Nebraska baseball steamrolls Northern Colorado 14-3 crushing 5 home runs

On3 imageby:Grant Hansen03/08/23

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Nebraska baseball remained red-hot at the plate on Wednesday afternoon despite the near freezing temperatures. The Huskers tallied 14 hits, including five home runs, for a 14-3 win over Northern Colorado.

Will Bolt’s squad has now won seven of its last eight games and is 7-4-1 on the year.

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Drew Christo made his first start of the 2023 season.

The big right-hander took the hill with his breath hanging in the frosty spring air. Christo faced some trouble in the first and much of it was of his own making. A single, walk and hit batsman loaded the bases for the sophomore with two outs. Christo coaxed a flyout to right field that ended the Northern Colorado threat.

The Bears picked back up where they left off in the second after retiring Nebraska’s bats in order during the first. Two singles, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly brought in a pair of UNC runs and spelled the end to Christo’s outing.

The Huskers turned to Caleb Clark next. He limited the damage and got Nebraska out of inning behind 2-0.

It didn’t take Nebraska long to respond.

The Huskers went yard twice in the second inning to extend a streak of 11 consecutive games with a home run and tie the school record. First it was Gabe Swansen who launched a ball 442 feet to straightaway center. Then Cole Evans became the 10th Nebraska batter to homer on the year with another two-run shot to give the Huskers a 4-2 advantage.

Evans wasn’t necessarily sure if his home run was going out off the bat.

“For a split second,” he said. “Then I remembered I couldn’t feel my toes and it was raining a little bit. Figured I might show a little hustle out of the box.”

The Grand Island native said he and his teammates made an extra effort to stay warm in the dugout.

“My personal favorite was the chicken broth,” Evans said. “Never had that before. I had some piping hot chicken broth in the dugout. That was good stuff. Some guys were sipping on hot cocoa. Those were the two most popular I’d say.”

Clark worked a scoreless third and fourth inning retiring seven of the eight batters he faced. The freshman struck out four of those seven in an outing that lasted 2.1 innings. After Evans blasted his second home run of the day, Nebraska made another pitching change bringing Mason Ornelas to the mound who hung another zero in the top of the fifth.

The Huskers tacked on three more in the home half of the inning. Doubles from Charlie Fischer and Max Anderson scored a run. Then Swansen brought in another with a single to left and the help of an error. Griffin Everitt finished it off with an RBI groundout.

Nebraska took the game over in the sixth. Brice Matthews buried a first-pitch swing and sent his third home run of the year screeching to left. A Fischer RBI single followed the Matthews two-run shot and then Everitt delivered the cherry on top. The captain belted his first homer of the season to right bringing in three and pushing the Huskers across the run-rule threshold.

Will Walsh entered the game in the seventh and shut the Bears down with the exception of a controversial solo homer to right field. The two-way hurler sealed the deal with a strikeout of the Northern Colorado cleanup batter.

Christo starts slow, Clark bounces back

Christo’s third outing of the season left a lot to be desired. His final line featured two earned runs, two walks, a strikeout and hit batter in 1.2 innings of work.

“Lot of 3-2 counts and a lot of deep counts,” Bolt said of Christo’s struggles. “He threw 30 something pitches in the first inning and got out of it. It’s taxing. You’ve got to try and be more efficient. I thought he landed his breaking ball quiet a bit and the fastball was pretty good. Just too many baserunners in there.”

Bolt made it clear the sophomore still has the confidence of the coaching staff.

“He’s got good stuff and the stuff is coming,” Bolt said. “You can see it. He’s made a lot of good strides. You’ve got to be ahead in the count and put ’em away when you’ve got the chance.”

Nebraska backed Christo up well after his exit. The Huskers’ bullpen locked the bears out pitching 5.1 innings of nearly scoreless relief. Perhaps the most encouraging showing belonged to Clark after his rough go against No. 4 Ole Miss in Minneapolis.

The freshman completed 2.1 innings without allowing a run and striking out four of the eight batters he faced. Clark also collected the win in an appearance in which he used 42 pitches. Bolt believes part of his improvement springs from landing more secondary pitches.

“I think fastball attack was good and it’s always been pretty good,” Bolt said. “The changeup was working for him and he landed a few sliders in there as well. Getting the fastball to the glove side. That’s more what we are accustomed to seeing from him. It’s good to see him get back out there and do that.”

The extended outing puts Clark’s starting status in doubt for Sunday. Bolt said the staff would get together and discuss it and that there was a possibility Clark may come out of the bullpen this weekend.

Even if things went a little longer than originally planned, the staff has to be happy with how Clark performed.

Power in all parts of the lineup

It seems like everyone in Nebraska’s batting order can hit for power.

By game’s end, the Huskers had brought their season home run total to 24 smashed by 11 different batters. Evans and Everitt became the latest to join the party. What makes Wednesday’s showing more impressive is the mid-30s weather in which Nebraska set a season single-game record in the homer category.

“We’ve got a lot of power on this team,” Swansen said. “We’ve got some great bats and a lot of talent, even on the bench. Keep barreling up balls like that and we’ll be doing fine the rest of the year.”

Nine of Nebraska’s homeruns have come from players who have spent a majority of the year in the bottom half of the lineup. It’s emblematic of the team’s mentality according to Bolt.

“A guy like Evans to come in today, he’s got six at-bats I think on the year,” Bolt said. “He’s been an awesome teammate. He’s stayed ready. Kinda been a calling card of this team up to this point. Guys being great teammates and supporting one another.”

Bolt said his squad is capable of that support while vying for spots in the lineup.

“We’ve got a bunch of guys that we feel like have a chance to help the team so we’re trying to pick spots for them,” Bolt said. “It’s another thing to be said about the inter-competition on the team. When guys are fighting for at-bats you’re not really typically going to give away a lot of at-bats when you’re in the game.”

What’s next for Nebraska

The Huskers continue their 10-game homestand with a weekend series against the Redbirds of Illinois State. First pitch is slated for 4:05 p.m. on Friday, 2:05 for Saturday and the series concludes with Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. start.

All games will be streamed on BTN+ and can be heard on the Huskers Radio Network.

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