No. 19 Nebraska baseball improves to 15-0 at home with sweep over Penn State
No. 19 Nebraska baseball (26-6, 11-1) improved to 15-0 at home this season by sweeping Penn State (8-21, 3-9) with an 8-6 victory on Easter Sunday.
“It’s hard to win,” head coach Will Bolt said postgame. “You have to play well. You don’t have to play perfect, but you’ve got to play well together.”
Keep in mind, it’s April, and NU has yet to drop a game at Haymarket Park.
Cooper Katskee (5-0, 2.79 ERA) dominated another start from the mound. The junior righty tossed a season-high seven innings on 96 pitches (61 strikes) for six strikeouts with three earned runs surrendered.
At the plate, the Huskers plated those eight runs off nine hits through just three frames. All but one Big Red hitter smacked a knock.
Senior shortstop Dylan Carey extended his hit streak to 10 consecutive games with his first at-bat single in the first.
Here is an instant recap from another NU sweep and its 10th straight win…
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Katskee responds to early hiccup once again
Penn State designated hitter Michael Anderson was Katskee’s kryptonite. He homered twice off the Nebraska starter — once in the first and again in the third. The PSU slugger entered Sunday with a team-high 11 bombs and a .361 average and was slugging .742%.
Other than that, the Greenwood Village, Colorado, native dominated from the mound. In fact, Katskee only allowed those three earned runs off just three hits. The other hit permitted came from a Penn State lead-off single in the first.
The 6-foot-4 Miami Ohio transfer sat down the Nittany Lions 1-2-3 frames in the fourth, fifth and sixth. He also got the best of Anderson in the fifth frame with a strikeout to retire the side.
Working through the seventh with 11 straight retired, a fielding error on third baseman Joshua Overbeek put a PSU runner on base. But that didn’t faze the 2025 MAC pitcher of the year. In fact, he forced a 6-4-3 to cap off another outstanding performance from the bump.
“I think that’s been his forumla to success,” Bolt said of Katskee. “Just get the home run out of the way in the first inning, or the couple of barrels away in the first inning. Then he settles in and gives our offense a chance to go to work.”
Offense keeps hammering
Nebraska stranded center fielder Mac Moyer, who drew a lead-off walk and Carey in the first. However, the Big Red barrels came hammering in the second for a five-run frame off six hits.
Designated hitter Will Jesske led off the second with a single to center field. Moments later, Overbeek smacked him home with an RBI double. Then, Drew Grego gave NU a 3-2 lead with his two-run nuke to deep left center. It marked the true freshman right fielder’s fourth homer of the season.
Two infield singles later, and a two-RBI double by freshman catcher Jeter Worthley, and Nebraska led 5-2.
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In the bottom of the third, NU wasted no time adding more to the box score. Jesske drew a lead-off walk before Overbeek recorded a single for his second hit of the game.
And with one down, senior second baseman Rhett Stokes blew it open with a no-doubter three-run bomb to left field to hand the Huskers an 8-3 lead. Stokes flipped his bat with some swagger for his 100 mph 392-foot dinger.
Huskers go into autopilot for 26th win
While the offense cooled off in the fourth and fifth, the Huskers threatened in the sixth. It was evident that Nebraska went into autopilot with the victory essentially locked.
Moyer picked up his 17th multi-hit performance of the season with a lead-off single. First baseman Case Sanderson also extended his streak for himself by walking to reach base in 14 straight. However, NU was unable to cash in.
In the seventh, Preston Freeman singled through the right-field gap to mark the fifth time a Big Red lead-off hitter reached base. Still, the Huskers stranded another two baserunners.
In the eighth, Sanderson smacked a one-out single, and Carey reached on a four-pitch walk. Yet left fielder Jett Buck grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to cap the inning with nothing.
Righty Kevin Mannell took over for Katskee in the eighth and forced a 1-2-3 frame. Lefty Chase Olson walked the first two in the ninth to end his short stint. Righty Pryce Bender came in and allowed a single before walking in a run.
NU turned to closer J’Shawn Unger to escape the disastrous jam. He forced a 4-3 double play. A wild pitch plated PSU’s sixth run. However, he forced a groundout to avoid the choke.
Nebraska returns to the ball diamond on Tuesday to host former Big 8 foe Kansas. First pitch is set for 6 CT. Watch on B1G+ or listen on the Huskers Radio Network.
