Bolt-Ball: San Diego Series

Huskers go 0-3-1 to open up the 2023 campaign. Bullpen struggles prevail.

Picture Via Nebraska Athletics

The Huskers had a tough task traveling to Regional appearing San Diego University this weekend. The Toreros posted a 37-20 record in 2022 that included a win against Vanderbilt in the NCAA tournament. However, that team lost a good amount of talent and Husker Baseball fans expected a better performance.

Game 1

The Huskers started Junior Emmet Olson on the bump. He threw 5 and 1/3 innings allowing 5 hits and 3 earned runs. Not a terrible line for your first appearance of the year and definitely not bad in comparison to the weekend. He also struck out 5 and gave up 2 freebies. The Husker bats could not break through on the opportunities gifted from the San Diego pitching staff. The Toreros gave up 9 free bases and the Huskers didn't reach the scoreboard until the 4th inning. 6 of those free bases came from starter James Sashin, who threw the first 3. This loss was entirely chalked up to the bats not coming through in prime situations.

Game 2

Game 2 was a similar story for the Husker bats. Nebraska posted 11 hits and game 2 and only came away with 3 runs. Josh Caron was the bright spot at the plate for the Huskers as he went 2-4 with a tank and 2 RBI's. Caron's 2-run bomb came in the 8th to tie the game.

The big answer came from San Diego in the bottom half of the 8th inning where they scored 2 runs that ultimately decided the game. Shay Schanaman took the loss as he gave up the hit that gave the Toreros the lead and the wild pitch that padded it. One of the many early season pitching looks the Huskers saw this weekend.

Game 3

Ouch. Literally. The Husker bats woke up pissed off in Game 3 as they scored in the first 6 innings of the game. They were highlighted by 2B's from Anderson and Columbus. While Anderson and Carey went deep. Max Anderson went 3-4 with 4 RBI's and was a triple shy of the cycle. The problem again came from the Husker pitching staff. 6 Huskers combined gave up 10 runs on 9 hits and 8 free bases. The pitching staff only had 5 strikeouts in the 41 batters they faced. Numbers like that won't add up to a lot of wins. Flat out, the Huskers blew an 8-2 lead and gave away too many free bases.

Game 4

This is what would go down as an ESPN instant classic, if you hate good pitching. Both teams came through with big-time hits and overall good ABs. Nebraska posted 17 hits to San Diegos 7. Both teams lit this scoreboard up in ONLY 7 innings due to Nebraska's travel conditions. The Huskers pitching staff struggled to find the zone again as they gave up 11 free bases. 8 pitchers saw the bump for the Big Red, yes 8. The Huskers blew 2 leads. (4-1, 16-10)

On the better side of things-Nebraska bats were alive and well again. They posted 17 hits, 5 for extra bases and 2 tater-tots. 7 Skers posted multiple hit games. Charlie Fischer had the biggest swing of the day in the top of the 6th, as he BLASTED a 2 run shot giving the Huskers the lead. Unfortunately, all of that wasn't enough to finally get Nebraska in the win column.

Overall Thoughts and Takeaways

Everyone, take a breath. We don't need to fire coaches 4 games into the baseball season. We traveled to a different time zone to play a REALLY good program in their house. San Diego probably practiced 20-30 more times outside than the Huskers did. Until you play this game at a high level (I sort of have) you can't understand how different live games are. Practice doesn't simulate the emotions and situations that come when those games happen. Early season strike throwing is not this out of the blue situation that you all seem to believe. College Baseball players are 18-22 year old kids, not professionals that get 3 months of nothing but baseball to prepare.

Let's be perfectly clear, what happened this weekend pitching wise CANNOT happen all year. Veterans and new faces need to emphasize filling the zone up and letting the defense work.

We saw really good things at the plate from the Big Red in games 3 and 4. Anderson filled his role well and we saw power from all spots of the lineup. I think Fischer will crush balls in big time spots.

We aren't fixing a massive problem. Strike-throwing can easily be developed (naturally) over time. The pitchers have good stuff, the hitters pieced things together, and those will translate into wins as the season rolls on. Point blank, period.

Next series is @ South Alabama. Rest up. GBR.