Nebraska Baseball’s Bats Awaken for 19-7 Win Over Indiana

What a way to end a weekend and not only salvage a game in a series, but stay a game ahead of Indiana in the standings. Usually this season, I’ve felt like I don’t have enough room to talk about the offense and how poorly they’ve taken their approach at the plate, or their struggles to barrel up baseballs. Today that is not the case. Today, in a 19-7 win, I have too much to go over to that we’d be here forever breaking down all the offensive plays. So lets hit some highlights!

Nebraska pounded out 20 hits, with every starter getting a hit on the day, and all but 1 (Efry Cervantes) getting multiple hits. Nebraska started early, with Garrett Anglim tripling down the right field line and being driven in by Griffin Everitt. Anglim would finish a home run short of the cycle, while Everitt went 4-7 on the day, with each hit driving in a a run.

After a scoreless 2nd, the only inning the Huskers failed to score a run, Nebraska started a run where all but 1 lead off batter would reach base for the remainder of the game. This included the 5th-7th innings where each lead off hitter mashed a home run out of Bart Kaufman Field. Freshman Gabe Swansen started it with his first career homer, Leighton Banjoff kept it going, and Brice Matthews provided the emphatic exclamation point. A 450 foot monster that was only outdone by the gargantuan bat flip! (This writer is 100% behind the “Let the Boys Play” philosophy.)

Cam Chick provided the Huskers another home run, a 3 RBI blast in the 6th that really put the game on ice after a modest attempt by the Hoosiers a couple innings earlier to climb back into it.

Koty Frank, fresh off his pitcher of the week honors, was dominant while the game was still in hand. Other than a rocky 4th inning, where he allowed 4 earned runs, and Indiana momentarily climbed back into the game, he was on point, striking out 9 and only allowing one other run in 5.1 innings. Tyler Martin and Braxton Bragg finished off the game, allowing 2 runs in 2 innings, and 0 runs in 1.2 innings respectively.

The Huskers return to Haymarket Park for the next five games, closing out a season series with Kansas State on Tuesday, April 26th and Omaha on Wednesday, April 27th. These are 2 of the last 3 midweek games for Nebraska, as the focus can really switch to the Big Ten standings. Nebraska plays the bottom 2 teams in the B1G standings in the last 4 series, and needs to have a good showing against them, because the other 2 series involve 2nd place Illinois and an Iowa team fresh off handing Rutgers their first series loss of the conference season.