Nebraska’s Brice Matthews and Max Anderson on home stretch of epic Triple Crown race

The Nebraska infielders have a routine as well-worn as their leather gloves. Go through fielding warmups before every inning. Chat briefly — no extra hops on those ground balls, they remind each other. Then the shortstop and second baseman share a quick embrace behind the mound and hold out their fists.

Time for a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Best of nine earns the win that day. Matthews used to be a scissors-first guy until Anderson began countering hard with rock. They can describe the other’s tendencies with the detail of a scouting report.

“Max has gotten me the last couple weeks,” Matthews says. “Sad to say that, but I think it’s going to turn around.”

What doesn’t come up — at least between them — is where each stands in the best Triple Crown race in the history of Nebraska baseball. Both own 19 home runs, a mark no individual Husker has reached since Alex Gordon in 2005. Both already have more RBIs than any NU player in the Big Ten era, with Matthews holding a slight 63-60 edge. Both may finish with the best batting averages in that span, too — Anderson (.403) could be the first Big Red .400 hitter in two decades with Matthews (.387) close behind.

Matthews owns a team-best 19 steals. Anderson has no errors after shifting from third base to the everyday second baseman this spring. Matthews walks more (40 to 15). Anderson strikes out less (25 to 47). Matthews pulls almost all of his bombs out to left while Anderson pushes most of his to right.

“We’re playing a game to have fun,” Anderson says. “Turns out we’re both having great seasons and pretty alike seasons. It’s all just having a good time and it’s cool to have shared success with him.”

Time is running out for the two juniors who have started all 47 games up the middle for Nebraska since February. Their final games at Haymarket Park will almost certainly be this weekend against Penn State in a series heavy with postseason implications and emotion as NU honors seven fifth-year seniors and others for their college careers.

None have been more profound than those of Matthews and Anderson, both three-year mainstays set to be top five-round MLB Draft picks in July. They came in together as unorthodox signees to a new coaching staff. They will leave as a dynamic duo, two 21-year-olds born 16 days apart whose rewriting of Nebraska single-season records isn’t over just yet.

“It’s something you can’t take for granted because it’s hard to find,” NU coach Will Bolt said last month. “Especially two middle infielders at the college level that are hitting the way that those guys are hitting and playing defense the way that they’re playing and leading the team the way that they’re leading. Man, it’s been a joy to watch those guys and what they bring to the park and to the team every day.”

If not for a couple of unlikely twists, neither would have been Huskers.

In the summer of 2019, the newly hired Nebraska coaches figured the odds of landing Matthews or Anderson were like trying to hit a fastball with closed eyes. Not good.

Those were the Embassy Suites days, when Bolt and recruiting coordinator Lance Harvell were still living out of a hotel and searching for adds to their first full recruiting class in Lincoln. With just four commits in the 2020 group, they had work to do.

Both prospects were familiar names with complications. Matthews — who had attended a Texas A&M camp when Bolt was an assistant there but whom the Aggies weren’t able to offer — was getting attention as a quarterback after two strong seasons at Atascocita High School in the Houston area. Rice and Louisiana-Lafayette had extended full-ride football opportunities that were better than what he could get in a partial-scholarship sport.

Anderson, meanwhile, had pledged to A&M nearly a year earlier. The Millard West standout and the state’s eventual two-time Gatorade Player of the Year had no intention of revisiting that decision even after coaching changes with both the Aggies and Huskers.

Coaches called Matthews that summer day to gauge his interest — he eventually stiff-armed football for his favorite sport and the Huskers in October.

Anderson signed with A&M. Then the pandemic struck and wiped out the 2020 season. The NCAA awarded an extra year of eligibility to everyone and the Aggies — full of older talent that no longer was on the way out — had no roster space. The program released Anderson, who joined Nebraska in June barely two months before arriving on campus.

“No matter how much I didn’t like it at that moment,” Anderson says, “I love it now.”

The two relatively late additions roomed together as freshmen along with teammates Will Walsh and Caleb Bennett. There were many Friday night Domino’s trips and “Madden” contests. Brice learned that Max takes a lot of naps and watches an abundance of YouTube videos. Max learned that Brice trades his quiet demeanor for smack talk during any kind of competition.

Neither had ever been around a player quite like the other. Matthews flashed the athleticism of a college quarterback while slinging the football around during free moments before fall practices. All Anderson did was punish baseballs, a prelude to hitting .332 and earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors the next spring.

“To see this kid, my roommate …,” Matthews says, trailing off. “It was the same thing day after day, hit after hit. It’s been rolling well for him.”

Matthews anticipated the play and took off.

Nebraska was running a live preseason stolen-base drill — complete with a pitcher, catcher and infielders — and Matthews wanted to swipe second. He broke that way but put on the brakes as the pitcher threw home quickly from the stretch. The junior correctly predicted that the catcher would try to back-pick him at first base so he sprinted the opposite direction. By the time the first baseman applied a tag to a phantom runner, the speedy Matthews was 90 feet away.

During the rubber game of the series at Michigan last month, Anderson stepped to the plate in a key spot in the sixth inning and worked a 3-0 count. He took a slider for a strike. Michigan threw him another shortly thereafter that Anderson hammered for a two-run double.

Both accounts are among many that say while the season has passed quickly, the games are slowing down for Nebraska’s stars. Moments and situations aren’t too big. Slumps are barely noticeable blips.

“They just go up there and do their thing and have been the models of consistency,” says Harvell, NU’s hitting coach. “That’s a very calming thing. The year they’re having now, it’s seeing the fruit of their labor and maturity as players and leaders on this team.”

Of Nebraska’s 47 games, Matthews or Anderson have homered in 29 (61.7%). At least one of them has an RBI in 40 (85.1%). They’ve produced.

They also recognize the other’s abilities. Don’t hang a breaking ball to Brice, Max says, especially after he’s seen it once — “He’ll make you pay every single time.” And good luck facing the leadoff man in clutch spots: Matthews is hitting north of .420 with runners in scoring position, by far the best in the lineup.

Fastballs away to Anderson are a pitcher’s death wish, Matthews says. Bolt marveled during a midweek game at Kansas State in early April when the right-handed hitting Anderson was set to face a lefty with the wind howling out to right field and the player likened the situation to “a free home run.”

“Some guys talk about like a free hit or they’re giving you the push bunt,” Bolt said. “But he said free home run. That’s the kind of frame of mind that he’s in. His confidence level is very, very high.”

Combined, Anderson and Matthews are raking in ways unlike any Husker pairs before them. Their season homer total (38) is second most in team history behind only Dan Johnson and Matt Hopper (42 in 2000) with at least six scheduled games yet to play. The most recent NU duo with comparable batting averages are John Cole (.418) and Jeff Leise (.380) in 2001.

The performances come amid a power climate in college baseball that is soaring to near-record highs reminiscent of the “gorilla ball” era at the turn of the century — yet the Huskers still stand out among their peers. Matthews is one of two Division I players to enter the 19-homer, 19-steal club after four did it last year (three earning All-America status). Anderson is one of two nationally with 19-plus home runs while hitting above .400 after two did it in 2022 (both All-Americans).

Nebraska — in a four-way tie for fifth place in the Big Ten — needs to find a hot streak to continue its season into the league tournament and beyond. The best reason for optimism is its unmatched star power.

“We’ve got enough talent to go as far as we want,” Anderson says. “We’ve just got to put it together, play for each other and play like it’s our last game together.”

A dozen or so spilled baseballs rattle down an ascending escalator as Matthews and Anderson in full uniform scramble to pick them up.

It’s the punchline moment of their 15-second commercial for the Lincoln Airport that was released last month. As the ad says: Travel can be rough.

Their own baseball journeys are still taking off, clear of turbulence. Only once before in school history has Nebraska seen two position players go in the top five rounds of a draft (Adam Stern went in the third and John Cole in the fifth in 2001). The middle infielders may well beat that.

While the twitchy Matthews can slot anywhere on the field, Anderson projects somewhere across the infield at the next level. Harvell says scouts have offered “backhanded compliments” that the best way to evaluate the goggles-wearing 6-foot, 215-pounder is to not watch him do anything except play the game.

“He’s not going to do anything that just jumps off the page, but he is just Steady Eddy every single day,” Harvell says of Anderson. “Same guy. When people try to pitch him tough, he’s got one of the best eyes and plate discipline of any hitter I’ve ever been around. And his bat-to-ball skills are maybe as good as anyone I’ve ever coached.”

Anderson’s draft stock has been steady for years, solidified by two standout summers at the prestigious Cape Cod League. Matthews has enjoyed a more meteoric rise — after hitting .273 and .261 the last two springs with a combined 12 homers, he’s come on as a consensus top-five prospect at shortstop in the college game.

Matthews figures the new pitch clock has helped him to stop overthinking and just hit. He also credits strength coach Bryce Siecko for transforming his body. Anderson — who posted a .299 average a year ago — has made peace with the fact that he’s an aggressive hitter most successful when he clobbers the first over-the-plate fastball he gets instead of seeing a bunch of pitches. Both have thrived within a deeper Nebraska lineup this season that is scoring at a top-50 clip.

“We just kind of feed off each other,” Matthews says. “If I hit one out, I feel like he’s got one coming right after.”

They can relate with each other about the draft process. In a few months, they can do the same about being pros.

Their days as Nebraska teammates are almost over — but not quite. There are still a few more games to play. A few more rocks, papers or scissors to throw.

“In the back of your mind you know your time is running out with those guys,” Harvell says. “The next time you see them might be on TV in a big-league game. It’s not lost on us that the time is very special — players like that don’t come around too often.”