The Nebraska baseball team (31-12) is headed to Fayetteville, Arkansas where they will appear in the NCAA tournament for the 17th time. The second-seeded Huskers will face off against the Northeastern Huskies (36-10, 20-3 CAA) on Friday for the first time in the program’s history. Also in the same regional is Arkansas (46-10, 22-8 SEC) who won the SEC regular season and tournament. The Razorbacks will play New Jersey Tech (26-22, 23-17 AEC) on Friday prior to the NU game.
The regional is a double-elimination tournament where the four teams will play until only one remains. That one team will advance to a super regional against the winner of the Ruston Regional. For this round, with day one already set, day two will follow where the winners will play and the losers will play in an elimination game. Following that, day three will be both teams that are 1-1 in an elimination game followed by the undefeated team playing the winner of the first game. If the team with one loss wins on day three, the final game will be played on day four.
Nebraska is coming off a final series win against Michigan, a fellow tournament team. The Husker pitching staff dominated Game 1 with Cade Povich starting the game off with 3 strikeouts on nine pitches, an immaculate inning. The junior went seven innings allowing just four hits and nine strikeouts. Jake Bunz and Spencer Schwellenbach finished the job for NU to get a 1-0 win over the Wolverines. Michigan got the better of the Big Red in the second game 2-0, but Nebraska bounced back to win their final regular season game 5-3.
Northeastern is coming off a conference tournament win in a double-elimination tournament where they went 4-1. The Huskies beat Charleston in their first game, then lost to UNCW in Game 2. After beating Charleston once more, Northeastern took down UNCW twice to take a tournament win. During the regular season, the Huskies went on a 20 game winning streak, only to be broken five games before the end of the regular season.
Arkansas is the top-ranked team in the nation coming into the postseason, and the Razorbacks won both the SEC regular season and tournament for the first time in their history. Their Game 1 opponent, NJIT, is coming into the weekend with a conference tournament win under their belt as well after they were undefeated in a double-elimination tournament and they had to halt due to inclement weather. Since the Highlanders were the only team yet to lose, they were given the automatic bid.
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Probable Starters
Friday, 7:00 p.m. vs. Northeastern: LHP Cade Povich (6-1, 2.82 ERA) vs. RHP Sebastian Keane (6-1, 3.93 ERA)
***Matchups following Friday’s game will be announced following each game due to different possible opponents.
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What to watch for
Not much is changing
With Cade Povich getting the start on Friday, it is likely that not much will change up and down the lineup. Throughout the season, the Huskers have made some small changes to the lineup and on defense, but it has started to settle in more recently. Chance Hroch will likely start game two as he has all season, and game three is where it gets dicey. Kyle Perry has been the go-to in recent weeks and there is a good chance he would pitch in an elimination game if that were the case. As far as the rest of the defense and lineup go, the top six in the order have and will likely remain the same. Following that, things will be based on matchups and who coach Bolt thinks is up for the task.
Don’t care mentality
This baseball team is going into the weekend with a true belief that they can beat anybody. It was a common theme that they don’t care that they are matched up with the best team in the country, and that is a genuine feeling. Jaxon Hallmark was giving concise answers along the lines of “we are going to go and play baseball.” The senior has shown that mentality this season as he has led the team from the plate, batting .341. At the same time, Hallmark is playing stellar defense with no recorded errors. With senior leaders that truly believe that they can beat anyone, this team will ooze confidence.
Something to prove
The Big Red was given one of the toughest regionals, but that gives them something to prove. With a less than ideal schedule set-up, they were unable to showcase their talent outside of the conference and therefore weren’t ranked highly. To many, this seems like a reason to complain, but this team wants to make a statement. NU has not advanced to a super regional since 2005, which is just another reason that they will have as motivation.
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Know your regional
Arkansas
***Rank first in the nation after winning the SEC regular season and tournament.
***Charlie Welch leads the team from the batter’s box, averaging .409. No other batters average over .300, although Brady Slavens is hitting that exactly.
***Relief pitcher Kevin Kopps has a 0.81 ERA with a 10-0 record and 10 saves in 66.1 innings pitched. He was the SEC pitcher of the year.
Northeastern
***Won its first-ever Colonial Athletic Association tournament championship.
***Northeastern is 26-1 when scoring first and 17-1 when scoring in the 1st inning.
***Keane, who the Huskers will face was an 11th round MLB draft pick out of high school.
New Jersey Tech
***The Highlanders won a program-record nine straight games heading into its first-ever NCAA Tournament.
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