Survive and advance.
Nebraska baseball handled an early deficit to come back and eliminate Niagara 7-5 Saturday afternoon at the Stillwater Regional. The Huskers improve to 40-21 and stay alive in the postseason, while the Purple Eagles see their season come to a close at 46-13.
Niagara got on the board first with a three run home run in the first inning. That was the first of five homers in the game. The Purple Eagles tallied another run in the second.
NU responded with a Case Sanderson homer in the third, tallying a trio of runs. In the fifth inning, Sanderson notched a sacrifice fly before a Gabe Swansen home run gave the Big Red the lead.
Trailing for the first time in the game, Niagara needed just a single pitch to tie things up as another ball cleared the fence.
Nebraska took the lead for good with a run in the sixth inning on a throwing error after Rhett Stokes laid down a sacrifice bunt. Swanson added some insurance in the seventh with another home run.
Mason McConnaughey earned the win, going 6.0 innings while allowing five runs, all of the earned. He struck out 10 in the game. Jaylen Worthley got the save for this 3.0 shutout innings.
Nebraska will next play on Sunday at 1 p.m. CDT. The Huskers will face the loser of Saturday evening's game between Oklahoma State and Florida. In order to win the regional, NU will need to win twice on Sunday as well as a winner-take-all Monday contest.
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KALEB HENRY
Kaleb Henry is the Program Director and Sports Director at KLIN radio in Lincoln, Nebraska. A native Nebraskan, he competed in track and field at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville before returning home. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his work from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association, including Gold for Best Sportscast in the state of Nebraska in 2021 and 2023. Kaleb primarily covers Nebraska football, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball. When not covering the Huskers, he spends his days adventuring with his wife Megan, their daughter Millie, and their two dogs Tucker and Ella. You can reach Kaleb at kaleb@klin.com or on Twitter @iKalebHenry.
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