Series Preview
#16 Nebraska Cornhuskers (34-11, 17-4 B1G) at Ohio State Buckeyes (21-21, 10-11 B1G)
Location: Bill Davis Stadium, Columbus, OH
Dates: May 1st-3rd
Times (all CDT): Friday @ 5pm , Saturday @ 6pm, Sunday @ 1pm
Coaches: Will Bolt (7th season, 204-137-1) & Justin Haire (2nd season, 351-270)
TV/Stream: Saturday on BTN, All games on B1G+
Radio:
All Nebraska games on Huskers Radio Network, Huskers.com, Huskers AppGiddy-up! It’s Western Weekend as the Huskers travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Buckeyes. Nebraska is trying to replicate a road series win against a team that is 1 spot above the Illinois team they knocked off last week. The Huskers have only lost one confernce series so far, and that was to a veteran team with an entrenched veteran coaching staff. Ohio State doesn’t really have either of those qualities.
Three seasons ago Ohio State stole one of the best assistant coaches from TCU to be their head coach, and set up an all star coaching staff. That staff all left to get out of dodge (NU just faced one as USC’s pitching coach) on their own terms after 2 years. So Ohio State went after a program builder from a smaller school in Justin Haire. He built Campbell into a power, winning the Big South conference 5 times in a row, and winning 7 NCAA games in his 10 years at the school.
Haire went out and grabbed his two best assistants in his time at Campbell, who had both moved on to bigger jobs, and brought them to Columbus. In his first year he had to deal with the mass exodus of players that left when the previous staff just up and quit. It was a disaster, but a series win against Oregon gave them something to build on. After being picked to finish last again, they are much more respectable this season, at.500. The Buckeyes have 3 conference series victories, albeit over 3 teams that most likely won’t make a trip to Omaha in a few weeks. Over their last two series, they have been swept at Purdue, and lost at Rutgers.
Pitching Preview
Game 1: RHP Carson Jasa (8-1, 3.75 ERA) vs. RHP Gavin Kuzniewski (3-2, 5.53 ERA)
Game 2: RHP Gavin Blachowicz (4-1, 2.62 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Domke (4-5, 6.58 ERA)
Game 3: RHP Cooper Katskee (5-1, 4.17 ERA) vs. RHP Pierce Herrenbruck (4-3, 4.72 ERA)
Despite the historic season Nebraska is undertaking, the biggest issue has been starting pitching on Friday nights over the past 6-8 weeks. Ty Horn just couldn’t make it deep into games, and his replacement the past two weeks struggled to hold down the opposing offenses. Enter Carson Jasa. The team’s best pro prospect has been protected in the lowest pressure start of the weekend on Saturday up to this point. But he’s shown he is ready for the big time. Obviously he has the electric stuff, but also the ability to go deep into games. That is one of the biggest factors for the coaching staff. Preserving the bullpen for the rest of the weekend.
Gavin Blachowicz slides from Sunday to Saturday. He has been as solid as you could hope for in a pitcher on the year. Other than the rough start to the USC game he has given the team every chance to be in the best position to win the game when he exited. That includes a couple times when he obviously didn’t have his best stuff. He still powered through for a few innings and didn’t give up a huge amount of runs. That’s as good as you could ask for.
After the failed 2 starts on Friday, Cooper Katskee goes back to his Championship Sunday role that has suited him well. Katskee always tends to give up an early run or two, then settles down for 4 or 5 more innings where he keeps the opposing offense relatively in check, usually more than enough for the potent Husker offense. On Fridays, he never was able to recover and get into a groove. Whether it was nerves/excitement/different-routine, is hard to say. But a return to normalcy for him should help everyone.
After being the surprising most reliable arm as a freshman in 2025, Gavin Kuzniewski has been the same in his sophomore season. No one thing really stands out about him. He is not big. Doesn’t throw any one pitch that is overly great. He’s not an ideal Friday night starter, but competes every outing, so the coaches trust him. He had struggled for about a month, but really righted himself at Rutgers, throwing 6 shutout innings, striking out 5 and giving up 4 hits.
Saturday starter Chris Domke has had some high highs, but low lows this season, after missing all of 2025. In the 3 B1G series the Buckeyes have won, he combined to give up 2 earned runs in 19.1 innings. But he also has games where he has given up 6, 9 and even 10 earned runs. You should be able to tell early if you are getting Dr. Jekyll or Mr Hyde. The coaching staff seems to let Pierce Herrenbruck go 80-90 pitches no matter how the game is going. He rarely comes out before reaching that mark. They must not trust what’s left of the bullpen to help much on Sundays.
Scouting Report
The Buckeye offense is similar in batting average to Illinois, the difference is they swing with more slug, and instead of having one of the higher walk rates, Ohio State strikes out the 2nd most in the Big Ten.
The team leader is short stop Henry Kaczmar. After being the best player as a freshman and sophomore, he transferred to South Carolina in the exodus before last season. He had a good year down south, but decided to return to Columbus and hasn’t looked back. He leads the Big Ten in doubles with 20, and leads the Buckeyes batting .333, while being second with 8 home runs and 36 RBIs. Oh, and he plays outstanding defense.
Another player that came from South Carolina is Lee Ellis. Ellis spent his freshman year there before becoming a Buckeye last year. He took over at short stop for Kaczmar and was the leadoff batter. He shifted over to second base this season, while his average (.265) and on-base percentages (.381) are down this season, his power numbers are way up. He has 10 doubles, 4 triples and 6 home runs.
One of the many JUCO transfers that was added to the team was Dane Harvey. At 6’5” 270 lbs, he is hard to miss. He leads the team in home runs with 13 on the season, and in OPS at 1.091, and is top 5 in the Big Ten in slugging percentage (.695). Harvey is batting .313, and is putting up all these numbers despite not really playing until the month of March.
The Buckeyes’ bullpen is the weakness of the team. Of the regulars, only 3 guys are below a 5.00 ERA and only 1, Andrew Edrington, is below 4.00 at 3.78. He didn’t appear much as a freshman, and missed all of last season due to injury. Edrington is generally only in for 1 inning, throwing for 16.2 innings on 16 appearances.
Former Oklahoma pitcher and grad transfer Luke Carrell leads the team with 23 appearances on the year. He has thrown 22.2 innings and has 23 strikeouts and a 5.18 ERA. He is the go to arm when the opposing team has a big left handed bat later in the game.
After starting a year ago, junior Jake Michalak has moved into the pen to be a late innings guy this season. He has probably the best pure stuff in the pen, striking out 36 batters in 33.2 innings, but his control is severely lacking. He also leads the pen in walks with 22, and hit batters with 10. So everyone needs to be on high alert stepping into the box when he is on the mound.
The Ohio State defense is not great. It has the 2nd worst fielding percentage in the Big Ten at 96.6%.
Series History
Nebraska holds a 22-15 all time record against the Buckeyes. The last meeting between the teams was the opening game of the 2024 Big Ten Tournament, the last time the Huskers lost a game in Charles Schwab Field. The last regular season meeting was a series win by Nebraska in Lincoln, highlighted by Brett Sears pitching his masterpiece, a 3-0 shutout with 10 strikeouts.
On Deck
- Carson Jasa is 16 strikeouts away from breaking into the top 10 of the Huskers’ single season chart. Phil Harrison’s 1986 season is 10th with 98.
- Mac Moyer has reached base in 44 straight games. Brice Williams owns the record with 52.
- J’Shawn Unger is tied for 10th in the country with 9 saves on the season.
- On Tuesday, Jeter Worthley became the 3rd freshman to record 5 hits in a game for NU since 2000, joining Matt Hopper (2000) and Gunner Hellstrom (2018).
