Looking ahead to the NCAA tournament for Nebraska baseball

Nebraska baseball will make a return trip to the NCAA tournament on Friday after winning the Big Ten tournament title for the second straight year.

Last season, the Huskers opened the NCAA tournament against Florida. Nebraska lost that game and quickly exited the 2024 NCAA tournament.

On Friday, Nebraska baseball will be in Chapel Hill. North Carolina is the regional host, and they will open play against Holy Cross at noon.

Nebraska will take on old Big-8 rival Oklahoma (4 PM CST, ESPN+), now in the SEC. The Sooners come into the NCAA tournament ranked No. 27 in RPI. They have 10 wins over top-10 teams, although Nebraska has four over teams that are hosting regional tournaments this weekend (Oregon State, Oregon, Vanderbilt, and UCLA).

Breaking down Nebraska baseball vs. Oklahoma

The Sooners made an interesting decision not to pitch their ace in the first game. Kyson Witherspoon (2.47 ERA), who is expected to be a top-10 pick, but Oklahoma is pitching his brother instead, Malachi Witherspoon (3.8, 5.53 ERA), in a matchup against Jackson Brockett, who also isn’t the No. 1 for Nebraska.

Brockett (3.41) has come up clutch in the past, though. He won a start in the 2024 Big Ten tournament and held Oregon to one run on six hits, in six innings of work on Saturday in another Big Ten tournament win. Over his last five starts, Brockett has been elite, posting a 4-0 record with a 1.93 ERA.

Oklahoma’s offense ranks 163rd in runs scored and 181st in batting average, with just two hitters over .300. Easton Carmichael is one of those. The All-SEC Second-Team selection had 14 home runs and 55 RBI to lead the team.  Jaxon Williams also hit over .300 with nine homers and 42 RBI.

Nebraska baseball, which won five consecutive Big Ten series and six of seven overall before winning the Big Ten tournament, has six different batters hitting over .300 since April 26.

Those players are Case Sanderson, Cayden Brumbaugh, Riley Silva, Dylan Carey, Gabe Swansen, and Joshua Overbeek. Carey has 20 doubles this season and 47 for his career, which is tied for fifth in program history.

Swansen has also been an elite power hitter with 11 doubles and seven home runs in fewer than 150 at-bats, making him one of just 16 players nationally to do that.

If Nebraska wins on Friday, it will play the winner of North Carolina and Holy Cross on Saturday (6 PM EST). Nebraska would play an elimination game on Saturday (noon EST) with a loss.

Luke Broderick, a second-team All-Big Ten selection as a relief pitcher, will also play a key role this weekend, as will other starting pitchers Ty Horn and Tucker Timmerman.

This is Nebraska baseball’s 19th trip to an NCAA tournament regional. First pitch against Oklahoma is set for 4 PM on ESPN+.