Nebraska baseball is on the road to Omaha. Will Bolt and company are hoping to bring the Huskers back to the College World Series for the first time since 2005.
Stillwater, Oklahoma, is Nebraska’s first stop.
The Huskers second NCAA Regional appearance under Bolt features the host Oklahoma State Cowboys, No. 3-seeded Florida Gators and the No. 4 seed in the Niagara Purple Eagles. Two of those teams (Oklahoma State, Niagara) are conference tournament champions. Florida is fresh off a runner-up finish at the College World Series.
As Nebraska returns to Big 12 country, here’s what to expect in Stillwater including notes on each of the Huskers’ opponents, recent regional trends and more.
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Projecting Nebraska’s pitching matchup
Friday, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+), RHP Brett Sears (Stats: 9-0, 2.00 ERA, 99.0 IP, 97 K) vs. RHP Liam Peterson (Stats: 2-4, 5.83 ERA, 54.0 IP, 63 K)
What to watch for the Huskers
The road to Omaha begins
The College World Series is a little over two weeks away. While the event itself may seem distant, the path to becoming one of the final eight teams standing is relatively short.
“Once you get to the postseason, it’s five wins to Omaha,” Bolt said after Nebraska captured the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday. “So it’s kinda that carrot dangled out there for this group. You have 13,000 people here for this game. Imagine what it’s like getting Nebraska to this venue for the College World Series. It’s five wins away. It can seem like this far-reaching thing but you get your foot in the door in the regionals and it’s five wins to get to Omaha.”
Trends in recent years have not been kind to non-hosting squads.
Almost two thirds of NCAA Regionals have been won by the host team since 1999. Key exception years are 2018, when only half of host schools advanced to Super Regionals, 2023 (nine host schools) and record lows of seven in 2007 and 2014.
Winning the opener will be critical, too. Only three of the last 64 regional champions did so by winning four straight games out of the loser’s bracket. Southern Miss is the only program to do it in the last two years. No. 2 seeds are 333-269 (.553) since 1999 against No. 3 seeds in the first round.
Nebraska may be five wins from Omaha, but a victory in the first round against Florida will be a critical piece of a Husker upset in Stillwater.
The O’Brate launching pad
How does Oklahoma State’s O’Brate Stadium play?
“It plays pretty offensive,” Bolt said. “The South wind is going to be blowing out. The wind is always blowing in Oklahoma and when it’s hot, it’s blowing from the South. I’d imagine its gonna play pretty offensive. That’s what the scores have said in the postseason in that ballpark.”
Pretty offensive may be a more diplomatic way to put things. The 2022 Stillwater Regional featured 41 home runs in seven games while last year’s saw 25 bombs in six contests. Nebraska’s 66 home runs are the fewest of any team in the field while its team ERA of 4.40 is the second-lowest (Oklahoma State, 4.06).
Rob Childress’ pitching staff will certainly be tested and the Huskers will need to slug well as they did during the Big Ten Tournament. In large part, that was thanks to Gabe Swansen (.520 BA, three homers, 10 RBIs) and Josh Caron(.409 BA, six homers, 11 RBIs). Others will need to step up, too.
Nebraska should be able to get a good scout on O’Brate. One of Bolt’s closest friends, former Husker Justin Seely, joined the Cowboys’ coaching staff in 2021 and left last year. Cayden Brumbaugh played his freshman campaign in Stillwater before transferring to Nebraska in 2023.
Know the foes: Florida, Oklahoma State and Niagara
Florida
***Friday’s game will mark a 16th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance for Florida. The Gators won the final two games of the regular season against Georgia after dropping the series opener to finish above .500 and qualify.
Florida is one of five SEC teams with 13-17 records in conference play to make the 64-team field. The others are Vanderbilt, Alabama, South Carolina and LSU.
***Florida’s 116 home runs rank seventh-most in the country. Seven different Gators have posted double-digit home runs this year and six have 13 or more bombs.
***Apart from Caglianone, Liam Peterson is the only other Florida pitcher with double digit starts. The freshman from Palm Harbor, Florida, had an ERA as high as 8.31 at the end of March. During his four appearances in May, he has a 2.20 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings of work.
***Player to watch: 1B/DH/LHP Jac Caglianone
This one is fairly obvious. Caglianone is the top two-way star in the country and one of the faces of college baseball over the last two years. His .415 batting average is the the sixth-best in the nation and his 29 home runs are the fourth-most in the country. Caglianone owns a 4.35 ERA in 13 starts with a 5-1 record and 68 strikeouts to 44 walks.
Oklahoma State
***This is the third straight year the Cowboys have logged 40 or more wins in a season and the fourth time in the last five years excluding the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign. Oklahoma State has hosted a regional in three consecutive seasons and this is the program’s 49th NCAA Regional appearance.
***Oklahoma State’s 9-3 win over in-state rival and SEC-bound Oklahoma on Saturday marked the 35th conference championship in program history and the sixth in the Big 12. The Cowboys have made 11-straight NCAA Regional appearances, which is the fourth-longest streak in the country.
***OSU has four different players with more than 150 at-bats and a batting average above .300. Sophomore outfielder and first baseman Nolan Schubart leads the way with his .355 mark and a team-high 20 home runs.
Two-way standout Caron Benge is another name to watch with his .342 average at the dish. He also owns a 2.25 ERA in 32 innings of work with three saves.
***Player to watch: RHP Brian Holiday
Holiday has a team-best 3.12 ERA in 15 starts with 118 strikeouts over 104 innings of work. He hails from Tampa, Florida, and transferred to Oklahoma State from Central Florida Junior College. Striking out 23 batters in 9 1/3 innings of tourney play earned Holiday NJCAA JUCO World Series Most Outstanding Pitcher honors.
Niagara
***The Purple Eagles’ 10-6 win over Fairfield in the MAAC this past Saturday captured Niagara’s first MAAC Baseball Championship. It marked the third straight postseason game that the Purple Eagles logged over 12 hits. Five different Niagara bats tallied multiple hits.
***This is the first NCAA Tournament appearance for the Purple Eagles.
***Niagara owns a team ERA of 5.40 and is led by right-handed senior starter Maximilian Ramierez IV with a 6.38 ERA. Preston Prince’s 4.95 ERA is the best among Purple Eagle starters but has pitched 36 1/3 innings. Grad student Zach Cameron is the team’s top reliever with a 2.95 ERA and is tied for the team lead in innings pitched at 55.0 along with 11 saves.
***Player to watch: OF/1B Eric Rataczak
Rataczak is a redshirt junior who transferred to Niagara after playing in 32 games at Arizona Western College. He leads the team in batting average (.402), hits (86), doubles (14), home runs (16), and RBIs (67). There is an extremely wide gap between Rataczak and the next best Purple Eagle bat. He topped the MAAC in RBIs, batting average and on-base percentage.
Around the Big Ten
Here are a few Big Ten series to keep tabs on this weekend as well as the Friday schedule for the Clemson Regional:
Clemson:
Friday
Game 1: Vanderbilt (38-21) vs. Coastal Carolina (34-23), 12 p.m. on ESPN2
Game 2: Clemson (41-14) vs. High Point (34-25), 7 p.m. on ACC Network
Saturday
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 12 p.m.; TV TBD
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 5 p.m.; TV TBD
Other Big Ten Teams:
Lexington Regional
Game 2: Illinois (34-19) vs. Indiana State (42-13), 7 p.m., ESPN+
Knoxville Regional
Game 1: Indiana (32-24-1) vs. Southern Miss (41-18), 1 p.m. on ESPN+
Broadcast Information
TV: ESPN+
Radio: Huskers Radio Network (Radio simulcast found HERE)
Stations: Lincoln (1400 AM), Omaha (590 AM)
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