Evans drives in three as Nebraska baseball clinches series with Penn State
Nebraska baseball put together another complete team performance on Saturday night. Bunts, limited strikeouts and a quality start from Jace Kaminska highlighted the Huskers’ 5-2 win over Penn State.
With the win, Nebraska moves to 28-20-1 on the season and 12-8 in Big Ten play. That’s good enough for a three-way tie for fourth in the conference with four games remaining on the schedule. Here’s more on the performance from head coach Will Bolt’s squad.
After a scoreless opening frame, Nebraska drew first blood in the second inning. Penn State kicked off an unfavorable sequence with an error at third that allowed Josh Caron to reach base. The bottom third of the Husker order quickly capitalized as Cole Evans and Dylan Carey delivered back-to-back RBI singles. A double play wiped the bases clean but Nebraska owned a 2-0 advantage.
Kaminska faced just three batters over the minimum through the first four innings. The Husker starter scattered two-out singles in the second and fourth innings, as well as a two-out error in the third, to hold the Nittany Lions off the board.
The bottom half of Nebraska’s order produced yet again in the home half of the inning. A leadoff single from Gabe Swansen, hit batter and a second sacrifice bunt by Ben Columbus set the table for Evans. The Huskers’ No. 7 hitter collected his another RBI with a sacrifice fly to center that made it 3-0.
The potent Columbus-Evans combo struck again in the sixth. Caron started the inning off with a double to right and he promptly advances to third on the Columbus sacrifice bunt. Evans plated Caron on a single to right and Nebraska led 4-0.
Nebraska tacked on another run in the inning but it came at a cost. Efry Cervantes punched an RBI single into centerfield but the senior captain hurt his left leg on the way to first base. After an extended period of time lying near the bag, Cervantes was helped off the field by the Husker training staff on one leg.
After the game, Bolt confirmed that Cervantes had injured his hamstring.
“What an at-bat, man,” Bolt said. “Tough, gritty to stretch that lead and get that extra run was huge. To see him down, that was tough to see. Doesn’t look promising for a hamstring but who knows, maybe it was a cramp, maybe it’s something where he’ll feel better. But, tough break for him.”
Penn State got those two runs back in the seventh on a pair of solo shots. Kaminska surrendered a leadoff blast to center from Grant Norris and with two outs Josh Spiegel went long to left. The Nittany Lions made a pitching change and Nebraska went down in order during its chance at the plate.
Shay Schanaman entered in the eighth for the Huskers hoping to protect a 5-2 lead. Nebraska’s closer picked up a strikeout of each variety and coaxed a grounder to complete a 1-2-3 inning. Later, Schanaman worked around a walk in the ninth and struck out Kyle Hannon to claim his sixth save of the season.
Huskers doing the dirty work
Saturday’s game was about the team.
That was the clear theme throughout Nebraska’s postgame discussions with the media. Evans happened to be the primary benefactor of the Huskers’ unselfish play. Prior to all three of his RBIs, Columbus laid down a sacrifice bunt. The catcher had no sacrifice’s entering the contest.
“That was a big message all week, playing team baseball and competing for each other,” Evans said. “I think there’s no better way to put that onto the field then the way Lumbo (Columbus) put it on the field today.”
Bolt had plenty of praise Columbus and his efforts.
“It’s something that he’s been working on because it should be a part of his game and it has been a part of his game,” Bolt said. “It’s just a matter of doing what it takes to help the team. He laid down some beautiful ones.”
Small ball has been a motif of Nebraska’s weekend. The Huskers tallied two bunt singles on Friday and forced an error with another that scored a run. Bolt said that cashing in those situations was the difference.
On a night in which Brice Matthews and Anderson combined to go 1-for-7, the contributions from the bottom half of the order became extremely significant.
“When we’ve had our skids, the bottom of the order have just been kinda free-swinging a little bit too much,” Bolt said. “To their credit, they’ve stayed with it.”
The ability to win games in different ways will be a key indicator of Nebraska’s success down the stretch.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to have the long ball in our back pocket when we need it,” Evans said. “That wasn’t the case tonight and we were still able to get the job done. That’s really encouraging. You’ve got to win different ways.”
A small rebound for Nebraska’s starting pitching
Kaminska’s quality start tonight is his second in three weeks and the fifth of the season.
After a two-week period in which Nebraska’s starters had combined for a 17.36 ERA in 9 1/3 innings and four starts, things seemed to have stabilized. Emmett Olson and Kaminska own a 5.06 ERA in the last three weeks. Although that doesn’t seem impressive, those numbers are somewhat inflated by the Huskers’ weekend in College Park.
The trend line is clear. Olson and Kaminska are getting closer and closer to the level of play they displayed in the first half of the season.
“I think I had a little bit of everything working,” Kaminska said of Saturday’s performance. “The changeup was going early and then toward the end my breaking ball kinda came out of nowhere. I think that’s what helped me.”
It seems that Kaminska may still be struggling to regain his full repertoire of pitches. But, he’s had them available at Haymarket Park as noted by Bolt postgame.
“He’s had a lot of good outings at home,” Bolt said. “For whatever reason, he’s had the three pitches typically going at home. I thought he did a really good job. Only two pitches that he made mistakes on later in his outing.”
Tonight’s start may have been Kaminska’s last in Lincoln. For his part, the draft-eligible junior said he wasn’t thinking about that right now and that the draft would take care of itself. Nebraska will need him to piece together plenty of postseason outings like this one on the road whether Kaminska returns in 2024 or not.
What’s next for Nebraska baseball?
The Huskers wrap up their final home series with a Mother’s Day matinee on Sunday morning. Nebraska will honor ten seniors prior to the game’s 11:02 a.m. start. The finale will be broadcasted on ESPN2.
Then on Thursday, the Huskers close out the regular season at Purdue for a three-game set. First pitch is slated for 5:00 p.m. in West Lafayette followed by another 5:00 p.m. start on Friday and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
