Nebraska baseball is still alive in the NCAA tournament and if they are going to stay alive, they need more guys to start swinging the bat like Gabe Swansen.
We did see more of that on Saturday, despite falling behind 4-0 to Niagara. Case Sanderson crushed a three-run home run for the Huskers before they eventually pulled even at 4-4 on a throwing error.
Swansen finally gave Nebraska baseball its first lead of the NCAA tournament with a solo shot. He tacked on another later in the game to make it 7-5 Huskers.
Despite the rough start, the pitching staff did just enough to advance. Mason McConnaughey fell behind early but struck out 10 batters and got through six innings with Nebraska in the lead. It wasn’t perfect but it was enough to advance and that’s all Saturday was about — survival.
Jalen Worthley tossed three scoreless innings in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to seal the 7-5 win. Nebraska baseball will advance to Sunday, although they still need three wins to make it to the Super Regional.
Nebraska baseball will play on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST against the losers of Oklahoma State and Florida tonight. McConnaughey got the win after allowing five runs in five innings of work. Sanderson was 1-of-3 at the plate but notched four RBI after bringing home a run on a sac fly too. Swansen went 2-for-5 with two homers. He’s got three in two games in the NCAA tournament.
Dylan Carey also added two hits for the Huskers. Will Bolt’s team will have about 24 hours to rest before playing another elimination game. They will need to win twice on Sunday to advance to a winner-take-all-game on Monday.
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