Around the Horn: Nebraska begins final regular-season push at Minnesota

On the heels of an improbable Jackson Brockett no-hitter and a critical 8-0 win over Kansas State, Nebraska baseball opens the month of May with a visit to the Twin Cities this weekend.

Minnesota sits at 20-19 on the season and 6-9 in Big Ten play, good enough for a game back of the cutoff line for the conference tournament. Legendary Golden Gophers head coach John Anderson is in the midst of his 43rd and final season. He is the first and only Big Ten baseball coach with 600 wins in conference and has 1,365 career wins.

A 2-1 series win over Penn State last week marked Minnesota’s first of the season. Here’s more on the Gophers and where the conference stands with three weekends to go.

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Projecting Nebraska’s pitching matchups

Friday, 5:00 p.m., RHP Brett Sears (Stats: 7-0, 1.84 ERA, 73.1 IP, 72 K) vs. RHP Will Semb (Stats: 1-5, 8.13 ERA, 52.0 IP, 63 K)

Saturday, 3:00 p.m., RHP Mason McConnaughey (Stats: 5-3, 3.40 ERA, 42.1 IP, 50 K) Vs. LHP Connor Wietgrefe (Stats: 6-2, 3.18 ERA, 62.1 IP, 60 K)

Sunday, 1:00 p.m., LHP Will Walsh (Stats: 4-3, 5.05 ERA, 46.1, 37 K) Vs. TBA

What to watch for the Huskers

Checking in on RPI and conference standings with a month to go

With a victory over Kansas State on Wednesday, Nebraska jumped five spots to No. 20 in the RPI entering the weekend. That’s the highest in the conference and 20 spots ahead of second-place Maryland. Purdue and Illinois top the Big Ten standings and are No. 62 and No. 63 respectively.

Indiana represents the Huskers only remaining foe inside the top 100 at No. 67. Minnesota (No. 124), South Dakota State (223) and Michigan State (110) are the other opponents left on the schedule. Nebraska owns a 4-6 record in Quad 1 games and 6-4 in Quad 2 opportunities. Nebraska has one Quad 4 loss to Iowa. The Hawkeyes are No. 102 in the RPI and must move below 101 to move to a Quad 3.

Meanwhile, the Huskers are a game back of Illinois and Purdue in the race for the Big Ten regular-season crown.

Nebraska does not face either team. Illinois closes the year with Ohio State, Iowa and Purdue. That’s a combined opponent record of 74-53 (.582). Purdue has Indiana, Michigan and Illinois left with a total record of 75-54-1 (.577).

For the most part, all the Huskers can do is take care of the games in front of them and watch to see how the rest of Illinois and Purdue’s seasons play out.

Reliving Brockett’s no-hitter

What a night for Nebraska and Brockett.

In case you missed it, his no-hitter against the Wildcats is the Huskers’ first nine-inning individual no-hitter since 1954. Only Brockett and Richard Geier have achieved that milestone. Anthony Kelley did it against Oklahoma in seven innings during the 1981 season. Nebraska tossed a combined no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader against Arkansas in 2013.

Husker head coach Will Bolt was present for that one. However, Brockett’s outing takes the cake.

“That’s the best pitching performance I’ve ever seen in person, and I’ve been a part of no-hitters before, too,” Bolt said. “That was the best against a good-hitting team in a situation where the team needed it. That’s the best performance I’ve ever seen.”

Brockett hadn’t thrown more than 40 pitches in an outing all season. He had only totaled 90 pitches in his previous five appearances. The Omaha native threw 107 in his most recent outing.

Bolt said the curveball had worked well for Brockett and he was impressed with how the lefty had been able to maintain his velocity throughout his start. He survived a spot in the fifth where he had to work from the stretch, an area Bolt said had created trouble for Brockett this season.

Adversity has hit Brockett hard this month. He was left off the travel roster for the Rutgers series and Bolt admitted the coaching staff has put the junior in some tough spots. Yet, Brockett’s thoughts postgame were with his teammates, who he credited with helping him overcome his recent challenges.

“The past couple of weeks have been hard, I’ll admit it,” Brockett said. “But, my guys have never stopped believing in me. They’re some of the best dudes. They’ll pick you up no matter what. It’s just a lot easier to go about things when you know you’ve got 40-something guys behind you every day.”

Brockett returned the favor in a big way. Nebraska enters the weekend with a fully-stocked bullpen, a midweek win under its belt and a spark that certainly has the potential to drive the Huskers to the postseason for the first time since 2021.

Nebraska notes:

***Nebraska is one of two teams that lead Minnesota in the all-time series. The Huskers will look to maintain their 37-32 series advantage this weekend and have won seven of the last 10 meetings. Nebraska lost two of three in Minneapolis during the 2022 season.

***Brett Sears is the first Nebraska arm to start a season 7-0 since Tony Watson in 2006. Only Brian Duensing has started the year 8-0 (2005). Sears is chasing Duensing this weekend.

***The Huskers are outscoring their opponents 133-55 in the middle-third innings this year. Nebraska’s bats are hitting .316 with 67 extra-base hits and 126 RBIs in that stretch with a 3.48 ERA for the pitching staff.

***Nebraska’s 76 stolen bases this year are the most for a Husker squad since 2008 (78). The Huskers’ 78.4% success rate is the seventh-best since 2000.

Know the foe: Minnesota

***Connor Wietgrefe became the first Minnesota pitcher since 2008 to toss a seven-inning complete gam e in a 13-2 win over Indiana on April 21. He won all four starts in the month. He allowed five earned runs in 24 2/3 innings of work throughout that stretch.

***Brady Counsell ranks in the top five in all offensive categories for the Gophers and leads the team in home runs (9), runs (37), hits (52), total bases (90), walks (25) and stolen bases (16).

***Minnesota is 16-2 when leading after six innings this year and 3-17 when trailing. The Gophers hold a 2-16 record when plating five or fewer runs in a game.

***Player to watch: C/INF Weber Neels

Neels was a member of the Big Ten’s 2023 All-Freshman Team after hitting .274 with seven home runs and 24 RBIs. He’s followed that up with a sophomore campaign in which the righty is hitting at a .333 clip with 36 RBIs. Both of those are team highs. Neels is riding a seven-game hitting streak with four multi-hit games. The native of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, is tied for the team lead in multi-RBI games as well with nine.

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:

Ohio State (22-20, 7-8) @ Illinois (26-15, 11-4)

Indiana (25-18, 10-5) @ Purdue (30-15, 11-4)

Michigan (24-21, 10-5) @ Michigan State (19-22, 7-8)

Standings:

Broadcast Information

TV: Big Ten+: HERE

Radio: Huskers Radio Network (Radio simulcast found HERE)

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