Nebraska is keeping it simple this week.
“We just take it one day at a time,” catcher Josh Caron said. “Every day is a new challenge and we wake up with the mindset to go win, to go be ourselves, attack the day and keep being what we’re about. That’s how you ride the momentum. You don’t want to ride the ups and downs of a season, but when things start going good, I think you just stick to what you’re doing.”
When Nebraska takes on Florida at 2:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, it will be the first time the two programs have met on the diamond since the 2005 College World Series.
The Gators won that winner’s-bracket matchup 7-4 at Rosenblatt.
Florida (28-27) enters with the fewest wins of any squad in the four-team field. Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s group is also the only team in the Stillwater Regional not to win its conference tournament. But, the Gators’ College World Series and championship pedigree precedes them.
O’Sullivan won a championship in 2017 and has helped lead Florida to 16 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. No Gator team has missed the postseason since the 17-year veteran took the helm in 2008. The team’s streak of regional appearances is the second-longest nationally and all-time, the Gators are 86-51 (.628) in NCAA Regionals.
“I have a lot of respect for Florida,” Husker skipper Will Bolt said. “Great program. Played for a national championship last year. They’re hear for a reason. We respect them, but we’re not going to change a whole lot based on who the opponent is.”
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Husker ace Brett Sears will likely be challenged by the best offense he has faced all season from a slugging perspective.
Florida is 36th nationally with a .514 slugging percentage and No. 7 in the nation with 116 home runs. Illinois, who Nebraska did not play this year, is the only other Big Ten team with a higher mark. The Gators have seven different players with double-digit home runs led by 29 from two-way star Jac Caglianone.
Sears isn’t trying to overthink the stakes.
“It’s just another game,” Sears said. “I’ve played baseball my whole life so it’s no different than that really if you think about it that way.”
Caron said the Huskers put their improbable Big Ten Tournament run to bed last week. That was the message during Tuesday’s practice. It’s a new week. Bolt believes embracing the competitive side of the game is when his team is at its best. Putting the crowds, big-name opponents and the ups and downs of the postseason aside for the present will be just as key for this year’s team as in 2021.
“You show up with a job to do and you do it,” Bolt said. “That’s what these guys were able to do last week after losing that first game. The focus is the task at hand and the next pitch of the next game. It’s easy to say that it’s harder to do it. When you can make it about the ball and about the game, not about the other stuff, you’ve got a real shot.”
Free passes will be key for the Huskers all week long
Nebraska’s pitching staff has avoided walks and free passes like the plague all season long. Rob Childress‘ group of arms is second nationally with 2.93 walks per nine innings. Only Arizona, 2.50, has less. The Huskers are No. 7 in the country in both WHIP (1.26) and strikeout to walk ratio (2.94).
In a home-run friendly ballpark, that trend will need to continue.
“I think the saying is, ‘Solo shots won’t beat you,'” Sears said. “So maybe they get one, maybe two, but I’m not going to put guys on in front of guys that do that. Just stay in the zone, stay stingy and switch speeds and I think we’ll be fine.”
Meanwhile, Nebraska will need to capitalize on its chances with free runners aboard and in scoring position.
Florida right-handed starter Liam Peterson has issued 29 walks on the year compared to 63 strikeouts. In his last five starts, he has a 2.33 ERA and 20 strikeouts to nine walks through 19 1/3 innings of work.
Finding ways to capitalize in the middle innings against a program with 15 comeback victories (12-of-13 SEC wins) will be critical.
“It’s really important,” Caron said. “We have a good collective approach and of how to get runners in when they’re in scoring position. That’s just be aggressive early in the count and try to trust the work we put in. I think if we just do that and be ourselves all weekend it’s going to be a great weekend for us.”
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