FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — You don't win 32 baseball games without being able to successfully bounce back from a loss from time to time.
For Nebraska to get win No. 33, and keep its season alive, another quick recovery will be in order after a late Saturday night loss to Arkansas, 5-1.
The Huskers (32-13) will take on New Jersey Institute of Technology (27-23) at 2 p.m. Sunday at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville. The winner will face Arkansas on Sunday night.Â
But "first and foremost you've got to focus on the first game," NU senior Luke Roskam said Saturday. "We've got to play NJIT, and they'll be ready to go from Pitch 1, and come out aggressive. So we have to attack the zone, play good defense, and be ready to hit tomorrow.
The fourth-seeded Highlanders have become somewhat of a darling in Fayetteville,
People are also reading…
Early in Saturday night's game between Nebraska and Arkansas, the Highlanders were shown making their way through Arkansas' Hog Pen fan area in left field, exchanging high-fives with Razorbacks fans.Â
With a couple thousand Arkansas fans cheering them on earlier in the afternoon, the Highlanders came back from their 13-8 Friday loss to the Razorbacks to knock off Northeastern 3-2, earning the school its first-ever NCAA Tournament win in any sport since moving to Division I in 2007.
"You see it so many times in tournament settings like this — it's the teams that are able to bounce back quickly, because you put an awful lot into each game," NU coach Will Bolt said. "If it's the first game, it's like you put so much into it and you don't win it, so many times you come out flat the next day.
"Then Saturday, everybody knows how important the second game of the regional is."
The reward for winning Sunday's early game is the opportunity to try and beat Arkansas twice.Â
But playing baseball sure beats the heck out of not.
"We've got to flush it and come back out and play our best baseball tomorrow. These guys have fought really hard all year long, they've been very, very competitive, they love to play," Bolt said. "I would expect nothing less than our very best effort tomorrow to give ourselves a shot."
Pitching questions: How Nebraska approaches its pitching situation Sunday remains to be seen.
NU used seven pitchers in Saturday night's game. Over the past few weeks, Kyle Perry has served as the team's "opener" on Sundays, pitching the first couple innings before giving way to Shay Schanaman.
Those two are just about the only arms who haven't already thrown for Nebraska in Fayetteville, but Bolt wasn't ready to commit to that plan Saturday night.
"I'm not sure yet what we're going to do," Bolt said. "We'll talk about it tonight and make a decision tomorrow."
Should Nebraska win the first game, it will likely be all hands on deck for however long the Huskers' stay in Fayetteville lasts.
"I haven't even really gotten past the first game, I'll be honest," Bolt said. "We'll pick up the pieces if we get past that first game."
Dim outlook for Anderson: Bolt said "it doesn't look good" regarding the chances of freshman Max Anderson playing Sunday.
The Big Ten freshman of the year, perhaps Nebraska's top hitter, appeared to injure a hamstring while running out a ground ball in the fourth inning. He limped back to the dugout after the play and stayed there as Nebraska took the field in the bottom of the frame.
Anderson is second on the team in batting average, hits, and home runs while ranking third in doubles and slugging percentage and fourth in RBIs.