Husker Corner
Fansided

Nebraska Baseball: Team needs to be balanced in weekend slate

By Danny Jaillet

TUCSON, AZ - MARCH 10: Baseball with the NCAA logo during a college baseball game between the North Dakota State Bison and the Arizona Wildcats on March 10, 2018, at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, AZ. (Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ - MARCH 10: Baseball with the NCAA logo during a college baseball game between the North Dakota State Bison and the Arizona Wildcats on March 10, 2018, at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, AZ. (Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

This is a big weekend for Nebraska baseball.

There is no question that the Nebraska baseball offense has been playing at a high level. They have scored 19 and 11 runs on Fridays alone. However, it is the pitching that has failed them. As Nebraska baseball gets ready to face Arizona State, they’re going to need to put it all together.

It seems like Nebraska baseball has had their fair share of tough games already. Arizona State comes into Friday’s action ranked 12th in the country. Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson is projected as a number one pick in the upcoming MLB draft. The last time these two programs faced each other, Arizona State won the first game of the series by a 15-6 margin. Simply put, the odds are against Nebraska baseball, at least for Friday.

What I want to see from this game is the ability for Nebraska baseball to put it all together. What I mean by that is, good offense and pitching. If the offense struggles one day, then the pitching needs to be able to pick up the slack and vice versa. There has yet to have been a weekend, although the season is still young, where Nebraska has been firing on all cylinders. Maybe it’s just a question of getting their proverbial feet wet with the new manager. Maybe it’s something else.

However, if I was the Nebraska baseball manager, I would focus on making sure that everybody from pitchers to catchers are ready to go. As Will Bolt told the media earlier in the week, it may be a question of momentum once the team heads back to the dugout. So far, it looks as though the team is stalling at certain points on the field.

"“Part of that comes with pushing the right buttons in the bullpen and the guys that come out of the bullpen getting stops for us and helping create the momentum late in innings,” Bolt said. “That’s kind of where we’ve struggled is, we’re left on the field for a while in some of these games, and we’re not getting the momentum back in the dugout.”"

Whatever the case may be, Nebraska baseball needs to figure it out. I’m not at the total “panic meter” point yet. The season just started, and there’s a ton of baseball left. However, it seems like the same issues keep coming up weekend after weekend. My hope is that Nebraska can right the ship, and quickly.

Arizona State will not be an easy test. A win over the Sun Devils would definitely give Nebraska baseball a boost. They certainly need one right now. They need to fix things before their season gets away from them. Luckily, it is still early enough in the season where they can do that.

Home/Nebraska Baseball