Nebraska baseball crushes 4 homers in 8-3 series-clinching win over Illinois

Nebraska baseball claimed its first Big Ten series win on Saturday afternoon with an 8-3 victory over Illinois.

It wasn’t perfect, but a gutsy performance from Jace Kaminska on the hill and four home runs powered the Huskers over the top. Head coach Will Bolt’s squad is 13-7-1 and has a shot at a sweep on Sunday afternoon.

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Nebraska didn’t waste any time in the first.

Kaminska mowed down the first three Illinois batters he faced using just seven pitches and then the bats took over. Brice Matthews crushed the first pitch of the home half for a no-doubt homer to left that traveled 428 feet. Dylan Carey stepped into the box next and blasted a solo shot of his own to the same spot in leftfield giving the Huskers a 2-0 advantage.

That wasn’t all for Nebraska in the frame. The Huskers loaded the bases with two outs and got another run off a wild pitch from Fighting Illini starter Julius Sanchez. Illinois got that run back in the second using a walk, single and wild pitch to make it 3-1.

Branden Comia cut the Nebraska lead to one with a single swing of the bat. A two-out home run to left-center marked the fourth long ball of the year for Comia.

Protecting a 3-2 edge, Kaminska stabilized momentum for the Huskers with a 1-2-3 fourth inning. The bats turned the tide further by taking advantage of two more Illinois miscues. An error and hit batter set Matthews up for a sacrifice fly to right. His 33rd RBI of the season pushed Nebraska ahead 4-2 with four innings completed.

The Huskers opened the fifth with an error of their own. That led to a jam for Kaminska with one on third and one out. The righty held the runner with a strikeout but walked Cal Hejza on four pitches putting runners on the corners. Facing Comia, Kaminska drew a groundout to escape the inning without any damage.

Kaminska found himself in trouble once again in the sixth. Illinois put a pair on via singles with two down and Kaminska induced a flyout to hang a third consecutive zero. Nebraska threatened again in the bottom half drawing two one-out walks but couldn’t cash in keeping the score at 4-2.

After another quiet inning for the Husker bats, Kyle Perry relieved Kaminska in the seventh. Perry allowed a leadoff single and hit a batter with two outs. Illinois came within one on an RBI single from Cam McDonald before Perry got out of the inning via a lineout.

Nebraska’s bats broke through in the seventh.

Josh Caron notched the Huskers’ first hit since the first inning with a two-out single to centerfield. Gabe Swansen followed that up with a two-run blast to left and Griffin Everitt went yard for the second time this season to extend Nebraska’s lead to 7-3.

Corbin Hawkins’ eighth-inning relief appearance was his best of the season by far. The sophomore from Millard West struck out three in a scoreless frame that featured a two-out single as its only blemish. Consecutive walks opened the Husker half of the eighth. A sacrifice bunt from Matthews moved those runners into scoring position and Carey drove in one of the two with a sacrifice fly.

Hawkins returned to the bump in the ninth with Nebraska ahead 8-3. He quickly posted the first two outs before letting up a pair of singles. He bounced back by coaxing a groundout that sealed the victory and series.

Nebraska’s bullpen did its job

In the past two games, Nebraska relievers have only allowed a single run.

That came off Perry in the seventh inning of Saturday’s game on a two-out single. The Huskers have expended three bullpen arms in total throughout the series which means there are plenty of options available on Sunday.

Kaminska also deserves some credit for Nebraska’s reliever positioning. He didn’t have his best stuff working and managed to grind out the fifth and sixth innings esacaping around multiple jams without allowing a run.

“I didn’t feel great warming up but I’ve still got to go out there and eat up innings so we can win,” Kaminska said. “Even when I don’t have everything, you’ve just got to make pitches as best as you can for the team. I was all over the place. I usually don’t spray it like that and I was today. We made it work, it wasn’t pretty but we got through it.”

In fact according to Bolt, Kaminska had only one pitch working.

“He was One-Pitch Willie today,” Bolt said. “It was a fastball. That was it. There was nothing else really that he could go to. That’s incredibly impressive that he can get outs with one pitch. It kinda speaks to it’s not just the velocity. It’s the tilt and the finish to the heater. He battled.”

Even though Perry made things a little bit interesting after Kaminska’s exit, he did a nice job of limiting the damage in the seventh. Hawkins was lights out the rest of the way.

“I thought Hawkins came in on attack,” Bolt said. “He was suffocating the strike zone. It was two strikes on every hitter. That’s what you need. That’s what you need out of the bullpen. Eliminate those free bases, let your defense work and make pitches when you need to.”

Tomorrow, Nebraska will give a fully rested Michael Garza the start. The question remains if the rest of the arms behind him can meet the standard of the Huskers’ Friday and Saturday arms.

Eight runs, four homers but the Huskers aren’t satisfied

It didn’t seem that Nebraska was fully pleased with its offensive performance based on postgame conversations.

“I expect us to be a little better with the bats,” Carey said. “We had some great hits early on and later on as well that got us the victory. I expect us to be a lot better and I know we will be better. I’m just pumped we got the win today.”

Saturday’s game marked the fifth time this season the Huskers hit four or more home runs. That’s a feat that occurred just three times in 2022 and five times in 2021. But, Nebraska failed to tally a hit following the first out in the first inning until the second out of the seventh.

The Huskers struggled with runners on base (2-12, .167) and went a whopping 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Bolt believed some of the falloff after the first inning can be attributed to being overly aggressive.

“I thought we got a little big with our swings after the two home runs to start,” Bolt said. “It’s a good day to hit. It’s the first good day to hit we’ve had all year at this ballpark at least. I think we got a little big with out swings at times and didn’t take our walks when we needed to at times.”

Yet, Nebraska came up with the big hits in the clutch. None were bigger than the back-to-back bombs from Swansen and Everitt that put the game out of Illinois’ reach. Swansen entered the game off the bench in the sixth to spell Charlie Fischer who has struggled throughout the series.

“It’s one of the reasons I love this team,” Bolt said. “These guys stay ready, they stay hungry. They support their teammates. We always tell them that when your moment comes, if you’ve been a good teammate and you’ve stayed ready, you usually take advantage of it and it’s the hallmark of a great team.”

What’s next for Nebraska?

The Huskers are back in action on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. in Haymarket Park for the series finale. The game will be streamed on B1G+ (LINK HERE) or is available over the radio on the Huskers Radio Network (LINK HERE).