Nebraska baseball beats Michigan State 3-1 in another wire-to-wire battle
Nebraska (9-5, 2-0) bested Michigan State (3-10, 0-2) 3-1 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Haymarket Park behind a strong day from the Huskers’ pitching staff.
Carson Jasa toed the rubber for his fourth start of the season and gave the fans an emotional roller coaster. The hard-throwing right-hander managed five innings while striking out nine and walking six. Nebraska’s bullpen provided some much-needed security, keeping the Spartans off the board late in the game.
Jett Buck launched his second home run in as many days to extend the Husker lead to two in the seventh inning. Despite striking out nine times, the Nebraska bats did enough to clinch the series.
Here is an instant recap from Nebraska’s Saturday conference win….
Subscribe to get exclusive Huskers content on HuskerOnline today!
Nebraska’s bats struggle early against a new-kind of arm
Jasa and Michigan State starter Carter Monke provided a stark contrast in pitching styles. Jasa presents as an erratic but high swing-and-miss arm, while Monke delivers a methodical, strike-heavy approach.
The Nebraska starter flashed a high-90s fastball with a cutter, changeup, and a slider that caused the Spartans’ bats all sorts of issues. A bizarre first inning opened the afternoon when the first batter reached due to a mound violation because Jasa’s foot was not connected to the rubber. He was able to close out the inning despite the adversity on a “strike-em-out, throw-em-out.”
Monke deals with a low-90s fastball and a blend of slider, cutter and two-seam fastball that had movement that gave the Nebraska hitters fits. The Huskers struggled early, striking out three times in as many innings. MSU grabbed its first lead of the series in the fourth inning when Jasa walked in the first run of the game.
Nebraska responded immediately in the bottom half thanks to Will Jesske, who missed the last few games with a lingering hamstring injury. Buck doubled to left-center field to set the table for Jesske’s RBI knock, which wiggled between the third baseman and shortstop to knot the game at one run apiece.
Unfortunately, Jesske was forced to leave the game due to a leg injury that Will Bolt claimed to be “unrelated” to the hamstring on the single. Drew Grego replaced the Lincoln Southeast product.
Buck’s home run lifts NU to the finish line
Nebraska was able to capitalize in the bottom of the fifth off Monke, who began to show some flaws. Mac Moyer recorded his third hit of the game with a hustle double down the left-field line. Joshua Overbeek then hit a ball that went under the glove of the Michigan State first baseman, bringing Moyer around to score for a 2-1 lead.
The sixth inning was full of missed opportunities for both teams. Ryan Harrahill entered out of the bullpen for Jasa and immediately plunked a Spartan and gave up a single. Caleb Clark, who has struggled in every outing this season, entered for the Huskers and ended the inning aided by Overbeek, who reached into the home dugout to snag a popout.
- 1
NewWhere the top quarterbacks in the 2027 cycle are committed
- 2
VT beats UGA for 4-Star QB Peter Bourque
- 3
LSU AD rips Brian Kelly for having 'no connection' to fans
- 4
Jon Sumrall states Florida has 'got to push the envelope' in NIL
- 5
Predicting Ohio State to beat Nebraska, Bama for 4-Star LB
Get the On3 Top 10 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
The Huskers loaded the bases due to initial shaky relief work by the Spartans’ Brady Chambers. Chambers then bore down, striking out the side to leave the lead at one after six. Buck then added a crucial insurance run the seventh inning launching a ball that cleared the left-field wall with ease to grab a 3-1 lead.
The Huskers made a big decision in the eighth inning by bringing out Tuesday starter Cooper Katksee. The senior went six innings on 97 pitches against Omaha in the midweek start but trotted out for the eighth inning on Saturday. Pumping 93 mph, Katksee worked a scoreless frame to leave the Spartans with only three outs left.
Katskee entered for his second inning of work and closed the door. He fanned the lead-off hitter, induced a fly out to center field and punched out the final hitter to end the game.
Jasa lives and dies on the Slider in a start full of mixed emotions
Jasa was tasked with delivering the series win for Nebraska on Saturday. The first few innings for the right-hander were full of mixed emotions due to the same erratic pitching that plagued him against Auburn.
His start the previous week against the Tigers went less than optimal. He managed only one inning of work before being removed after more than 40 pitches. Unlike the Auburn game, Jasa was able to find something that worked well enough to battle through Saturday’s contest.
Jasa flashed a 95-98 mph fastball but could not find the zone. On the other hand, the slider worked as efficiently as ever with high sword-swinging potential. Through the first two innings, Jasa tallied 34 pitches and managed only 17 strikes — 14 were sliders.
The slider was such a dominant pitch that all of Jasa’s first six strikeouts came off the bender. As the redshirt sophomore continues to develop into a reliable weekend starter for the Huskers this season and into the future, he will need to continue developing the command of his fastball while maintaining the nasty ability of his slider.
