Baseball Weekend Preview: Ohio State

The Nebraska baseball team (9-14, 1-2 Big Ten) is set to hit the road for the first Big Ten matchup away from home against Ohio State (8-13, 0-1 Big Ten). The Huskers will be on the lookout for their first Big Ten series win in the three-game series in Columbus, Ohio. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m., followed by a 2:05 p.m. start time on Saturday and 12:05 p.m. on Sunday.

NU has hit a rough patch of play in the past week after taking their first conference game 13-9 over Michigan. The Huskers lost games two and three to the Wolverines 8-6 and 6-1 respectively to drop that series. Following that, the Big Red headed to Omaha to play Creighton on Tuesday where they lost 3-2. Nebraska is still yet to win a series this year that is three games or more.

The Buckeyes are also coming off a weekend series and a midweek game where they were set to play Purdue in three games, followed by Toledo on Wednesday. OSU started the weekend falling to the Boilermakers 7-5 on Friday, and that game ended up being the only one played over the weekend. The second and third games of that series were canceled, and the next matchup for Ohio State was Toledo on Wednesday. The Rockets took down the Buckeyes 7-6, leaving them winless last week.

Friday, April 1 – 5:05 p.m.: RHP Shay Schanaman (1-3, 3.62 ERA) vs. LHP Isaiah Coupet (2-2, 5.08 ERA)

Saturday, April 2 – 2:05 p.m.: RHP Koty Frank (2-0, 3.33 ERA) vs. RHP Nate Haberthier (0-2, 5.47 ERA)

Sunday, April 3 – 12:05 p.m.: RHP Dawson McCarville (2-3, 6.00 ERA) vs. RHP Wyatt Loncar (1-2, 5.49)

***All the games will be streamed on BTN+ and also the Husker Sports Network.

Freshman making a splash

This Nebraska team has been led by some young talent. Garrett Anglim leads the team, hitting .358. Luke Jessen is third at .271. Not only are the freshman playing well, but they are all over the place. 11 freshman have made their debut this season for the Huskers.

From the mound, the young guns are also doing work. The six freshman pitchers have combined for 31 appearances and two starts. Jaxon Jelkin started against CU and went two and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on four hits.

Leaving it too late

The Big Red has had plenty of exciting endings to games. Six games of the NU season have been decided in the ninth inning, and Nebraska has gone 3-3 in those. The three ninth-inning wins from the Huskers came in a four-game stretch against Omaha, New Mexico State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. There is no doubt that this team leaves the door open until the ninth inning.

Matthews on the paths

Brice Matthews has found a way to get on base this season. The sophomore has a 17-game on-base streak dating back to the series against TCU. Since then, he is hitting .297 with five doubles, two home runs and 8 RBI. The infielder will be looking to extend that to 20 this weekend.

***Marcus Ernst is leading the Buckeyes, hitting a team-high .429 with three doubles and a home run and 10 RBI. Zach Dezenzo leads with seven homers and 21 RBI this year.

***Isaiah Coupet (Friday’s starter) is 2-2 on the season with a 5.40 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 28.1 innings.

***The Buckeye pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.22, allowing 132 runs, and striking out 207 in 179.1 innings.