Nebraska baseball sweeps the College of Charleston with another ninth-inning victory

Nebraska baseball pulled yet another rabbit out of the hat in Sunday’s series finale with the College of Charleston. For a third consecutive game, the Huskers plated the go-ahead run in the ninth inning or late to collect the team’s sixth win in seven games by a 5-3 margin.

The win brings head coach Will Bolt’s squad to a 7-3 overall record as attention now turns to the team’s home opener against South Alabama next weekend.

“What can you say of the toughness level of what we’re trying to do?” Will Bolt said postgame on the Huskers Radio Network. “I feel like we came on the road, won three games and we didn’t play an A+ game. That’s no disservice to Charleston because they’re a good team. They have a bunch of veterans in their lineup and they made some really big defensive plays against us.”

Here’s how the Huskers pulled off their first sweep of 2024.

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Much as the Huskers did in the first three games, Nebraska fell behind by multiple runs in the early innings.

A two-out, two-run blast off of starter Will Walsh in the first inning gave the Cougars a 2-0 advantage. It was the College of Charleston’s second two-out, two-run home run in the first two innings in the past two games. The Cougars tacked on another in the third via a leadoff double and a two-out RBI single from Kevin Madden to make it 3-0.

After leaving a runner apiece on base in the first three innings, Tyler Stone delivered a haymaker in the fourth in the form of a monster solo shot to right. Nebraska wasn’t done. A single from Cole Evans was followed by a sacrifice bunt and RBI single by freshman Will Jesske to pull the Huskers within 3-2.

Evans walked with one down in the sixth and sprinted to third after a Dylan Carey single. Then Jesske delivered his second RBI of the afternoon with a groundball to second that tied the game at 3-3.

Meanwhile, the Nebraska bullpen held the College of Charleston at bay. Mason McConnaughey, who relieved Walsh in the fourth with two aboard, hung zeros in the fourth, fifth and sixth working around traffic on the bases in each inning.

The combination of McConnaughey, Caleb Clark, and Tucker Timmerman preserved the tie and got the Huskers to the ninth.

In the game’s final frame, Nebraska’s ninth-inning magic took back over. The previously 0-for-4 Cayden Brumbaugh opened the action with a double to left-center. One pitch later, Riley Silva logged his second hit of the day with a bunt single and a wild throw allowed Brumbaugh to score and push the Huskers in front 4-3.

“He’s a guy whose uniform is dirty after every game,” Bolt said of Silva. “Because he’s all over the bases and he’s wreaking havoc on the bases. Having something as simple as getting the bunt down, and in play and putting pressure on the pitcher gets us a run right there. What can you say about the table setting that he’s done and (Brumbaugh) with the big two-strike double to start that inning.”

Nebraska kept the pressure on. With two outs, Evans sent a grounder to shortstop and forced a wild throw that scored another run.

Timmerman recorded one out in the ninth but turned the ball over to southpaw Kyle Perry with runners on first and second to face a pair of left-handed hitters. The sixth-year senior slammed the door and tallied two strikeouts to seal the 5-3 victory.

“Good hitting teams and good hitters line out and hit balls hard and get hits,” Bolt said. “We were on the barrel a lot with not much to show for it. Chasing runs again in that game is a dangerous way to live. But, proud of our group.”

Toughness shows up again in a big way

Nebraska had a lot stacked against it this weekend. Once again, the Huskers were without Josh Overbeek as the third baseman recovers from a finger injury he suffered against Oklahoma two weeks ago. Then in Saturday’s game Bolt and staff were forced to move Brumbaugh to designated hitter taking two infield starters off the board for the final two games.

That also forced Nebraska to take a bat like Case Sanderson out of the lineup as the team’s regular designated hitter.

“You can’t control a lot of things in baseball or in sports in general,” Bolt said. “It’s usually how you respond to things. Our guys just stayed in the fight all weekend and we had some really clutch moments from a lot of different guys.”

Jesske was the man to step up in the series finale. His team-high two RBIs came in several big spots. Then after faltering on one double play in the fifth, he was able to turn another opportunity in the same inning and a second in the third.

Silva was relentless throughout the afternoon. He reached base in all five opportunities while drawing a walk, being hit twice by a pitch and tallying two hits of his own. He is batting .400 for the season and .400 with runners in scoring position.

Now the Husker return home after spending nine of the last 11 days on the road. That’ll wear on a team, too. Of Nebraska’s next 13 games, 11 will be at Haymarket Park.

“It’s hard to believe it’s already here,” Bolt said. “We set ourselves up to get home and continue to play well. We’ve played so many close games where we know that there are some things we need to tighten up and clean up. We look forward to seeing our home fans and our home stadium.”

Nebraska’s bullpen quiets its doubters

There was plenty of reason to question the Husker bullpen following the first weekend. Two blown games in the ninth inning against stiff competition will certainly raise some eyebrows. What’s happened in the days since should calm the concerns of many Nebraska fans.

After Walsh completed a shaky 3 1/3 to open Sunday’s game, the Husker bullpen went 5 2/3 while allowing no earned runs, two hits, issuing two walks and striking out eight. McConnaughey went the longest of the four Husker pitcher logging 2 2/3 innings of work.

“McConnaughey came in and got out of the jam there and got out a couple double plays,” Bolt said. “He didn’t buckle. We had the double-play ball that we didn’t turn and then right behind it we get the double play and (Jesske) turned it at second base. Mason just stayed very, very composed and very, very present.”

His effort got Nebraska into the later innings where pitching coach Rob Childress started playing matchups with the bookend lefties at each side of the Cougar order.

“Clark came in and got his two guys,” Bolt said. “Tucker was on attack and had a bit of a freshman hiccup there at the end. But, Kyle Perry man. The gray-beared left-hander comes in and gets the two lefties and what an awesome performance.”

Perry picked up his second save of the season while Timmerman moved to a 2-0 record.

For the weekend, Nebraska’s bullpen allowed three earned runs in 12 innings (2.25 ERA) while the unit scattered 10 hits, walked seven, sat 15 down on strikes and won a host of high-leverage situations.

What’s next for Nebraska baseball?

Nebraska baseball will open its home slate next weekend against South Alabama. The three-game series begins on Friday at 4:05 p.m. CT while Saturday’s first pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. and Sunday’s game will open at 12:05 p.m.

Each of the three games of can be streamed on Big Ten Plus and can be heard on the Huskers Radio Network.