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Red-hot slug fuels Nebraska baseball sweep of Minnesota in regular-season finale

by: Bobby Schneider05/16/26bschneider33

No. 24 Nebraska baseball (41-14, 23-7) finished the regular season with a bang in its sweep of Minnesota (30-23, 11-19) in a 14-11 shootout win on Saturday.

The Huskers now carry a seven-game win streak to the Big Ten Tournament next Friday as the No. 2 seed. NU’s live RPI currently sits at 10th in the country.

In must-win mode to make the conference tournament, the Golden Gophers gave Nebraska everything they had by smacking five homers to the Huskers’ four in an absolute slugfest.

Case Sanderson led the way at the plate. After Minnesota clawed back in it to make 12-10, the junior first baseman swung back the Big Red momentum with a two-run blast in the seventh.

Sanderson finished 3-for-4 with three RBI, which included his homer and two doubles.

Jett Buck and Mac Moyer also had themselves a day. Buck went 3-for-5 with a team-high four RBI, including a three-run blast.

Moyer went 1-for-1 with a two-run, 411-foot nuke off the Gopher scoreboard to finish with two RBI. The junior center fielder reached six times, drew a whopping four walks and was hit by a pitch.

The Huskers turned to closer J’Shawn Unger (SV: 11) in the ninth as he snagged the final three outs to end Minnesota’s season.

Here is an instant recap from the finale in Minneapolis…

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Nebraska launches rockets

Unlike it taking until Nebraska’s six-run comeback in the ninth inning to steal Game 2, NU pounded the barrel early and often.

The Huskers plated at least a run in each of the first four frames, including a three-run second, four-run third and another three-run fourth.

Buck’s ninth homer of the season and Moyer’s fourth batted in five of the first eight runs. Buck also had an RBI double to account for half of the first eight runs.

Larry “Trey” Fikes, Sanderson, Joshua Overbeek and Rhett Stokes also smacked in a run to build an 11-3 lead after four. Sanderson started 2-for-2 with two doubles as well.

The Big Red went 6-for-11 (.545) with runners and a whopping 10-for-14 (.714) in advancement opportunities with six extra-base hits in the initial four innings.

After a quiet fifth, Stokes barreled a two-out solo bomb for Nebraska’s third homer of the game. And Sanderson’s seventh-inning two-run dinger made the deficit too insurmountable for the Gophers.

Blachowicz causes concern heading into B1G Tourney

It was an up-and-down start for Gavin Blachowicz (3.82 ERA). The sophomore righty surrendered six runs on 91 pitches (51 strikes) in 4 2/3 innings.

Blachowicz struck out six Golden Gophers and did not issue a free pass. However, each of those six runs came due to Blachowicz letting it hang over the plate with three dingers surrendered. He also allowed two more extra-base knocks with 10 total hits allowed.

The 6-foot-4 Nebraska arm on the weekend has yet to go five innings in his last three starts. In fact, Blachowicz has allowed 12 runs (all earned) in just 12 1/3 innings over his last three outings.

Entering the post-season, Blachowicz’s iffy outings of late draw questions for NU on the third day of tournaments and regionals.

Chronic bullpen issues allow Minnesota back in it

With a five-run Husker lead entering the bottom of the sixth, NU’s bullpen let Minnesota — who needed to win to make the conference tournament — back in it with a four-run inning.

While lefty Colin Nowaczyk has been the hottest arm out of the bullpen of late, the long ball got to him as well in his 2/3 IP. He allowed a lead-off solo homer to Jack Bello in the sixth. Bello went yard in the finale twice.

Caleb Clark significantly struggled as he took over Nowaczyk’s one-out jam. The senior issued a walk before a two-RBI single and RBI sac-fly cut the massive Nebraska lead to just two, 12-10.

Credit Pryce Bender. The sophomore righty recorded the final out in the sixth and also worked a clean seventh. Bender did yield a solo homer in the eighth, yet his length and overall stability likely provide confidence in a post-season appearance for pitching coach Rob Childress.

Nebraska returns to the ball diamond at 5 p.m. CT in Omaha at Charles Schwab Field for the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament against a TBD opponent. Watch on the Big Ten Network or listen on the Huskers Radio Network.

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