Swansen, Huskers Pummel Terrapins in Seven Innings

Gabe Swansen drove in seven runs on a 4-for-5 afternoon and Nebraska scored 20-plus runs for the first time since 2019, as the Huskers cruised to a 21-5 run-rule victory in seven innings at Maryland on Sunday afternoon in College Park, Md.

Nebraska (21-23, 9-12 Big Ten) scored 21 runs on 19 hits and two errors, while Maryland (20-25, 6-15 Big Ten) totaled five runs, five hits and one error.

Swansen was 4-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, a home run, seven RBI and three runs scored. The senior is the first Husker with seven RBI in a game since Josh Scheffert in 2012.

Joshua Overbeek went 3-for-5 with a double and five RBI, while Dylan Carey was 2-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Cayden Brumbaugh had a 2-for-3 afternoon with a home run, an RBI and a team-high four runs scored. Hogan Helligso went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.

Robby Bolin, Hayden Lewis, Max Buettenback, Case Sanderson, Tyler Stone and Devin Nunez tallied one hit apiece.

Jackson Brockett improved to 2-3 on the year after allowing five runs, two earned, on four hits across five innings of work. The southpaw struck out four Terrapins and issued two walks. Caleb Clark and Gavin Blachowicz worked scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the NU pitching staff.

The Husker offense wasted no time and scored six runs in the first inning, including the first four runs without an out recorded. Bolin, Brumbaugh and Buettenback drew walks to start the game, while Swansen sent his 31st career homer over the right-field wall for a grand slam.

The Big Red tacked on two more in the opening frame with RBI singles off the bats of Overbeek and Helligso.

The Huskers continued the momentum into the second inning, adding three more runs to grow the lead to nine in the top of the second. NU loaded the bases with no outs for the second consecutive inning after Brumbaugh was plunked and Buettenback and Swansen drew walks.

An RBI fielder’s choice from Sanderson plated Brumbaugh, before Overbeek’s two-RBI single to left field that brought home Buettenback and Sanderson.

Nebraska reached 10-plus runs for the seventh time this season when a pair of runs in the top of the third inning extended the lead to 11-0. Bolin led off with a walk and stole second, before scoring on Buettenback’s RBI single to right field. Back-to-back singles from Swansen and Carey gave the Huskers an 11-run lead in the third.

The Terrapins capitalized on a pair of Husker errors in the bottom of the fourth inning with five runs on just three hits and the two errors. A walk and two errors loaded the bases, before a grand slam to right-center field plated Maryland’s first four runs of the day.

A two-out RBI single to left-center field added one more for the Terrapins and brought Maryland within 11-5 through four innings.

The Huskers responded to Maryland’s five-spot with five runs of their own in the top of the fifth to stretch the lead to 16-5. Back-to-back singles from Bolin and Brumbaugh set up Swansen’s two-RBI double to center field. The Big Red added three more with an RBI single from Stone and two-RBI double off the bat of Overbeek.

The NU offense expanded its lead to 20-5 with four runs on four hits in the top of the sixth inning. A 389-foot solo homer over the wall in left-center field from Brumbaugh began the scoring in the sixth for the Big Red, before consecutive RBI doubles down the left-field line by Swansen and Carey had the Huskers out front 19-5. A pinch-hit RBI single to first base from Nunez allowed Carey to score from second base and grew the lead to fifteen through six innings.

The Big Red added a final run in the top of the seventh inning behind a pair of hits to grow the lead to 21-5. Helligso opened the inning with a single to left field, before Lewis smacked an RBI double to the wall in right-center field to give Nebraska its largest lead of the day.

Blachowicz kept the Terrapins off the board in the bottom of the seventh, working around a pair of baserunners to preserve Nebraska’s 21-5 victory in seven innings on Sunday afternoon.

Nebraska welcomes Kansas State to Lincoln for a midweek matchup vs. Kansas State on Tuesday, April 29. First pitch between the Big Red and Wildcats is set for 6:02 p.m. on BTN at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.