Evan BlandWorld-Herald Staff Writer
LINCOLN— Case Sanderson wore a shiner on his face this week. An example of batting practice gone awry.
The Nebraska freshman was feeding a pitching machine for teammate Dylan Carey on Sunday when a comebacker ricocheted off the device and smacked him in the right eye.
“Yeah,” Sanderson said Wednesday night before trailing off. “A little fluke deal.”
The outfielder saw well enough to collect three hits and put barrels on two other balls. His team was locked in too, staving off Big Ten tournament elimination with a win over Purdue.
That’s been the Huskers for two months— bruised but never down for long.
Only twice this spring has NU let a losing streak grow beyond two games, and never past three. The team dropped seven midweek games but was 5-2 in its follow-up chances. Big Red is consistently resilient (12 winning weekend series in 14 tries) if not ruthless (three three-game sweeps).
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“You have to earn it every day,” Nebraska coach Will Bolt said. “And it sounds cliché, it sounds simple. But it’s hard to do in this day and age when there are so many distractions and pulling guys in different directions. I’ll say this: What our team has, I think, is pretty rare in terms of the resolve and the toughness. Are we perfect? No. I’ve said it time and time again. There’s no perfect team out there, though.”
Wednesday’s win reminded that the Huskers, at their best, are pesky. Starter Brett Sears tossed a quality start with command of none of his pitches except a diminished fastball. Gabe Swansen sparked a key four-run second inning by drawing a 12-pitch walk. Sanderson and his black eye — batting .447 in May— pelted Purdue pitching atop the lineup.
“I think it’s just staying consistent each and every day,” Sanderson said. “Like (Tuesday) I had a bad day – you just gotta learn to flush it and move on from that. I think that’s been a big part of what my success is this year is I’ve been able to move on from it and just stay present in the moment.”
It’s no coincidence that most Husker player interviews include similar thoughts of remaining even keel. Bolt delivers the message to his team daily and before games.
As for that dominant bounce-back gene? Nebraska has had chances to show it this spring after a variety of circ*mstances spanning bullpen meltdowns and forgettable offensive production. Bolt said rarely has the team needed to rebound from playing poorly – Tuesday’s run-rule defeat to Ohio State was an exception, he added – and often the Huskers handle the moving-on process themselves.
“It’s the time of year where they players have to lead from the front,” Bolt said. “They’ve gotta lead on the field, they’ve gotta lead with their words, they’ve gotta lead with their actions and holding each other to a pretty high standard to try to win a championship. That’s what I’ve encouraged them to do as well. Especially this time of year, that’s where it really matters.”
Second-seeded Nebraska (35-20) figures to be a tough out Friday at 2 p.m. in another elimination tilt against seventh-seeded Ohio State (29-25). Normal No. 2 starter Mason McConnaughey will go on full rest with a chance to help the local squad move into a Saturday semifinal needing to win twice against third-seeded Indiana (32-22-1) to reach its first title round since 2019.
The Buckeyes used five pitchers – including multiple starting candidates and top reliever Blaine Wynk – and threw 193 pitches in Thursday’s 14-7 loss to the Hoosiers. While coach Bill Mosiello declined to make public a starter, the most likely possibility is senior right-hander Colin Purcell, a nine-game starter who would go on a full week of rest.
Purcell and McConnaughey both pitched in an April 6 game the Huskers won 7-3 in Lincoln. Purcell tossed three relief innings while allowing four hits and a run. McConnaughey started and yielded two runs in 6 1/3 frames with three walks and five strikeouts. Purcell also started against the Huskers in April 2023 while with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – he lasted 3 2/3 stanzas that day with six hits and seven runs (one earned) allowed with four punchouts.
Mosiello joked he’d like Friday’s matchup better if OSU could bring back ace Landon Beidelschies. The Buckeyes have no such luxury.
“I’d love to get a bad version of them but I’ve got great respect,” Mosiello said of Nebraska. “They’ve been a really consistent club and super well coached. … What else could you want for an opportunity to knock them off in their own home park but, boy, what happened the other day, that’ll be nothing. If anything, they’re infuriated by it.”
In seven previous Big Ten tournaments in the eight-team format, no school that lost its first game advanced to the final. Nebraska is as equipped to buck the trend as any as the league’s far-and-away leader in earned-run average. A potential Saturday starting candidate is Will Walsh, who pitched a four-hit shutout at last year’s conference tourney and has been a weekend starter at times this spring. Most of the bullpen’s high-leverage arms are also ready with Thursday’s off day and only Drew Christo throwing in relief Wednesday.
The Huskers practiced Thursday at Omaha’s Tal Anderson Field and plan to stick around town a few more days if possible. With their tournament “hiccup” in the past, the focus, as usual, is on the present.
“Our guys are better when they’re not calm and collected, to be honest with you,” Bolt said. “When they’re riled up and they embrace the intensity it takes to win, they’re very, very good. We want them to ride that fine line that way.”
Nebraska vs. Ohio State
Where: Charles Schwab Field Omaha
Radio: Huskers Radio Network
Video stream: Big Ten Network
2 p.m. Friday: RHP Mason McConnaughey (7-3, 3.10 ERA) vs. TBA
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