OMAHA, Neb. — Drowsy. Sleep-deprived. Frustrated. Those are all words that could have described Nebraska’s (42-14) performance against Michigan (34-24) in a game that began late Friday evening and ran into the early hours of Saturday morning at Charles Schwab Field.
But the theme of head coach Will Bolt’s team all year has been resilience, and he has left no doubt that his team is full of fight. That fight was clearly evident in the Huskers’ 6-4 win against the Wolverines, advancing them to the Big Ten conference semi-finals in a game that didn’t end until 1:51 a.m.
It wasn’t exactly the traditional doubleheader that NU nearly found itself playing in, a decision that came down to the final seconds of the previous game between UCLA and Purdue.
After hours of postponements, delays and spotty afternoon showers, the Bruins and Boilermakers began their quarterfinal matchup over six hours after their scheduled start time, with first pitch making its long-awaited debut at 7:05. The game needed to end by 10:20 for standard field work and warm-ups to take place for Nebraska to take the field; otherwise, NU would be forced to play its first game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Sparked by a late-inning comeback, UCLA worked the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, before a walk-off sacrifice fly gave the Bruins a 4-3 win as senior Jarrod Hocking crossed home plate at exactly 10:19, and paved the way for more late-night baseball in Omaha.
And despite an 11 p.m. first pitch, Nebraska wasn’t fazed, jumping out to an early lead before it fought back late behind the bat of Case Sanderson.
Instant Big Red reactions to Nebraska’s late-night win in Omaha:
Sanderson carries Huskers’ offense
There’s hardly a better term to describe what Sanderson did to propel Nebraska to victory against Michigan than saying he put the team on his back.
The junior entered the game after slashing .365/.492/.538 in the regular season, and came off a strong 6-for-13 weekend at Minnesota to end the year. Sanderson continued that success against the Wolverines, spraying a barrage of hard-hit balls around the park in a 3-for-4 night.
After he started the scoring with a two-RBI triple in the first inning, Sanderson contributed to NU’s offensive output again in the bottom of the fourth. The first baseman laced a double to center field to start the inning, and advanced to third after freshman right fielder Drew Grego flared a single into the outfield grass.
Sanderson and Grego would both come around to score when senior second baseman Rhett Stokes pulled a two-out single into left field, a moment that saw Nebraska jump ahead 4-2 at the time.
After Michigan fought back to tie the game in the top of the seventh, Sanderson found himself up yet again with a chance to push the Huskers ahead. With two on and two out, he lined a ball into the alley in right to two runs.
The double would prove to be all Nebraska needed, as sophomore closer J’Shawn Unger came on after two innings from junior right-hander Ty Horn to close out the NU win.
Extra-base hits overshadow Jasa’s six-inning start
It wasn’t the same success that Carson Jasa had in his first start against the Wolverines this season, when he threw six shutout innings and struck out eight in a 10-0 win on March 21.
The sophomore didn’t have his best stuff, although it’s hard to envision how he could, considering the circumstances of Friday’s evening. And despite an evening where he battled hard-hit balls and multiple hit batters, Jasa entered the seventh inning with an opportunity to make a statement on a day that felt it may never end.
The adversity first presented itself in the top of the fourth inning, when back-to-back singles from the heart of Michigan’s order — a chopper over the head of senior third baseman Josh Overbeek and a hard-hit ball into right field — put runners on first and second.
After it appeared that Jasa would limit the damage when he forced an RBI groundout to first, designated hitter Cade Ladehoff had other plans. Ladehoff sat back on a slider on the outer-half, lacing it 103 mph into the right-center field gap to tie the game at 2-2.
And, for a moment, it seemed that would be all the Wolverines would get against Jasa, who bounced back to retire seven of the next eight batters as he entered the seventh. The righty started the inning with a strikeout of Ladehoff, but the pitch was mishandled by junior catcher Larry Fikes and allowed the sophomore to reach first base.
First baseman Matthew Ossenfort immediately turned on a hanging breaking ball, depositing it into the right-center field seats as Michigan once again erased the Huskers’ two-run lead and tied the game at four apiece.
It was the end of the road for Jasa, who exited the game with a final line of six innings, four runs on four hits and eight strikeouts.
Two-run first sets the tone
Regardless of the Huskers’ path to getting their game in against Michigan on Friday, the bats didn’t take long to wake up.
In fact, it would be hard to argue that they were ever really asleep. Fans set the tone with an unfathomable turnout despite the pushed-back start time, and the lineup returned that energy against sophomore Erik Puodziunas in the bottom of the first inning.
Puodziunas retired leadoff man and junior center fielder Mac Moyer to start the frame, though Moyer’s 100 mph lineout to center would be a premonition for the swings to come. Freshman designated hitter Jeter Worthley scorched an infield single off Puodziunas’ leg, which preceded a Dylan Carey single to put two on for Nebraska’s offense.
It brought first baseman Case Sanderson to the plate, and he didn’t waste any time against the Wolverines, jumping on Puodziunas’ first pitch and tagging a triple down the right field line to set the tone with an early 2-0 lead.
It’s the early effort that has carried Nebraska all season, and will continue to be a factor as the Huskers fight through postseason play.
Nebraska returns to action at 6 p.m. on Saturday, when it will face the winner of the 9 a.m. game between Oregon and Washington.