Baseball Weekend Preview: TCU

The Nebraska baseball team (1-3) will look to bounce back from a tough opening weekend with a three-game series against Texas Christian (3-1). The Huskers will head to Globe Life Field, in Arlington, Texas for this weekend series. The action will start on Friday at 6:30 p.m., followed by games on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Last weekend did not go to plan for NU. The Big Red lost three games in the four-game series against Sam Houston. The Bearkats came out on Friday swinging the bat well and hung up an 8-5 win over Nebraska. Saturday’s doubleheader saw the two teams split games, and Sunday wrapped up with a 6-3 win for Sam Houston. Following the 3-1 series win over Nebraska, the Bearkats took down fourth-ranked Oklahoma State in a Tuesday matchup.

TCU is coming off a three-game weekend series where they went 2-1, followed by a midweek win. The Horned Frogs took down San Diego State on Friday 5-3, then followed up on Saturday with a 7-6 loss to California. Sunday they played Houston and blanked them 10-0. During the week, TCU matched up against Stephen F. Austin where they walked away with another confident win, this time 11-1. With this resume, the Horned Frogs will take on the Huskers ranked 17th in the D1Baseball rankings.

Friday, 6:00 p.m.: LHP Kyle Perry (0-0, 33.75 ERA) vs. LHP Austin Krob (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Saturday, 2:00 p.m.: RHP Shay Schanaman (0-1, 9.00 ERA) vs. RHP Riley Cornelio (0-0, 3.38 ERA)

Sunday, 1:00 p.m.: RHP Dawson McCarville (0-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. RHP Brett Walker (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

***All three games can be streamed on FloBaseball.tv or can be heard on the Huskers Radio Network.

Young standouts

Although NU left Huntsville, Texas with fewer wins than they would have hoped, there were bright spots on the squad. Luke Jessen, a freshman designated hitter, jumped off the weekend’s stat sheet. Jessen played in just three of the four games, starting two of them, and racked up the most hits of any Nebraska player with seven. The freshman hit .636 on the weekend and is someone to watch going into the rest of the season.

Josh Caron also had a pair of hits in the two games that he played in. The freshman went 2-for-6 on the weekend, putting his batting average at the third-highest on the team. As things stand, two of the Big Red’s top three batting averages are these two freshman.

Return of Gomes

Colby Gomes coming back to this team has been monumental. The junior was planning to close for the Huskers in the 2022 season, but as the season got closer, his role has increased. Gomes started all four games at first base in the first series, and his bat was the biggest surprise. In 14 at-bats, the junior tallied up six hits and three RBI. He also got things done on the mound. When the Big Red got into a sticky situation in Game 3 of the Sam Houston series, Gomes threw five pitches and struck out two batters to give Nebraska its first win.

A Big League ballpark

This weekend series will be played at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. This marks the seventh major league stadium that the Huskers have played in since 2000. In those series, the Big Red has posted a 22-14 record in 36 games.

NU has played in the Metrodome (10-4), Target Field (4-4), The ballpark of Arlington (4-3), PETCO Park (2-1), Minute Maid Park (1-2), and Kauffman Stadium (1-0).

****TCU are averaging .295 from the plate, with 39 hits and 32 runs. The Horned Frog pitching staff have a combined 2.62 ERA with 11 runs allowed, 10 earned.

***Kirk Saarloos, TCU’s head coach, is in his first season with the team. He had been in an assistant role since 2013. Saarloos pitched at Cal and played seven years in the MLB

***Senior infielder Tommy Sacco leads the team from the plate, hitting .533 in 15 at-bats. Sacco has two doubles, and three RBI on the season.

***Starting pitcher Brett Walker pitched six and two-thirds shutout innings against Houston, with five strikeouts.