No. 20 Huskers Advance to Big Ten Semifinal
No. 20 Nebraska opened Big Ten Tournament play with a 6-4 victory over Michigan in a quarterfinal matchup that ended in the early hours of Saturday morning at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.
Nebraska (42-14) scored six runs on 12 hits and no errors, while Michigan (34-24) scored four runs on six hits and three errors.
Case Sanderson led the Husker offense with a 3-for-4 performance, falling a homer shy of the cycle with a double, triple and three runs driven in. Jeter Worthley went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and Rhett Stokes finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. Dylan Carey and Drew Grego each added a hit and scored a run, and Trey Fikes and Joshua Overbeek each contributed a hit.
Carson Jasa started and worked six innings, allowing four runs on four hits while striking out eight with no walks. With 109 strikeouts on the year, Jasa is seventh all-time in program history for most strikeouts by an NU pitcher in a season.
Horn relieved Jasa and tossed two scoreless frames, earning the win to improve to 3-2. J’Shawn Unger closed it out with a perfect ninth for his 12th save of the year, moving the sophomore to a tie for eighth on the single-season saves list in program history.
Nebraska wasted no time in the first, as Worthley and Carey singled to put runners on first and second before Sanderson lined a two-run triple down the right-field line to give the Huskers an early 2-0 advantage.
Michigan answered in the fourth, putting together a two-out rally. An RBI groundout with runners on second and third plated the Wolverines’ first run of the night, while an RBI double to right-center field tied the game at two.
The Big Red reclaimed the lead immediately in the bottom of the fourth. Sanderson doubled and Grego singled to set the table, and Stokes singled to left and advanced to second on a throwing error, plating Sanderson and Grego to push the Huskers ahead 4-2.
The Wolverines tied it again in the seventh with two-run homer to right field with one out to knot the game at four.
Nebraska answered right back in its half of the seventh. Stokes and Worthley singled to put runners on first and third, and Sanderson delivered with an RBI single to right that also benefited from an error in right field, scoring both Worthley and Stokes to make it 6-4.
Horn and Unger held Michigan scoreless the rest of the way to secure the 6-4 victory against the Wolverines.
Nebraska returns to action on Saturday night, as the Huskers are set to take on the winner of Saturday morning’s quarterfinal matchup between Washington and Oregon. Saturday night’s semifinal is set for 6:03 p.m. on BTN.