Nebraska baseball rolls to 15-3 victory at South Alabama
One of the most recognizable and reliable players for Nebraska baseball, Brice Matthews, returned to a coveted place in the lineup, and then he delivered the goods, leading Nebraska to a 15-3 victory at South Alabama on Saturday afternoon.
Matthews batted leadoff after being relegated to the 9-hole in the batting order in each of the last two games. The junior shortstop responded with a single, double, homerun, three RBIs, and two runs scored. It was Matthews’ first HR of the 2023 season and 13th of his career.
Junior right-hander Jace Kaminska earned his first win of the season, going 5.1 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits. The Wichita State transfer struck out four and walked one in his second Saturday start as a Husker.
Nebraska (2-3-1) took the lead in the second inning and never looked back. NU took advantage of sloppy Jaguar defense, scoring runs on an error, a sacrifice fly and two RBI singles. South Alabama (4-3) committed two errors in the inning, as sophomore first baseman Will Walsh both reached base and scored on the defensive miscues. Ben Columbus, the junior DH, singled and later scored on sophomore outfielder Gabe Swansen’s RBI single. Right fielder Garrett Anglim added another run on freshman infielder Dylan Carey’s sac fly. Junior second baseman Max Anderson notched the 4th run of the inning by driving Swansen in with a single to left-center.
Kaminska allowed one run in the bottom half of the second, but NU matched that with a run in the top of the third. With Anglim on third base and Swansen on first with two outs, the Huskers executed a double steal. Swansen took off for second, drawing a throw and allowing Anglim to reach home plate from third before Swansen was tagged out in a rundown.
Walsh crushed his first career homer in the fifth inning, a two-run shot that scored sophomore catcher Josh Caron, making it 7-1 Big Red. Kaminska gave a couple of runs back on three hits, including two doubles, in the bottom half, but made it out with a 7-3 lead intact.
Carey drove in Matthews for one run in the sixth, putting NU ahead 8-3. Then Jackson Brockett relieved Kaminska in the home half of the sixth. The sophomore lefty retired eight out of nine batters faced, dealing South Alabama 2.2 innings of scoreless pitching.
In the seventh, Nebraska put the game out of reach. Anglim smacked an RBI double, two more runs scored on yet another Jaguar error, one of five on the day. Finally, Matthews unleashed a three-run bomb to left, making it a six-run inning and a 14-3 NU lead at the stretch.
Carey added a cherry on top, scoring one more Husker run in the ninth on a wild pitch to solidify the final 15-3 scoreline. Freshman JC Gutierrez, a left-handed reliever, finished things off with a scoreless appearance in his Big Red debut.
Eight out of Nebraska’s nine in the starting lineup scored at least once, including senior center fielder Luke Sartori, who was the only starter without a base hit.
Now having secured their first series win of the young 2023 season, the Huskers will look to sweep USA on Sunday in Mobile, Alabama. First pitch is at 1 p.m., with freshman Caleb Clark as NU’s probable starting pitcher.
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