The Nebraska baseball team didn't just have to defeat the Michigan Wolverines on Friday night. They also had to beat some bad planning by the powers that be in the Big Ten and then the clock on the way to a Conference Tournament semifinal game against either Oregon or Washington.
To say things were a bit dramatic as the time ticked down to the drop-dead time, as Husker fans and players sat at Charles Schwab Field waiting for UCLA and Purdue to finish a thriller, is an understatement. The conference had previously pushed things as far as it could. If the Bruins and Boilermakers didn't end their game by 10:20 pm, Will Bolt's squad would have to wait until Saturday morning to play. At exactly 10:20, UCLA walked off the Boilermakers, setting up NU's game against the Wolverines for 11 pm.
Nebraska would have been excused if it had come out flat or even rusty. But this Huskers team feeds off the kind of energy that might make other programs fold up shop. As Bolt said after the game, this group tends to feed off the big moments and being under the gun.
"We have a flair for the dramatic, it seems. I mean, we kind of need that at times. We kind of need that jar to get us to respond," Bolt told a media scrum gathered near him around 2 am.
Will Bolt has Nebraska baseball embracing drama as Big Ten title push continues
The Cornhuskers' head coach was specifically talking about how his team answered every time Michigan looked like it might go on a run Friday night/Saturday morning. However, his words applied to everything that happened before the game and throughout the season.
Against the Wolverines, the Huskers came out of the gate on fire. Jeter Worthley and Dyaln Carey singled to put runners on first and second before Case Sanderson lined a two-run triple down the right-field line to give the Huskers an early 2-0 advantage. Neither team scored again until the fourth inning, when Michigan tied it in its half.
Big Red responded immediately to push them back into the 4-2 lead. However, Michigan once again tied the game at the top of the 7th with a two-run homer. Nebraska then put the finishing touches on the 6-4 win by yet again answering right away with another Sanderson 2-RBI hit.
"Both times they put up two, we scored two to answer, and that was the difference in the game," Bolt said about how his team crushed the Wolverines' dreams every time they rallied. "We want to make it dramatic to where we can get the two out RBI because it's an extra backbreaker for the opponent. Apparently, I mean they've been doing it all year. So, you know, we'll take it."
Normally, the Huskers hope things calm down a bit so they can take care of business on Saturday night. However, this team seems to get the most dramatic outcomes no matter what. That could portend big fireworks when Nebraska faces off against either Washington or Oregon around 6 pm. The Ducks and Huskies start off Saturday's Big Ten Tournament action at 10 am. UCLA and USC will square off at 2 pm for the other slot in Sunday's Big Ten Tournament title game.
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