STILLWATER, Oklahoma – Nebraska baseball’s 2024 season came to a close with a 17-11 loss to Florida at the Stillwater Regional on Sunday afternoon.
Head coach Will Bolt and company grabbed an early lead, but couldn’t keep pace with the Gators’ sluggers. Florida totaled 16 hits, seven went for extra bases, and chased Husker starter Jackson Brockett from the game in the second after overcoming an early 4-2 deficit.
Nebraska drew within one after the top of the sixth inning, but the Gators outscored the Huskers 10-5 the rest of the way. Florida scored four or more runs in three innings.
The Huskers finish the season with a 40-22 record. That’s Nebraska’s most wins since 2014 and the 19th 40-win season in program history. Here’s more on one that got away from the Huskers in the middle innings of the season finale.
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Nebraska slugged its way into an early lead through an inning and a half. Case Sanderson and Riley Silva set the table with walks in the first and second innings. That’s when Gabe Swansen and Joshua Overbeek each delivered with two-out, two-run homers to left and the Huskers took a 4-2 advantage into the bottom of the second.
Florida jumped all over Jackson Brockett.
The bottom third of the Gator opened the inning with a double before slapping two singles to make it 4-3. With two on and one away, Jac Caglianone dug in. It marked the first time this week he had an opportunity to bat with runners on base and he took full advantage. The two-way star mashed his 31st home run of the year to left and put Florida in front 6-4 for the first time.
A single to left tacked on another run before Kyle Froehlich was able to stabilize the game for Nebraska and end the second.
Mother Nature took matters into her own hands in the fifth.
With Sanderson at second and two outs, a lightning delay put the game on hold for a little over two hours.
Nebraska failed to capitalize on that opportunity, but didn’t miss on its chance in the sixth. Ben Columbus became the first leadoff batter to reach base for the Huskers and Rhett Stokes’ infield hit put two on with nobody out for Dylan Carey. The Nebraska shortstop promptly ripped his team-leading 18th double of the season into the left-field corner to pull the Huskers within 7-6.
Florida had the answer. Cade Kurland got things working with a four-pitch leadoff walk and Caglianone brought him in with a scorching double on the next pitch. A single to center and an accompanying error plated two more runs and Dale Thomas‘ single added another.
Leading 11-6, the Gators didn’t let up. Florida mashed three home runs in a six-run seventh inning that put the game firmly out of Nebraska’s reach. The Huskers mustered a rally in the top of the eighth highlighted by Overbeek’s two-RBI single and a Clay Bradford pinch-hit RBI double.
Nebraska added two more runs in the ninth off a Stokes RBI double and and a Columbus groundout but the double-digit deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
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