Around the Horn: Nebraska baseball set for four-game series with College of Charleston
For a third consecutive weekend, Nebraska baseball (4-3) is on the road. A 7-0 College of Charleston program is next on the docket, as the home opener against South Alabama looms.
The Cougars have bested their opponents (Marshall and Youngstown State) by an aggregate score of 59-15. Head coach Will Bolt’s Huskers represent a significant step up in competition from a duo of schools that went a combined 35-73 in 2023.
Here’s more on opening weekend including pitching matchups, thoughts from Bolt on the Huskers’ strikeout issues, early benchmarks the Nebraska pitching staff, opponent scouts and more.
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Projecting Nebraska’s pitching
Thursday, 1:00 p.m., RHP Drew Christo (Stats: 1-0, 3.38 ERA, 8.0 IP, 6 K) vs. LHP Hayden Thomas (Stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.0 IP, 1 K)
Friday, 3:00 p.m., RHP Brett Sears (Stats: 1-0, 0.79 ERA, 11.1 IP, 14 K) vs. RHP Jake Brink (Stats: 2-0, 0.75 ERA, 12.0 IP, 11 K)
Saturday, 5:00 p.m., LHP Will Walsh (Stats: 0-0, 5.19 ERA, 8.2 IP, 6 K) Vs. RHP Aidan Hunter (1-0, 0.82 ERA, 11.0 IP, 9 K)
Sunday, 12:00 p.m., LHP Caleb Clark (Stats: 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 6.2 IP, 5 K) Vs. LHP Connor Campbell (2-0, 0.66 ERA, 13.2 IP, 8 K)
What to watch for the Huskers
Bolt talks strikeouts
It’s no secret that strikeouts are a major issue for Nebraska’s offense just seven games into the season. In five of those contests, the Huskers have gone down on strikes 11 or more times with three instances of 13 or more strikeouts.
After the first four games of the year, Nebraska head coach Will Bolt said his squad hit with two strikes in 67% of their at-bats. He added that the college average in that area is closer to 50%.
“You can’t be hitting with two strikes in almost 70% of your at-bats, you’re going to strikeout,” Bolt said. “The stuff is too good in college baseball now. A lot of that is being more ready early in the count, which I think we saw some of that this weekend. You have games where you score 11 or 12 runs, I don’t really care how many times you strikeout to be honest. You’re going to have a lot of at-bats.”
Bolt added that there have already been adjustments made to correct the Huskers’ strikeout woes. However, Nebraska’s attacking identity at the dish will remain.
“I want to be aggressive at the plate,” Bolt said. “If you’re aggressive at the plate, you don’t miss your pitches and you don’t hit with two strikes in 70% of your at-bats.”
Finding and sustaining toughness
Nebraska took plenty of lumps on opening weekend. Yet despite the disappointment of a 1-2 start, the Huskers’ were able to set the tone at GCU by winning the first two games of the series. Then Nebraska claimed the finale after surrendering a large lead much as the team did against Oklahoma the Sunday before.
“We really liked the way we responded,” Bolt said. “I thought this group showed a lot of moxie this weekend. I just want our team to be known as mentally tough. You’ve got to be very present, very resilient to be able to do that.”
Bolt said the Huskers felt they had played at a high level the weekend prior and that the team was a few tweaks away from getting over the hump. He added that the team was more aggressive on the bases against GCU and did a better job of executing the offense and capitalizing in the middle innings.
If there are true any “dog days” for the early portion of the college baseball season of a northern program, this is it. Nebraska got back from Arizona at 3:30 a.m. on Monday morning, took the day off, held a light practice Tuesday and got back on a plane to South Carolina on Wednesday.
The first home series of the year is just over the horizon. Bolt said the key to carrying last weekend’s toughness into this upcoming weekend and beyond lies in facing the challenges day by day.
“Being very, very present,” Bolt said. “That’s what you have to be to be mentally tough. You can’t get too high or too low. You’ve gotta be very, very determined each and every day.”
Data Dive: the impact of Rob Childress in early pitching numbers
When pitching coach Rob Childress was hired, he said the goal for his staff would be to have a 3-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and allow one hit per inning.
Nebraska is pretty much right on those marks seven games into the season. The Huskers average 2.94 strikeouts per walk and allow 1.04 hits in each inning. In 2023, Nebraska finished with 2.46 strikeouts per walk and 0.97 hits per inning.
Below is a chart showing where the Husker stack up nationally in this regard. All Big Ten teams are labeled in addition to any team with more than four strikeouts per walk while simultaneously posting less than a hit per inning. The dividing lines are the national average in hits allowed per inning (1.07, horizontal) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.91, vertical).
There are some tradeoffs to living around the strike zone as much as Nebraska does. An opponent batting average of .267, which is the sixth highest in the conference, is one symptom. That’s something the Huskers are prepared to live with. A deep bullpen and increased quality of play from starters like Brett Sears and Drew Christo are worth the price of admission as of now.
Nebraska baseball notes
***Nebraska’s pitching staff is currently sixth nationally with 2.48 walks allowed per nine innings.
***The Huskers have tallied 18 of their 36 RBIs this season with two outs. Nebraska’s batting average in two-out situation is .322.
***Since 2003, only seven Huskers have reached 10 or more RBIs in the first seven games of the season. Josh Caron is one of them posting 10 of his 11 RBIs against GCU last week. Only Alex Gordon (2004, 13) and Brandon Fusilier (2003, 12) produced more in that stretch.
***Brett Sears has allowed just seven batters to reach base this season in 12 innings of work. Last season, 29 batter reached against Sears in 17 innings out of the bullpen. He is one of six pitchers at the Division-I level with 14 or more strikeouts, while allowing one earned run or less and five or fewer hits in at least 11 innings of work.
***Drew Christo’s quality start against GCU was the first by a Nebraska native since Shay Schanaman against Michigan State on May 19, 2022.
***Riley Silva leads Nebraska in runs (10), stolen bases (5), on-base percentage (.484), hit-by-pitch (6) and sacrifice bunts (2). He is one of nine players in the nation with 10 or more runs scored and five or more stolen bases without being caught.
Know the foe: College of Charleston
***The College of Charleston has five batters with 17 or more at-bats hitting above .300 with three of those five owning an average above .400. The Cougar pitching staff has allowed a total of 13 earned runs in seven games. This weekend’s starting rotation has accounted for two of those earned runs.
***Through six all-time meetings, Nebraska is 4-2 all-time against the College of Charleston. The Huskers last visited the Cougars in 2016 when the College of Charleston took two-of-three from NU. In 2017 when the Cougars visited Lincoln, Nebraska swept and will take a three-game series winning streak into the weekend.
***The 7-0 start for the College of Charleston is the best ever under head coach Chad Holbrook. He is in his seventh year with the Cougars and holds a 191-109 record and a 391-215 career record.
***Connor Campbell, who is slated to start on Sunday, was named the CAA Pitcher of the Week after retiring the first 23 batters he faced in the sereis finale with Youngstown State. He allowed one hit, no walks and posted three strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings of work.
***Player to watch: INF Kevin Madden
Madden is a big-time bat and graduate transfer from South Carolina where he played each of the last two seasons. The first three years of his collegiate career were spent at Virginia Tech. As a Hokie, he hit .306 with 10 home runs and 75 RBIs. Those numbers saw a significant drop off as a Gamecock.
His cousin is Joe Flacco.
So far this season Madden has a hit in every game with multi-hit showings five of the last six contests. He has also homered in back-to-back games, has added three doubles to his line along with six RBIs on the season.
Around the Big Ten
Here are a few Big Ten series/games to keep tabs on this weekend, records are as of the beginning of the week:
Friday, March 1
Illinois (2-5) @ Florida State (6-0), 1:00 p.m.
No. 20 Indiana (6-1) vs. No. 16 Alabama (8-0), 6:00 p.m.
Iowa (3-4) @ Ole Miss (4-4), 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 2
No. 20 Indiana (6-1) vs. No. 25 Dallas Baptist (7-0), 12:00 p.m.
Iowa (3-4) @ Ole Miss (4-4), 1:30 p.m.
Michigan State (2-5) vs. Florida State (6-0), 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 3
Purdue (6-2) vs. Cal State Fullerton (3-3), 8:00 a.m.
Illinois (2-5) vs. Michigan State (2-5), 9:00 a.m.
No. 20 Indiana (6-1) vs. Arizona (4-3), 12:00 p.m.
Iowa (3-4) vs. Ole Miss (4-4), 12:00 p.m.
Ohio State (4-4) vs. Oklahoma (5-3), 2:00 p.m.
Broadcast Information
TV: FloSports: HERE
Radio: Huskers Radio Network (Radio simulcast found HERE)
Stations: Lincoln (1400 AM), Omaha (590 AM)
