Series Preview
Nebraska Cornhuskers (15-5, 3-0 B1G) at Michigan Wolverines (10-9, 0-3 B1G)w2ww
Location: Ray Fischer Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
Dates: March 20th-22nd
Times (all CDT): Friday @ 3pm, Saturday @ 1pm, Sunday @ 12pm
Head Coaches: Will Bolt (7th season, 185-131-1) & Tracy Smith (4th season, 908-700-1)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Radio: All Nebraska games on Huskers Radio Network, Huskers.com, Huskers App
Ten years ago this series routinely decided one of the top spots in the standings
in the Big Ten. That led to some fierce battles, and more than a couple skirmishes. With the new look Big Ten, they don’t meet as often, and have been a few spots lower on the totem pole when they do, but this weekend is a big measuring stick for both. Is Nebraska as good as their record (the best under Bolt at this point in the season) says? Is Michigan’s record a result of their incredibly difficult schedule so far? Or are they a .500 team?
Things haven’t gone exactly as Tracy Smith planned in his return to the Big Ten. The man who was responsible for building Indiana into the program they are has a .541 winning percentage at Michigan and hasn’t made an NCAA Tournament in his first 3 seasons. This year he sits at 10-9, but has played a tough schedule to build up there RPI. They were in both Arizona and Arlington with Nebraska despite not meeting on the field, and Stanford was the worst of the 4 teams they played in Arizona. The Wolverines did the unthinkable and won a series at San Diego, (you have no idea how angry putting the “1” in Coach Bolt’s record every week makes me), but are coming off a weekend sweep by #1 UCLA.
Nebraska is riding an 11 game winning streak, built up against some mid-major competition after having a gauntlet of early games. They have built their RPI up to 33, which is in the NCAA at-large bid window. Winning the games you are supposed to win is the easiest way to build up your RPI. It’s plagued Nebraska the past few seasons, but having 4 legit starting pitchers has really helped the midweek games. Nebraska currently sits at #2 in the Big Ten at 3-0, and with the new Big Ten Tournament format being announced, a top 4 finish is now just as important in baseball as it is in basketball.
Pitching Probables
Game 1: RHP Ty Horn (0-0, 3.16 ERA) vs. TBA
Game 2: RHP Carson Jasa (3-1, 5.01 ERA) vs. TBA
Game 3: RHP Gavin Blachowicz (2-1, 2.96 ERA) vs. TBA
Seemed like after Ty Horn struck out the side in the first inning against Maine, that he had aspirations of double digit strikeouts in his future. He went far too deep into counts instead of throwing strikes and trusting his defense (which is playing at a championship level). That led to 4 walks to pair with his 6 strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work. With a double header looming the next day, a deep run into the 7th like his previous game would have been ideal, but still decent showing on a night where he didn’t quite have his breaking pitches as the game went on.
It was a career day for Carson Jasa in the first game of the double header against Maine. He pitched 6.2 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits. He put up a career high 10 strikeouts of Black Bear batters and only walked 2. His cutter/changeup seemed to be as effective as it’s been all season. Other than his disasterous inning at Auburn, Jasa has been consistent at getting into the 6th inning and going over 90 pitches. That’ll do for a Saturday starter, especially one with his fire power.
After a career high 11 strikeouts against Michigan State, Gavin Blachowicz put up another 9 against Maine. He was an out shy of a quality start, but with enough arms left in the pen, it was easy to finish off the game. He put up the lowest strike percentage of the season, and gave up a season high 3 earned runs, though 2 were inherited runners that Pryce Bender allowed to score in the worst outing of his young career. His hold on the Championship Sunday slot seems to be locked in.
In a not shocking move, Michigan has not released a starting rotation. They are doing more than just being annoying to the Husker coaches, they are having a come to Jesus moment with their rotation, trying to figure out if its struggles are worth reshuffling their roster, or just a consequence of the quality of teams they’ve seen. Kurt Barr will surely be in there somewhere. The senior has been a starter since halfway through his freshman year. Barr had a lights out first start against a ranked Arizona team, then got shelled against Kansas State in Globe Life Field. Since then he’s been somewhere in between.
Beyond Barr, it’s pure speculation. Tate Carey hasn’t pitched in a month, after being the team’s most effective arm. Cade Montgomery has started every weekend but started to slip as of late. Four runs in 3.2 innings against San Diego. Five in 4.2 against Pepperdine. TEN in 3.2 against UCLA. He did come back and throw 3 shutout innings in a midweek matchup with Michigan State, so it’s hard to see what the coaches think with him. Top freshman Shane Brinham picked up his first start against UCLA and went 2.1 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. He may be given another shot if he has shown an ability to cut down on walks.
Scouting Report
The Michigan offense has struggled for most of the start of the season. They are in the bottom half of the league in nearly all offensive categories. They are led by Colby Turner in most major categories. He is batting .346 with 6 doubles, 5 home runs, 21 RBIs and an OPS of .996, all of which pace the Wolverines offense. He is one of those guy who despite not being overly impressive physically, somehow the ball sounds different coming off his bat compared to everyone else. He had an ok year in 2025, but really took off in the Cape Cod league over the summer, now projecting as one of the top bats to be selected out of the conference in the draft.
Senior Greg Pace Jr still mans center field for the Wolverines. His offensive numbers are down compared to last season, his slugging percentage has dropped from .586 to .354 and while still good at .408, his on base percentage is down as well. He is someone they need to get rolling for the offense to be where they hoped it would be preseason.
Former Alabama and Houston transfer Evan Haeger came into the season hoping to be one of the main offensive threats. He is second on the team batting .310, and has the 2nd most extra base hits. With 4 doubles and 1 home run. The team is waiting for a pair of incoming transfer to really take off. Redshirt freshman Texas transfer Carson Luna has been struggling on offense and St Louis transfer Brenden Stressler has been in and out of the lineup recently. Both came in highly rated in the transfer portal.
Unlike the starters, the bullpen has been fairly solid for the Wolverines. Gavin DeVooght has been the star closer for Michigan. He has 6 saves on the season, with 17 strikeouts in 18 innings of work, but he can be wild as he is tops on the team in walks with 12. The 6’5” 250lb reliever has posted an ERA of 1.96 thus far in 2026.
Sophomore RHP reliever Grant Bradley came into college as one of the top pitching recruits in the conference and is starting to live up to that hype after an up and down freshman season. He’s used in long relief once a series, having gone for 3+ innings in the last 4 weekends. He has struck out 11 in 14 innings and has yet to give up a run.
Senior Max Debiec has been one of the more reliable arms over the past 2 seasons since arriving from JUCO. The 6’7” RHP got a little roughed up at UCLA like most pitchers, but has been solid in the rest of his outings. He has an ERA of 3.86 and has struck out 13 over 11.2 innings.
The Wolverines defense is about average. They field at a 97.8% clip, good for 8th in the Big Ten.
Series History
Nebraska leads the all time series 21-17. Nebraska has won both the series last year and the last series in Ann Arbor. In fact, the last series the Wolverines won in Ann Arbor against the Huskers was back in 2016.
On Deck
- Nebraska is off to a stellar start defensively. Their 98.3 fielding percentage ranks 2nd in the Big Ten to Iowa at 98.4, and 18th nationally.
- The 16-5 mark ties the 2024 team for the best 21 game start under Bolt.
