Bolt-Ball: Cambria College Classic Takeaways/ Northern Colorado Mid-Week

Nebraska goes 2-1 in US Bank Stadium behind an offensive outbreak and stellar pitching.

Photo Via NU Athletic Communication (Taken by Scott Bruhn)

Nebraska 5 - No. 7 Vanderbilt 3

The Huskers rolled into Friday morning with that chip on their shoulder we saw back in 2021. The Skers rolled out Junior Emmett Olson on the bump who worked with a blazing pace to sit down most of this powerful Vandy lineup. Olson's final line was 6 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, with 5 K's. Olson had an effectively wild type of presence on Friday, as he still allowed 4 free passes. The only Vandy Boy that had a consistent beat on Olson was Graduate Senior RJ Shreck. Shreck went deep twice (both solo shots) and posed as the only consistent threat.

All 3 of Vanderbilts runs came from solo home runs, something pitching staffs are okay with as it limits damage over time. HC Will Bolt said after the game that "Solo home runs don't typically beat ya." As the message to the pitching staff was to keep attacking the zone. This will be a huge building block for Olson as Nebraska heads home for the rest of the month.

The Husker bats came to play on Friday. The Big Red pounded out 13 hits on Vanderbilts best arms. Notable performances on the offensive side of things were Garrett Anglim and Casey Burnham. Burnham went 3 for 4 with 3 2B's which turned over things in the lineup about as well as someone can. The biggest swing of the day came off Anglim’s bat in bottom of the 8th and he launched one into the LF corner seats to give Nebraska the 4-3 lead. That was padded by Brice Matthews double 2 hitters later. Nebraska had 8 EBH's hits on Friday, leaving Husker nation with a sense that the opening San Diego series was no sign of what is to come for this Nebraska team.

Nebraska 12 - Hawaii 3

Nebraska bats stayed hot on Saturday afternoon as the Huskers took down the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii. They busted out 12 runs on 18 hits including 5 EBH's and a homer off the bat of Gabe Swanson. Swanson was the menace for the Huskers at the plate as he finished.

3-5 with 2 2B's and that HR. Swanson also tallied 4 RBIs.

This game never gave off a feeling of chance for the Rainbow Warriors as Nebraska scored 2 in the 4th and never really looked back. They scored in every inning the rest of the game besides the 9th.

Junior Jace Kaminska was the bright spot on the bump as he went 6 innings allowing only 4 hits and 0 runs while picking up his second W of the year. Kaminska did a fantastic job attacking the strike zone and Hawaii missed a lot of barrels. As we mentioned in the preview for this game, the Hawaii bats were not ones to be messed with. Kaminska has pretty much settled in to this Saturday role and Nebraska fans have a lot to be excited for.

2 great games lead Nebraska to the Cambria College Classic Championship game on Sunday vs Ole Miss.

Nebraska 5 - No. 4 Ole Miss 14

Ole Miss rolled into Sunday also 2-0, holding wins over #18 Maryland and Minnesota. The Rebels made swift work of the Big Ten this past weekend as the defending National Champions showed why they are frequent visitors to Omaha.

Nebraska started Freshman Caleb Clark on the bump, and he found some trouble in the 1st. Clark was unable to finish off a complete inning of work thanks to a squeezed zone and some free passes. Let's be real here; the freshman wasn’t gifted an easy task with the Rebel lineup, but he did make some great pitches that didn’t go his way. It felt like anything Ole Miss hit was finding a spot to drop-in or get through. I can remember 4 or 5 times the Rebels fisted one over the 3B or dropped in a pop up down the line. After all, it's pitching. It just goes that way sometimes.

5 other Huskers found some time on the mound on Sunday as the Johnny Whole-staff looking box score most likely was not in the plan for the Big Red. The highlight of the group would be Michael Garza, who relived Clark in that dreadful first inning. Garza went 3 and 1/3 allowing 0 runs on 4 hits. Nebraska saw flashbacks from SD on Sunday as they allowed 8 walks and 6 HBP's against a team where that will never lead to a win.

On the offensive side of things for the Huskers, it wasn’t awful. The Skers scored 5 runs on 8 hits. Highlighted by Brice Matthews who went 3-3 with 2 1B, a HR, and a walk.

Max Anderson drove another double into the gap and Efry Cervantes found himself in the box score for the first time after he blasted a tank in the 5th.

After Ole Miss took an 8 run lead in the first, the Fighting Bolts just couldn’t chip their way enough to make this feel like a game.

The Return to Haymarket

The Huskers return to Lincoln for 2 mid-week games with the Northern Colorado Bears. The Bears roll into this week with a 2-8 record. NC has dropped 8 straight after winning their first two so you really have a case with teams on opposite sides of momentum. UNC is coming off a terrible weekend against Washington. The Bears pitching staff allowed 57 runs against the Huskies with 32 of those coming in Game 1.

With this being the first Mid-Week matchups for Nebraska, it will be interesting to see what HC Will Bolt does with the staff and lineup. These games are important for young players to gain experience.

Nebraska should handle these 2 games with ease and roll into the Illinois State series with 7-4-1 record.