Will Walsh, Cole Evans lead Nebraska baseball to midweek win over Wichita State

After finishing 7-7 in midweek games during the 2023 season, Nebraska baseball got its midweek slate off to a strong start in 2024. Head coach Will Bolt’s Huskers collected their 10th win of the season with a 8-6 road defeat of Wichita State on Tuesday night.

Nebraska is now 7-1 in true road contests this year.

The win comes in spite of 14 runners left on base, 14 strikeouts and a major scare via a Shocker two-out rally in the eighth. Husker starter Will Walsh (1-0) collected the win while Casey Daiss recorded his third save of the season.

Here’s how Nebraska moved to 10-4 with thoughts on Walsh’s rebound and contributions from a few improbable faces in the batting order.

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NU found itself quickly in a 1-0 hole after the first inning. That marked the fifth time in the last six contests the Huskers failed to score first. In that stretch, Nebraska is 4-1.

It didn’t take long for the Huskers to pull back in front. With one out in the third, four consecutive Nebraska bats tallied hits including a two-run bomb from Tyler Stone, which is his fourth of the season. Later, Ben Columbus drove in a pair with a single to shallow left to make it a 4-1 Husker lead.

Nebraska seemed to blow the game open in the fourth. A leadoff single from Rhett Stokes sparked another Husker rally, but this time NU capitalized on two key Wichita State errors and three two-out walks. In total, Nebraska plated three more in the inning with the last run crossing home after a Columbus walk, stretching the Huskers’ advantage to 7-1.

Walsh held the Shockers off the board until the sixth when Jordan Rogers took the southpaw deep for a two-run shot. Helping to turn a double play one at-bat later ended the frame and Walsh’s outing with a quality start in hand.

Cole Evans’ third hit of the night provided Nebraska with some much-needed insurance in the seventh. His two-out single brought Dylan Hufft around to score and pushed the lead back to five at 8-3.

Things got hairy for the Huskers in the eighth with two outs and runners on second and third. Reliever Jackson Brockett stepped in for Evan Borst and allowed three straight RBI singles, including an odd infield hit to shortstop. Just like that, it was an 8-6 entering the final frame.

Nebraska failed to create any insurance in the ninth for Daiss, who posted the final out of the eighth. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound junior worked sandwiched a strikeout and a two-out single with a pair of groundballs to end it.

“He’s out there looking like it’s a Sunday in the park,” Bolt said [postgame on the Huskers Radio Network. “He’s got a really slow heartbeat and he throws strikes. That’s the thing. It was good to see him navigate there at the end of that game with a couple of left-handed hitters.”

Walsh’s unlikely quality start

After hitting the first two batters in the first inning, it wouldn’t have shocked many if Walsh’s night came to an premature end.

Instead, the redshirt junior from Leawood, Kansas, limited the damage to a run and coaxed a groundball and a fly out to end the first. From then until the sixth he faced just two batters over the minimum. His final line included six innings of work in which he surrendered three earned runs while adding two strikeouts and a walk.

His rebound in the first turned a midweek nightmare into an extremely manageable deficit.

““I thought it was big on Walsh’s part to hold them to one there,” Bolt said. “It could have easily been a crooked number but he navigated like a veteran and gave our offense a chance to work a little bit.”

Eating up six innings also does wonders for the Husker bullpen in the midst of a five-game week. There will be plenty of arms to support freshman Ryan Harrahill in his first Nebraska start on Wednesday.

“I thought Borst gave us a good look there and Daiss came in and did his job,” Bolt said. “But, (we) still have got plenty of guys left tomorrow and Harrahill, (I’m) looking forward to seeing him pitch.”

Surprise performances salvage Nebraska’s imperfect night offensively

Nebraska’s injury issues are no secret. Throughout the last three weeks a number of players have stepped up to fill the shoes of Josh Overbeek and Cayden Brumbaugh. On Tuesday, catcher Josh Caron was also out of the lineup.

The Huskers’ depth paid dividends once again.

“We had some guys out today giving some other guys some opportunities and I’d say (Cole Evans) responded in a big way there,” Bolt said. “He had some big two-strike hits for us and obviously that extra run there felt a lot better late in that game. Columbus, he’s been nails as a hitter whenever he’s caught. That’s kinda been his thing.”

Evans finished with a team-high four hits in a double and an RBI when elevated to the top third of Nebraska’s lineup. Two other Huskers recorded multi-hit games. Clay Bradford continued his strong stint of late with a 2-for-4 showing. Meanwhile, Ben Columbus drove in three runs and went 2-for-4 as well.

On a night when Nebraska’s bats struggled to capitalize on all the opportunities afforded by the Wichita State pitching staff, three guys who have spent the majority of the season in the bottom third of the order or on the bench delivered in a critical moments.

What’s next for Nebraska baseball?

Nebraska baseball concludes its series with Wichita State at 6:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday night. Husker freshman Ryan Harrahill will make his NU debut in the midweek tilt. The games will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Huskers Radio Network.

Then, Nebraska will begin an eight-game home stand with a weekend series against Nicholls on Friday. All three games of that series can be found on Big Ten Plus.