Huskers Heading to Oklahoma City Regional as a No. 3 Seed

The Nebraska baseball team (31-22) has been selected as a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They’ll be heading to the Oklahoma City Regional, where they’ll face off against UConn in the first round. On the other side of the bracket is the host team, Oklahoma State, who will take on Harvard.

The Oklahoma City Regional is paired up with the Lubbock Regional. The top seed in the Lubbock Regional is Texas Tech, followed by Dallas Baptist, Florida and Army. The winner of those Regionals, which have a double elimination format, will play each other in a Super Regional for a best of three series to determine which team advances to the College World Series in Omaha.

“I’m glad we’re in,” NU head coach Darin Erstad told reports at Haymarket Park following the NCAA Tournament selection show. “The boys deserve it. They beat some really quality teams this year.”

The players found out their landing spot in the NCAAs less than 24 hours after losing to Ohio State 3-1 in the Big 10 Tournament Championship game.

“I mean, they’re excited, but they’re tired. That was a long tournament,” Erstad said of his players. “They’re going to take today off, go home and get some rest.”

Although the defeat in the Big 10 Tournament title game was deflating for his team, Erstad said his squad will be using that pain as a motivator heading into the Regional.

“Losing that last game kind of gets that little bitterness feeling in your body again, which I kind of like that. You don’t want to lose but at the same time, you’re looking for the positives in this. It kind of restokes that fire. The boys will be ready to go.”

Nebraska’s first round opponent, UConn, is ranked 29 in the RPI. Like the Huskers, the Huskies are coming off of a loss in their conference tournament title game. On the season, UConn finished 36-23 overall and 12-12 in the American Athletic Conference.

Erstad hasn’t had time to prep for the Huskies, but he knows that they’ll pose a threat to his team.

“I know they’ve had a lot of dudes roll through there and get to the professional level,” Erstad said. “It’s definitely going to be a great challenge.”

Nebraska’s first round matchup against UConn is set for noon on Friday, May 31. Coverage of it can be found on 1400, KLIN.

(Photo – Kenny Larabee)