The next step for Nebraska baseball arrives, as Huskers strive to win every day | Baseball

There’s one sure way Will Bolt has heard, or rather, not heard, that tells him his Nebraska baseball team isn’t living on last season’s success.

He never hears them talk about it.

“There’s never really been any sort of indication that we’ve arrived or that we’ve got this fake confidence going on because of what past success we’ve had,” Bolt said recently. “There’s just never a conversation that’s had. I don’t feel like I’ve got to put anybody in their place because we’re getting ahead of our skis, so to speak, because we feel like we’ve arrived.”

As Bolt continues his work to build the Huskers back into the power they became when he was a player in Lincoln, last season’s Big Ten title and regional title game appearance is a big stepping stone, certainly.

Part of becoming the national program Bolt wants is setting higher goals than conference titles, and then reaching them.

The first part — attitude and expectation — hasn’t been the issue.

“Coach has said it, and we’ve reiterated plenty of times that, it’s just being where our feet are, and taking each day one day at a time, one pitch at a time, whatever it may be,” senior pitcher and captain Kyle Perry said. “And I think that’s how we’re going to get to where we need to be, and where we want to be. And that’s ultimately Omaha.

“So I think as long as we keep doing that, next thing you know, we’re going to be looking up the Charles Schwab (field) sign if we keep stacking the days that we need to do.”

That’s the next step as a program, Perry said. The ability to leave the past behind, and move toward a bigger future while also realizing the journey to get there goes day by day.

Some days, Nebraska will lose games. Other days the Huskers will lose outstanding players, as all top programs do.

The key is having the confidence and the plan to navigate those losses without sliding backward.

“It’s easy to look forward and think about that regional and think about getting back to that regional final, where we weren’t able to extend our season, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” senior pitcher Shay Schanaman said. “Coach Bolt really emphasizes one day at a time, one pitch at a time — to be in the moment and not get ahead of ourselves. So it’s easy to bring the momentum into the off season to work hard when  that’s the goal and that’s what we want to do. And we’ve experienced that.”

The tangible part of the vision is clear: host a regional at Haymarket Park for the first time since 2008. Then, win that regional. Then win a couple more games and make the drive to Omaha.

And the quickest way to get there for Nebraska is to take it slow.

“I think it’s a daily reminder for all of us, that we’re not going to fast forward and get back to the spot we were at, Bolt said of leaving last season in the past. “It’s tough for an 18- to 22-year-old, let alone for us as coaches, to say ‘hey, let’s just get back to the spot we were at’, you know?

“It’s a culmination of preparation throughout the entire year, and things that we harp on daily. It gets probably a little old for our guys to hear it, but it’s what they hear every day.”

This will, remarkably, be the first full season for Bolt and his players to execute their vision. 

His first run as NU’s coach ended after 15 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. His second was supposed to include 44 Big Ten games, a number that decreased by one when Northwestern ran out of pitchers partway through the teams’ series in Lincoln. 

Wednesday, the Huskers boarded a plane for Texas and a season-opening series at Sam Houston and the start of their first “normal” season since 2019. Nebraska will play with a target on its back for the first time in a while after appearing in multiple preseason national polls one year after not being picked to finish in the top six of the Big Ten.

“Last year, we knew internally what we had. This year, some national rankings, those types of things. It’s like, you’re never as good as you think you are (and) you’re never as bad as you think you are,” Bolt said. “So we’ve got to be in the middle all the time and just be as good as we possibly can today. And then do it again the next day.

“And then, again, when you find yourself in some big games, you don’t try to rise to the occasion if that’s the case. So just try to block out the outside noise by having your blinders on and, and working hard in the moment.”

The best of what you’ve got, every day. Bolt preaches that message to his players on a daily basis. And it’s sunk in.

“We’re going to give you everything we got, no matter what the situation, no matter if we’re playing seven games in eight days, we’re going to give you everything we got,” third baseman Max Anderson said. “No matter if it’s 70% or a hundred percent, you’re going to get our one hundred percent of what we’ve got.”

That’s music to Bolt’s ears. And just another piece in the plan to move Nebraska baseball forward.

“The humble nature, the quiet confidence that our team operates with, I’m proud of, because they’re confident enough to know that we’re going to be good, but also humble enough to know that we’ve got to show up and work every day to get where we want to get to,” Bolt said. “So that part of I just don’t even have to worry about. They’re very low-maintenance. And we don’t have to put them in their place very often.”