College of Charleston series preview, pitching rotation, players to watch, key stats

Nebraska baseball bounced back in a big way last weekend as the bats got to jumping en route to 33 runs across four games in a road series at Grand Canyon.

The Huskers (4-3) logged their first series victory of the season against the Lopes, edging them 3-1 before heading back to Lincoln above the .500 mark.

RELATED: Drew Christo pushing right buttons in learning to “attack college baseball”

Now, we’ll see if they can do in a second straight four-game road series against College of Charleston (7-0), and we’ll find out if they can do what head coach Will Bolt was employing them to do when he met with the media on Tuesday.

“It’ll be another really good challenge, and we can’t get too high or too low based on one weekend,” Bolt said of the matchup against Charleston. “We’ve gotta continue to prove ourselves every day.”

Below is a preview of what’s on tap for Nebraska and Charleston with the starting pitching matchups, the most important stats to know, keystone players to watch during the series and more.

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WHEN: Thursday-Sunday (Feb. 29-March 3)

WHERE: Patriots Point (Mount Pleasant, S.C.)

WATCH: All four games will be streamed live on FloBaseball

LISTEN: Huskers Radio Network with Dave Gustafson (play by play) and Ben McLaughlin (color) on the call.

>> Every game this season can be heard for free on Huskers.com and the Official Nebraska Huskers App for both iOS and android devices.

>> THURSDAY – 1 p.m.

RHP Drew Christo (1-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. LHP Hayden Thomas (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

>> FRIDAY – 3 p.m.

RHP Brett Sears (1-0, 0.79 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Brink (2-0, 0.75 ERA)

>> SATURDAY – 5 p.m.

LHP Will Walsh (0-0, 5.19 ERA) vs. RHP Aidan Hunter (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

>> SUNDAY – 12 p.m.

LHP Caleb Clark (0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. LHP Connor Campbell (2-0 0.66 ERA)

All times Central

>> The Huskers hold a 4-2 advantage over Charleston through six matchups in the pair’s all-time series.

>> Nebraska ventured east for a three-game road series at Charleston in 2016, while the Cougars returned a three-game series in 2017.

>> The Huskers have won the last three games in the all-time series after sweeping the Cougars in 2017 in Lincoln. The Big Red dropped a three-game series, 2-1, at Charleston in 2016.

Bolt said the Huskers will be rolling with the “same rotation” and “same order” in the lineup for the four-game series.

That means the Huskers will be rolling with RHP Drew Christo on Thursday, RHP Brett Sears on Friday, LHP Will Walsh on Saturday and LHP Caleb Clark on Sunday.

The first five in the lineup for most, if not all, of the four games will be Cayden Brumbaugh, Riley Silva, Dylan Carey, Josh Caron and Tyler Stone with a combination of – most likely – Gabe Swansen, Garrett Anglim, Cole Evans, Case Sanderson and Dylan Duft in the 6-9 spots.

Beyond them, are there any additional injuries to report? How about the availability of pitchers Casey Daiss and Kyle Froelich?

“We’ll see how they feel (Tuesday),” Bolt said. “Neither one of them were feeling great last weekend, probably why you didn’t see either one of them. There were going to be some opportunities to get them in there.

“Daiss, they (Grand Canyon) were very left-handed as well in their lineup, so him not feeling like a 10 was not going to be a great matchup. Froelich was probably available, but we wanted to give him the weekend to see how he feels this week. And it’s nothing real concerning, but I guess it does speak to our depth that we feel like we have on the mound. We had some guys kind of make their first appearances this weekend and didn’t even need to use two guys who are going to be big parts of our bullpen.”

RELATED: Everything Will Bolt said before 4-game set at College of Charleston

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All game notes courtesy of Nebraska Athletics

>> Bolt recorded his 100th career victory with the Huskers via Nebraska’s 11-1 win over Grand Canyon in Game 2 of last weekend’s four-game series. He became the sixth coach to reach 100 wins in program history.

>> With two weekend starters taken in the 2023 MLB Draft, it’s a new-look weekend rotation for the Huskers this year.

>> Junior Drew Christo takes the mound Thursday after making his first start of the season at Grand Canyon last weekend. The Elkhorn, Neb., native is 1-0 on the season with a 3.38 ERA and six strikeouts in eight innings of action.

>> Brett Sears is set to toe the rubber on Friday afternoon. Sears is 1-0 in two starts, posting a 0.79 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 11.1 innings, while holding opponents to a .125 hitting clip.

>> Will Walsh is scheduled to get the ball on Saturday night for the NU pitching staff. The redshirt junior has yet to record a decision in two starts and has a 5.19 ERA with six punchouts in 8.2 innings.

>> Caleb Clark gets the nod for the third time in a series finale this season. The sophomore has struck out five batters and compiled a 6.75 ERA in 6.2 innings without a decision.

>> Sears held Grand Canyon to just two hits in his second start last weekend and has allowed just seven batters to reach base this season (5 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP).

>> The right-hander has struck out seven-plus batters in back-to-back starts to begin the season, with opponents hitting just .125 (5-for-40) against Sears.

>> Sears is one of just six starting pitchers in DI this season with at least 14 strikeouts, while allowing one earned run or less and five hits or fewer in 11.1-plus innings of work.

>> Christo made his first start of the season for the Huskers in the series opener at Grand Canyon. The Elkhorn, Neb., native pitched a career-high six innings and recorded his first win of the season in NU’s 7-2 win over the Lopes.

>> Christo’s quality start (6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 4 K) was the first by a Nebraska native since Shay Schanaman vs. Michigan State on May 19, 2022 (6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER).

>> Across two appearances this season, the right-hander is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA and six strikeouts to just three walks.

>> Josh Caron has been a key piece to the NU offense through the first two weekends, hitting .333 at the plate with a triple, three home runs, 11 RBI and six runs.

>> Since 2003, Caron is one of seven Huskers to drive in 10-plus runs in Nebraska’s first seven games to start the season. Caron’s 11 RBI are tied for third-most, trailing Alex Gordon (2004) and Brandon Fusilier (2003).

>> Riley Silva is one of nine DI players this season with at least 10 runs scored and five-plus stolen bases without being caught through the second weekend of the season.

>> Silva leads the Huskers in multiple offensive categories, including on-base percentage (.484), hit-by-pitch (6), sacrifice bunts (2), runs (10) and stolen bases (5).

>> Jalen Worthley recorded the first win of his collegiate career in Sunday’s series finale at Grand Canyon. The Lincoln, Neb., native tossed a career-high three scoreless innings and retired nine of the 11 batters he faced against the Lopes.

>> Sunday’s outing marked Worthley’s sixth career scoreless appearance and the fourth career multi-inning performance in his time with the Huskers.

>> Cayden Brumbaugh has been a force in the leadoff spot for the Huskers, posting a .367/.382/.782 slash line across the first seven games this season.

>> Brumbaugh has secured multi-hit efforts in his last three games, going 7-for-14 (.500) over that stretch with three runs and four RBI.

>> The Edmond, Okla., native leads the Big Red with 11 hits this season, already eclipsing his previous high of seven set as a freshman at Oklahoma State in 2022.

>> Nebraska’s offense has found success at the plate with two outs throughout the season’s first two weekends. The Huskers are hitting .322 (28-for-87) and have recorded 18 of their 36 RBI this season with two outs.

>> Like Bolt made sure to point out on Tuesday, that’s dangerous territory for his team to live in at a season-long pace. But, for the time being, we certainly have to look at that stat as a positive one that has been indicative of the Huskers’ clutch hitting.

>> 11 Huskers have recorded a two-out hit through the first seven games, including four Huskers with at least four hits when hitting with two outs.

>> Get ready to hear the term “small ball” early and often – or at least even more often than you already have so far – from Bolt, the Husker coaching staff and the players. After bashing a school-record 97 home runs last season, the Husker offense has shifted to a small-ball approach to begin the 2024 campaign.

>> Brumbaugh and Silva have laid down a team-high two sacrifice bunts, while Silva has swiped a team-leading five stolen bases through seven games.

>> Nebraska is one of four teams nationally to steal 11 bases and lay down nine sacrifice bunts entering the third weekend of the season.