#14 Oregon Ducks (39-15, 20-10 B1G) vs #19 Nebraska Cornhuskers (42-14, 23-7 B1G)
Location: Charles Schwab Field, Omaha, NE
Date/Time: Saturday, May 23rd at 7pm
Coaches: Mark Wasikowski (7th season, 332-203) & Will Bolt (7th season, 208-140-1)
TV/Stream: BTN & B1G+
Radio: All Nebraska games on Huskers Radio Network, Huskers.com, Huskers App
Allllllllllllright!! Now that we have all those poser 5-12 seeds
outta here, we can get down to business! We are down to the final 4 and all of them are ranked in the top 25 currently. We should have some good games on tap!
How’d They Get Here?
We all know how Nebraska got here. Wanting to get a game in late last night, we were big Purdue fans for an hour or so, then HUGE UCLA fans for about 4 minutes, and that game finished with about 13 seconds to spare. Then we were all in the left field stands, either physically or spiritually, waving our shirts over our heads cheering on the boys to a 6-4 win over Michigan at 1:51am.
3 seed Oregon, had to wait to play their game against Washington until Saturday, playing at 8am on their body clocks. (So you know they had to wake up at 4 or 5 am PT.) It was a bloodbath. The 11 seed Washington had used all their luck to get to the game but were in over their heads (and at the same body clocks disadvantage). Washington hit a grand slam in the 9th to get on the board, but 5 solo home runs by Oregon (a season high) powered them to a 9-4 win.
Tensions were high when these two played an epic series in Eugene. One that Oregon snuck out with a 1 run win (a controversial Overbeek slide into home being the overall difference). Jawing back and forth finally turned into a physical confrontation when Rhett Stokes slid hard into the Ducks second baseman. They bumped chests, and the infield converged around them. The Duck dugout also ran onto the field, but umpires decided to do nothing in terms of ejections.
So expect the teams (and fans) to be into this one and tensions to be high from the first pitch.
For a more in depth look at the Ducks, check out the Oregon Preview from the season series.
Pitching Probables
RHP Will Sanford (7-2, 4.08 ERA) vs RHP Gavin Blachowicz (4-2, 3.82 ERA)
It was a very uncharacteristic night for the Husker offense against Will Sanford on the Friday night in Eugene. Sanford struck out a season high 12 Huskers in his 6 innings of work. In all, Nebraska struck out 16 times on the night, a very odd stat for a team that has really cut down on the number of Ks this season. Sanford had every pitch going exactly where he wanted it. But he’s got a long day today, with the early wake up call for their first game. How will that and the largest crowd he’s seen this season affect him?
Though he didn’t start, Gavin Blachowicz pitched in the Sunday game against the Ducks. He was the most effective pitcher that day, and probably the most effective Nebraska rolled out for more than 1 inning the entire series. He pitched 2.1 innings of shutout ball, allowing only 1 hit, but walking 3 Ducks. That is something that will need to be at an absolute minimum. With the power these Oregon hitters have, you want as many solo shots as possible.
For Oregon, their bullpen is in great shape. Only 2 were used in the morning game against Washington, Toby Twist is their 3rd orthopedic best reliever, and he will be unavailable, throwing 60 pitches earlier. But beyond that, everyone else should be available.
Nebraska used Ty Horn out of the pen for multiple innings last night. So he is a no go today, more than likely. Closer J’Shawn Unger went an inning, but was not under a ton of stress. So if he is needed for another inning tonight, that shouldn’t be an issue.
COME ON DOWN!!
Ticketmaster has opened up the entire lower bowl for once, instead of going section by section. So get some tickets and come join us for the party!
In the meantime, check out the latest Cinematic recap! (Which the Huskers social media team got done despite being at the ballpark until 3am last night.)
