Huskers make an emphatic case against USC
Nebraska swept the No. 12 Trojans, part of a pivotal stretch of the season.
From March 3, the date of Nebraska baseball’s home opener, to April 5, the Huskers won 21 of 22 games. Not bad for a stretch of 33 days. After a 5-5 start, which included a couple of nice wins over Auburn and Florida State, Nebraska exited March like a lion, bolstering its tournament résumé even if it was somewhat hard to know what to make of the run against a mushy Big Ten slate.
No need for concern, however, as the Huskers’ two week stretch starting April 7 looked like it would define the rest of the season. Nebraska was set to face Kansas (an equal by RPI), Oregon (equal, but on the road), Creighton (rival), USC (equal) and KU again (equal, this time on the road). Following nine up-for-grabs games, we’d know a lot more about this team.
After the weekend sweep of No. 12 USC, the Huskers guaranteed that they’ll come out of these two weeks ahead in the win column.
That’s despite opening this defining stretch with a 5-3 loss to Kansas, then unranked, and dropping two of three to No. 21 Oregon. It was a 1-3 run over the first full week of April, just as everyone was turning more of their attention to baseball, but it was tough to pack much panic into NU’s trip to Eugene. The Huskers and Ducks both scored 20 runs over three games, yet Oregon took the series with a pair of one-run wins. Beyond the result, it was an encouraging performance.
If Nebraska could steer out of its first slight skid in a month.
Last week, the Huskers rallied from a 4-0 deficit to beat Creighton in Lincoln. Then on Friday, they struggled against USC ace Mason Edwards for 7 innings—he struck out 12—before rallying for 5 runs in the eighth and ninth innings, winning in the 10th on a “walk-off bunt” from Mac Moyer when it produced a Trojan throwing error that allowed Rhett Stokes to score from first.
Weird. Improbable. USC had been the fastest-rising team in the Big Ten entering the weekend, but a win’s a win. Which is essentially what I said when asked about it Saturday morning to a radio appearance, also asking out loud if it would just be a “weird one” or if it would provide some momentum over the next two games.
Nebraska answered that emphatically with a pair of run-rule wins, 12-2 in 7 Saturday, 16-6 in 8 Sunday. The sweep kept the Huskers alone in second place in the Big Ten, trailing top-ranked UCLA, which is 21-0 in conference play.1
And it put NU at 5-3 for this important two week stretch with a revenge opportunity at Kansas Tuesday. The No. 18 Jayhawks have won six of seven since beating the Huskers, including a sweep of No. 12 UCF. Win or lose, Nebraska will come out of these two weeks having strengthened its case as a solid tournament team with perhaps some still-unexplored upside entering the final month of the season.
The Huskers close Big Ten play with series against Illinois (20-18, 8-10), Ohio State (19-19, 9-9), Iowa (21-16, 7-11) and Minnesota (22-17, 5-13). Lot of opportunity ahead.
Odds & Ends
You know who likes Emmett Johnson? OG draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. Johnson landed on Kiper’s draft favorites list, the only running back to take it, with Kiper writing: “Johnson was the glue of that Nebraska team last season, and his coaches rave about him. I have him as my RB3, and he should be a third- or fourth-round pick.”
The NFL Mock Draft Database, which compiles hundreds of the many mocks into a consensus big board, shows Johnson as the fifth-best back, projected to go in the fourth round. The same consensus had DeShon Singleton as the 20th-ranked safety and Ceyair Wright 35th at cornerback, which would make both undrafted free agents.
Nebraska softball had no problems in Minneapolis this weekend, outscoring Minnesota 32-4 in a three-game sweep. That kept the Huskers, 17-1 in Big Ten play, one game ahead of Oregon and UCLA (both 16-2). It was NU’s 11thconsecutive win and 12th straight on the road, the latter being the longest active streak in the country. The Huskers face Omaha on the road Tuesday before hosting Iowa for a three-game series over the weekend.
Men’s gymnastics finished fourth at the NCAA Championships, which concluded Saturday. Asher Cohen took the rings title, a storybook end to a season the team had dedicated to Jim Hartung, a 1982 national champion in the same event who passed away shortly before the season.
This being a proper mega-conference, of course the Huskers and Bruins don’t meet in the regular season.