An old adage Will Bolt heard long ago has stuck with him this week as Nebraska brought back three losses and a tie from the West Coast.
If handled properly, L’s at the beginning of a baseball season can stand for learning.
The Huskers learned plenty while hanging tough for four games yet not winning any of them against a returning NCAA regional squad. The offense appears deeper — freshman Dylan Carey, for example, hit .471 with two homers, forcing NU to move him from seventh to second in the order. One of the team’s best hitters last year, Griffin Everitt, didn’t play in either of the last two contests as the visitors piled up 25 runs.
Nebraska’s defense only committed two errors, good for a fielding percentage in the top 50 nationally. Starting pitchers Emmett Olson, Jace Kaminska and Caleb Clark each threw at least into the fifth inning — the same rotation will hold this weekend at South Alabama.
The bullpen? That’s another story. NU relievers were “abysmal,†Bolt said, in various metrics that coaches track like first-pitch strikes, 1-1 counts, 3-2 counts and shutdown innings. Of the 30 free passes (20 walks, 10 hit batters) issued in 31 1/3 innings, 20 came from 13 different non-starters.
“I was surprised,†said Bolt, Nebraska’s fourth-year coach, on Wednesday. “I was surprised I’m sitting here talking about the competitive level from a staff that has been pretty good that way for as long as we’ve been here.â€
Shaky late innings typically haven’t characterized Nebraska in the Big Ten era — the team is 285-9 when leading after eight innings since 2012. But they defined each game in the opening series. Consider:
* Game 1: San Diego led 4-3 in the eighth and added three two-out runs in the bottom half to pull away. Corbin Hawkins and Will Rizzo combined to allow a walk, single, double, walk, single and wild pitch.
* Game 2: Tied 3-3 in the eighth. The Toreros go walk, walk, single, wild pitch to plate a pair off closer Shay Schanaman.
* Game 3: Tied 9-9 in the ninth. San Diego walks off against Michael Garza with a single, balk and RBI single.
* Game 4: Nebraska up 16-10 in the seventh and final inning. Against Schanaman and Mason Ornelas, the sequence is hit batter, walk, hit batter, walk, walk, sac fly, flyout, three-run homer to force the 10th tie in Husker history.
Just as hitting can be contagious, Bolt said, so too can be a lack of command. It didn’t help that many relievers had to come on in messy situations that arose quickly because of free passes.
“I thought we did learn a lot about our team,†Bolt said. “We’re going to have to get some things sorted out, certainly, but we’re going to continue working at it. This team, they’re going to have resiliency.â€
Kaminska — who came an out shy of a quality start in his NU debut — pushed back on the idea that pitchers were adjusting to the outdoors. They need to assess what pitches they have and get them over the plate.
“Really, (it’s) not so much worrying about being perfect and trying to hit a spot (but) just fill up the zone because good hitters are going to get themselves out,†Kaminska said. “Trust that that will happen and have some conviction when you throw it.â€
Added outfielder Garrett Anglim: “Facing them the entire fall, we know what they’re all capable of. Just like the hitters, I think it’s just kind of the jitters. First time out there, first outing. There’s a lot left in the tank — they’re all super-talented pitchers.â€
Other Nebraska-related notes:
* Nebraska last week released pitchers Matt Dreher and Chandler Benson to get the roster to its required limit of 39 players.
* The Big Ten came out of the gates slowly. League teams posted a combined record of 21-26 through the first weekend-plus, putting the conference 11th in the early RPI pecking order (it historically settles around seventh).
Preseason favorite Maryland won a series at South Florida but is 2-2 after a midweek loss to West Virginia. Rutgers lost a series at Campbell, as did Indiana at top-25 Auburn. Illinois absorbed two poundings by top-10 Wake Forest. Minnesota hung tough with the likes of UC Santa Barbara and Oregon State but is 0-4.
Iowa is the only unbeaten, picking up wins over MAAC and Missouri Valley teams. Penn State nearly was the headliner, coming a walk-off homer shy of taking a series at ranked Miami (Fla.). Ohio State — with a new head coach — notably split four games with reigning super-regional club Connecticut while Michigan State started 3-1 with wins over Fresno State, Grand Canyon and Michigan.
* A parade of former Huskers enjoyed strong debuts elsewhere. Braxton Bragg struck out 12 across five shutout innings against Fordham as Dallas Baptist’s Friday starter, earning National Pitcher of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Bo Blessie — known for elite spin rates and so-so health in Lincoln — started Sunday for top-25 Texas Tech and twirled six scoreless frames against Gonzaga.
Other notables include Arkansas reliever Koty Frank (five scoreless innings in three appearances), Southern Miss reliever Tyler Martin (three innings, no runs), Bowling Green outfielder Leighton Banjoff (5 for 13, two runs, one RBI), Missouri infielder Cam Chick (4 for 11, four runs, two steals) and Georgia State infielder Luke Boynton (5 for 14, one double, one homer).
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Game box
BASEBALL FRIDAY
Nebraska at South Alabama, 6:30 p.m.
Radio: 1400.
Weekend pitchers
Friday (6:30 p.m.): NU LHP Olson (0-1, 5.06 ERA) vs. RHP Lee (0-0, 0.00).
Saturday (2 p.m.): NU RHP Kaminska (0-0, 4.76) vs. LHP Conard (0-1, 1.80).
Sunday (1 p.m.): NU LHP Clark (0-0, 10.38) vs. LHP Johns (0-0, 2.08).