Brice Matthews powers Nebraska baseball to victory in thrilling extra-inning duel with Michigan
Nebraska baseball outlasted Michigan in a 10-inning pitcher’s duel on Friday that featured plenty of fireworks despite the 3-1 final score.
Emmett Olson delivered another first-rate start going 7.2 innings while only allowing one run. On the other end, Connor O’Halloran was equally prolific for the Wolverines going a full 9.0 innings with one earned run.
Meanwhile, Casey Burnham and Brice Matthews delivered two titanic home runs as the Huskers bested the Wolverines in Ann Arbor for the first time since 2014. Head coach Will Bolt’s squad is now 17-9-1 and 3-1 in conference play. Here’s more on Nebraska’s major victory.
It came as no surprise that the first two innings fit the mold of a pitcher’s duel.
Just three total baserunners reached, all with two outs. Nebraska’s Max Anderson and Garrett Anglim got on base with a single and walk respectively. Joe Longo worked a walk in the first for Michigan but the Wolverines went down 1-2-3 in the second.
The Huskers drew first blood in the third. Casey Burnham crushed his first home run at Nebraska to push his squad ahead 1-0. Emmett Olson maintained that momentum into the home half as the southpaw sat Michigan down in order for a second consecutive inning.
Josh Caron offered the Huskers an opportunity to stretch the lead with a one-out double in the fourth. But, the catcher was stranded 90 feet from home plate after a strikeout from Garrett Anglim and groundout by Cole Evans.
Olson protected Nebraska’s lead working around a leadoff walk in the bottom half to hang yet another zero. With four innings complete, he retired 12 of the 14 batters he faced.
Following Olson’s walk in the fourth, both pitchers combined to retire the next 17 batters. Nebraska broke the ice in the seventh with a two-out double from Evans but a Burnham groundout ended the inning.
Michigan made it’s run at Nebraska’s 1-0 lead during the seventh. Olson began the inning with a four-pitch walk which was immediately followed by a double from Joey Velazquez.
Yet, Olson remained cool, calm and collected on the hill. A lineout to second, groundout to third and flyball to right allowed the Huskers to escape the jam without surrendering their edge.
O’Halloran returned the favor in the top of the eighth. Nebraska put two on with nobody out and the Michigan ace induced a double play and a groundout to shortstop to post a scoreless inning.
A No. 9 hitter made another big swing in the eighth. Reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week Jonathan Kim powered a solo bomb to right center and evened the score at 1-1. Olson exited after a strikeout one batter later and Shay Schanaman entered in relief. Nebraska’s closer promptly secured a strikeout and sent it to the ninth.
Each team failed to score in the game’s penultimate frame. The 10th brought Burnham back to the plate and the senior picked up a one-out single to set up Matthews. The shortstop destroyed a pitch to left for a two-run shot that put the Huskers ahead for good.
Schanaman returned in the bottom half to seal the win striking out two including Kim for the final out.
“What an awesome performance by (Olson) and an awesome performance by our defense. Caron caught a great game and Breezy (Matthews) once again just putting us on his back at times.”
-Nebraska head coach Will Bolt
Olson raises the bar, Schanaman slams the door
It seems the sky is the limit for Olson.
Each week the left-hander improves in some way. Whether it’s shutting down No. 4 Vanderbilt earlier in March (three earned runs), or fighting through games marred by illness (Illinois State) Olson always seems to come through. As an aside, the Commodores now average just over 8.5 runs per game.
Friday’s seventh inning could have been a sign of the end. But, Olson remained locked in and, despite losing a six-inning bid at a no-hitter, battled back to retire three straight batters and strand a pair in scoring position.
“The seventh-inning Houdini act to get out of that jam was pretty amazing,” Bolt said postgame on the Huskers Radio Network. “Just one swing of the bat was the difference right there for them. He probably would have finished that game potentially.”
Although Olson wasn’t in line for the win, this was perhaps his best start of the season only rivaled by his performance against Vanderbilt.
Schanaman picked up the victory for Nebraska. He has been excellent in his last six appearances pitching 11.1 innings without allowing a run and striking out 18. That’s part of a broader trend in which the Husker pen has not allowed a run in 20.2 innings.
Olson and Schanaman deserve major props for their high-level play in a regional-esque pitching matchup.
Matthews becoming the Huskers’ Mr. Clutch
A month ago Matthews wasn’t the guy Husker fans wanted to see at the plate in a tight spot. Now, there’s probably nobody better.
His reputation was one of a guy who did his best work when the pressure was off. Vanderbilt was a great example. Matthews struck out three times in that game with runners in scoring position. Then he mashed an RBI double in the eighth to give Nebraska some insurance.
That was the turning point.
Since then, Matthews is batting .452 with 35 RBIs including two go-ahead homers in the past two weeks. Both have occurred after the seventh inning. The junior also has hits in 18-of-19 games after the March 3 meeting with the Commodores. Matthews has posted a multi-hit game in four of his last five contests.
Prior to his appearance in the 10th, Nebraska had been 0-for-10 with runners on base. Matthews made the key play late that the Huskers couldn’t find in the first series of the season. To Bolt, that’s an obvious sign of team growth.
“It shows that we’ve got a bunch of guys who are bought in, they’re sold out to each other, and to doing what it takes to win” Bolt said. “You’ve got to stay in the moment. You can’t ride the waves of emotion up and down throughout the game.”
Yet there is still room to improve.
“You don’t want to be front runners and when things are going great, you’ve got a great mindset and when you’re down or when the game’s tight you go somewhere else,” Bolt said. “I think that’s the point where we’re starting to see this team turn a corner. We got a long way to go, but great to get that Friday night win today.”
What’s next for Nebraska baseball?
Nebraska resumes the series on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on the Huskers Radio Network and streamed on BTN+.
Then, the Huskers close out the weekend with the series finale at 11:00 a.m. CT on Sunday.
