregon

***After sweeping Iowa and winning a share of the Big Ten regular season title, the No. 4-ranked Ducks enter the tournament in an intriguing position. Thanks to a generous tiebreaker system, Oregon is the only team that can win Group C with a 1-1 record. In the case of a three-way tie, the highest seed automatically advances.

The loser of Tuesday’s Nebraska vs. Michigan State contest will be eliminated before they face the Ducks. With no Big Ten Tournament implications in that matchup, Oregon can channel its focus solely on the winner of Tuesday’s game. However, as the Ducks jockey for national seeding, an 0-2 weekend could potentially knock them out of the top eight and a chance to host a Super Regional. Should Nebraska defeat the Spartans, they could potentially face Oregon’s Friday starter on a full week of rest.

***Speaking of the Ducks’ ace, Grayson Grinsell is statistically the best pitcher in the Big Ten not named Joseph Dzierwa. The Huskers may have to do battle with two sub-2.50 ERA arms just to make it out of Pool A. Grinsell threw 88.2 innings this season, the most in the Big Ten, while recording a 2.33 ERA, 93 strikeouts and a .185 opponent batting average. The left-hander is the sixth pitcher in Oregon program history with 200 career strikeouts.

Grinsell’s numbers are staggering over the last month. Since April 18, he has made five appearances and lasted at least seven innings in all of them. His lowest pitch total was 102 during that stretch, including a 121-pitch outing against Washington and two complete games. Remarkably, Grinsell was credited with just four earned runs over 38 innings of work. He struck out at least eight in his last three outings.

***Even if Grinsell doesn’t toe the rubber, right-hander Jason Reitz is almost just as deadly. The Ducks’ Sunday starter ranks No. 3 in the Big Ten with a 3.09 ERA to go along with 59 strikeouts in 58.1 innings of work. He is 5-0 on the year and earned a save against USC in early March. Reitz has also been stellar over the last month, giving up just three runs in his last four outings. Thanks to one of the best pitching staffs in the country, Oregon enters the Big Ten Tournament riding a 10-game winning streak.

***The Ducks’ offense is prolific as well, ranking No. 3 in the Big Ten for total runs and batting average. Power is where Oregon’s bats shine, with the seventh-most home runs in the country (107). Five Duck hitters recorded 12 or more blasts this season and seven have a slugging percentage of .450 or higher.

***Head coach Mark Wasikowski was the catalyst for Oregon’s new era of offensive firepower. Before his tenure began in 2020, the Ducks’ season-high for home runs was 48. They smashed that record in each of the four full seasons since. Oregon broke its previous season-best of 101 last weekend, crushing 11 blasts in three games against Iowa.

***Player to watch: Center fielder Mason Neville

Neville leads the nation with 26 home runs, a new program record. He homered in every 7.6 at-bats this season, improving on his 9.3 clip from 2024. Neville’s .302 batting average only ranks sixth on the team, but he leads Oregon and the Big Ten with a .774 slugging percentage.

***First baseman Jacob Walsh is also no stranger to breaking program records. He’s recorded the most career home runs and most multi-RBI games of any Oregon player, only improving on his numbers with five RBIs and two bombs against Iowa. Walsh leads the team with a .344 batting average, one of six ducks hitting above .300, and 59 RBIs. Neville and Walsh were both named semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy.

Big Ten Tournament schedule

Here is the full schedule for the Big Ten Tournament. The winners of each pool will advance to a single-elimination tournament on Saturday and Sunday. All games will be televised on Big Ten Network.

If Nebraska finishes 2-0 in Pool A, it will move on to face the winner of Pool D (USC, Washington and Penn State) on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Big Ten Championship Game will be played on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Tuesday, May 20

  • Game 1: No. 11 Illinois vs. No. 7 Michigan @ 10 a.m.
  • Game 2: No. 10 Rutgers vs. No. 6 Indiana @ 2 p.m.
  • Game 3: No. 12 Michigan State vs. No. 8 Nebraska @ 6 p.m.

Wednesday, May 21

  • Game 4: No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 11 Illinois @ 10 a.m.
  • Game 5: No. 9 Penn State vs. No. 5 Washington @ 2 p.m.
  • Game 6: No. 3 Iowa vs. No. 10 Rutgers @ 6 p.m.

Thursday, May 22

  • Game 7: No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 2 UCLA @ 10 a.m.
  • Game 8: No. 4 USC vs. No. 9 Penn State @ 2 p.m.
  • Game 9: No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 12 Michigan State @ 6 p.m.

Friday, May 23

  • Game 10: No. 5 Washington vs. No. 4 USC @ 10 a.m.
  • Game 11: No. 6 Indiana vs. No. 3 Iowa @ 2 p.m.
  • Game 12: No. 8 Nebraska vs. No. 1 Oregon @ 6 p.m.

Saturday, May 24 (Semifinals)

  • Game 13: Pool A winner vs. Pool D winner @ 2 p.m.
  • Game 14: Pool B winner vs. Pool C winner @ 6 p.m.

Sunday, May 25 (Championship)

  • Game 15: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner @ 2 p.m.

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