Burnham's career day powers Nebraska baseball to win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Nebraska baseball used a monster fourth inning and some stout defensive plays to best Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 12-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Will Bolt’s squad dominated the first game of its double header in Abilene outhitting the opposition 13-5. Emmett Olson turned in another outstanding performance as the Huskers moved to 15-8-1 on the season.
The first inning was relatively benign for each team. The only action came on a one-out double by Brendan Ryan of Texas A&M-CC following a 1-2-3 top of the first from the Nebraska bats. Olson quickly erased the base runner with a heady pickoff play to second.
Bolt doesn’t think that play should go unnoticed.
“We knew he can run and we execute the rundown right there and get the out,” Bolt said. “That’s a big play in that game because otherwise we’re chasing runs a little bit right there.”
Casey Burnham and Brice Matthews broke the tie in the top of the third. Burnham reached base on a bunt single and scampered to third with the help of an Islander error. Matthews brought Burnham home soon after with a sacrifice fly to right and the Huskers held a 1-0 lead.
Nebraska’s bats woke up in the fourth. Ben Columbus slashed a rocket that hit off Texas A&M-CC starting pitcher Collin Purcell to open the Husker run. That put runners on the corners and Purcell remained in the game despite a lengthy pause for the right-hander to collect himself.
A Josh Caron sacrifice fly plated a run and with two outs the Islanders were in good position to escape the inning without further damage. But, Max Puls failed to pick a ball at first base and left the door open for Nebraska.
What followed was a Cole Evans RBI single, Burnham’s two-run triple, an infield RBI single by Matthews, another error and an RBI single off the pitcher from Gabe Swansen. In total, the Huskers tallied six runs on six hits and two Texas A&M-CC errors for the frame.
Nebraska’s 7-0 lead featured a single earned run.
“The number of balls hit hard up the middle,” Bolt said. “Off the pitcher, knocked the pitcher’s glove off and almost knocked the pitcher out of the game. They had to make four or five diving plays just to keep that inning from being even bigger than it was.”
The Huskers added two more in the sixth inning which began with a double from Burnham. Matthews scored Burnham with an RBI single marking his third on the day. Dylan Carey grew Nebraska’s advantage to 9-0 on a double to left center that brought in Matthews.
A RBI single by Ryan got the Islanders on the board in the bottom of the sixth. But, Burnham’s fourth hit of the day got that run right back for the Huskers in the top of the seventh.
Max Anderson launched his seventh homer of the year to centerfield in the eighth. That put Nebraska ahead by 11 and allowed the Huskers to end things early via a run rule in the bottom half of the inning. A double play and groundout to second closed out two scoreless innings of relief from Corbin Hawkins.
Huskers go for the throat
Missed opportunities was one of the defining storyline in the first month of Nebraska’s season. Not so Saturday.
The Islanders committed three errors throughout the ballgame. Each time, the Huskers scored immediately in the subsequent at-bat. At no point did the Huskers take the pressure off. Nebraska added runs in three of the next four innings after some serious struggles at the dish in the first two frames.
The Big Red arms did their part, too. Olson retired six consecutive batters to solidify the Husker lead and Hawkins shut things down in relief.
“He did a good job today again of getting some soft contact from the left-handed hitters, even when they got a hit off him,” Bolt said of Hawkins. “He’s going to be a big piece of the puzzle out of the bullpen just because he throws the ball over the plate typically.”
Overall, a complete team performance that likely felt cathartic for those players who were on the business end of the Texas A&M-CC trip to Lincoln last spring.
Burnham’s hitting explosion
What a day for Burnham.
The centerfielder checked boxes both old and new in Nebraska’s victory. He got his afternoon going with a bunt single, followed it with his first triple as a Husker and tacked on three RBIs.
“That’s why you’ve got to have a team offense,” Bolt said. “You’ve got to be strong 1-9 because without him today that game is a lot tighter than the score ended up being.”
Burnham’s four hits set a new career high and he tied a career mark in RBIs that he posted against Illinois State earlier this year. Prior to the start of the Abilene Christian game, every bat in Nebraska’s lineup is above .300 with the exception of Charlie Fischer.
What’s next for Nebraska baseball?
Nebraska plays the second game of the double header at 4:25 p.m. Saturday. The game will be streamed on the WAC Network (CLICK TO WATCH). The game will be broadcast on the Huskers Radio Network
Then, the Huskers continue their road trip with a return to Manhattan, Kansas, to face the Wildcats of Kansas State. First pitch is slated for 6:00 p.m. with streaming on ESPN+.
