BSB Preview: vs. Minnesota

NEBRASKA vs. MINNESOTA
May 2-4, 2025
Lincoln, Neb. | Hawks Field at Haymarket Park

Friday, May 2 – 6:02 p.m. CT
Pitching: LHP Will Walsh (4-6, 5.27 ERA) vs. RHP Joe Sperry (4-1, 4.93 ERA)
TV/Streaming: B1G+
Radio: Huskers.com, Huskers Radio Network, Huskers App

Saturday, May 3 – 2:02 p.m. CT
Pitching: RHP Ty Horn (2-4, 6.31 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Remington (1-6, 4.58 ERA)
TV/Streaming: B1G+
Radio: Huskers.com, Huskers Radio Network, Huskers App

Sunday, May 4 – 1:02 p.m. CT
Pitching: LHP Jackson Brockett (2-3, 4.01 ERA) vs. TBD
TV/Streaming: B1G+
Radio: Huskers.com, Huskers Radio Network, Huskers App

Follow the Game
• All three games of this weekend's series vs. Minnesota can be seen on B1G+. 
• Fans can also listen to Ben McLaughlin and Nick Handley call the action this weekend on the Huskers Radio Network.
• Every game this season can be heard for free on Huskers.com and the Official Nebraska Huskers App for both iOS and android devices.

Nebraska vs. Minnesota
• Through 73 all-time meetings, Nebraska holds a 39-33-1 advantage over Minnesota in the all-time series.
• The Huskers visited the Gophers last season in Minneapolis, where the Big Red won two of the three games in the road series.
• The Huskers are 12-4 against Minnesota in Lincoln since joining the Big Ten in 2012.

McConnaughey to Miss Remainder of 2025 Season 
• Nebraska Coach Will Bolt announced the first week in March that junior right-handed pitcher Mason McConnaughey will miss the remainder of the 2025 season after suffering an arm injury against Sam Houston at the Frisco Classic.
• McConnaughey began the season as the first husker named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List since 2016 and earned Preseason All-American recognition from D1Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

A Look at the Weekend Rotation
• With Brett Sears taken in the 2024 MLB Draft, Drew Christo's transition to the bullpen and Mason McConnaughey's season-ending injury, it's a new-look weekend rotation for the Huskers this year.
• Redshirt senior Will Walsh gets the nod Friday night and holds a 4-6 record on the season with a 5.27 ERA, 46 punchouts and opposing batting average of .247 in 56.1 innings.
• Sophomore Ty Horn is set to take the mound in game two for the Huskers this weekend. Horn is 2-4 with a 6.31 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 51.1 innings of work.
• Senior Jackson Brockett is scheduled to start the series finale, holding a 2-3 record with a 4.01 ERA and 30 strikeouts across 11 appearances, including 10 starts. 

Walsh Among Active Career Leaders in Free Passes
• Redshirt senior Will Walsh comes into the weekend ranked among DI's active career leaders in fewest walks allowed per nine innings, sitting sixth with 1.73 walks per nine innings. 
• Walsh has surrendered 32 free passes in 166.2 innings in his time as a Husker and is one of three P4 pitchers ranked in the top 10.

Starting Duo Holding it Down on the Bump
• Nebraska's Saturday and Sunday starters Ty Horn and Jackson Brockett have played a large role in the Huskers' series wins against Northwestern and Maryland the last two weekends.
• The starting duo has a combined 4-0 record and 2.14 ERA over the last two weekends with 20 strikeouts and seven walks across 21 innings.
• Horn tossed five strong innings with six punchouts against Northwestern and dealt six shutout frames with five strikeouts at Maryland last weekend.
• Brockett struck out five Northwestern batters over five scoreless innings before allowing two earned runs on four hits in five innings at Maryland. 

Big Bats in NU’s Last 10 Games
• Led by four Huskers hitting .370-or-better in the last 10 games, the Husker offense holds a .315 batting average with 43 extra-base hits in Nebraska's last 10 games. 
• Joshua Overbeek has powered the Huskers with a .389 batting average, hitting three doubles and three homers with a team-high 15 RBI while posting a .722 slugging percentage.
• Cayden Brumbaugh has been a spark plug at the top of the lineup, batting .387 with 12 hits, 12 runs scored and a .545 on-base percentage boosted by 10 walks.
• Gabe Swansen has delivered in key moments, hitting .385 with 10 hits, including four doubles and two homers, and tallying 15 RBI.
• Dylan Carey has provided production in the bottom-half of the lineup, batting .371 with 13 hits, five RBI, 11 runs scored and a .439 on-base percentage.

Swansen's Career Surge in the Month of May
• Since the 2023 campaign, Gabe Swansen has been a key contributor for the NU offense in the month of May the last two seasons.
• The senior has hit .357 at the plate with a combined 17 runs, seven doubles, eight home runs and 28 RBI in the month of May the last two seasons.
 • Swansen batted .500 at the plate with an OPS of 1.420 and seven extra-base hits, fueling Nebraska's run to the Big Ten Tournament title last season.
• In 2023, Swansen had five homers, drove in 17 runs and scored 12 times across 15 games in May.

Lucky Number Six in the Bolt Era
• Nebraska is 124-27 under head coach Will Bolt when scoring at least six runs.
• The Big Red have scored six-plus runs in 20 of the 22 victories this season, defeating No. 16 Vanderbilt (6-4), San Diego State (13-0), Louisiana (6-1), Washington (6-2), Wichita State (10-1), Pepperdine (9-6, 11-4). USC (6-5), Oregon State (7-3, 16-7), Rutgers (8-5, 10-5), No. 22 Kansas (7-5), Iowa (6-4), Creighton (6-3), Northwestern (14-4), Maryland (7-2, 21-5) and Kansas State (7-6).
• The Husker offense reached the six-run mark 34 times last season, compiling a 28-6 record.
• Nebraska scored six-plus runs in 33 contests (26-7) in 2023 after tallying at least six runs 23 times (19-4) in 2022, 28 times (26-2) in 2021 and seven times (5-2) in 2020.

Offensive Outburst Against Big Ten Foes
• Since joining the Big Ten in 2012, Nebraska has scored 30-plus runs in a three-game conference series 10 times after last weekend's series win at Maryland.
• The Big Red totaled its fifth-highest Big Ten series total after racking up 33 runs against the Terrapins in College Park last weekend. 

Big Red’s Highest-Scoring Game Under Coach Bolt
• Nebraska recorded its highest-scoring game under head coach Will Bolt in the Huskers' 21-5 run-rule victory at Maryland last Sunday.
• The 21 runs in Sunday's series finale marked the first time the Huskers have totaled 20-plus runs since opening the 2019 campaign with a 21-6 win at UC Riverside.
• The Huskers have scored 17-plus runs nine times in six seasons under Bolt, including three games with 19-or-more runs.

Youth Movement on the Mound in April
• True freshmen Blake Encarnacion, Gavin Blachowicz and Pryce Bender have put up strong numbers in the month of April for the NU bullpen.
• The trio have totaled a combined 3.12 ERA, allowing six earned runs across 17.1 combined innings of work in 17 total appearances.
• Bender picked up the first two wins of his career in Nebraska's midweek matchups against No. 22 Kansas and Creighton, while Blachowicz improved to 3-0 on the season in NU's win vs. K-State on Tuesday.

Lockdown Luke: Broderick Among Saves Leaders 
• As of April 30, junior closer Luke Broderick comes into the weekend tied for ninth nationally and is one of 16 closers with at least nine saves on the season.
• Broderick holds a 2-1 record and nine saves with a 4.15 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 21.2 innings across 18 appearances this season.
• The Omaha, Neb., native's nine saves are the most by a Husker reliever since Spencer Schwellenbach (10) in 2021.
• Broderick is one save shy of reaching ninth on the single-season charts at NU and becoming the 12th Husker reliever in program history to reach double-digit saves in a season.