The Nebraska baseball season came to a disappointing close on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament, as the Huskers suffered a crushing 17-1 rout at the hands of Oklahoma. Any hopes the Huskers had of extending their tournament run quickly faded as three first-inning errors led to three early runs for the Sooners, who then poured it on for a dominant 17-1 victory, ending Nebraska’s season with a 33-29 record.
The Huskers committed a total of five errors on the day and surrendered a season-high in runs as Oklahoma raced to a 10-0 lead after just four innings. Oklahoma now advances to a Sunday evening matchup with host North Carolina.
Nebraska starter Will Walsh lasted just 2.0 innings, running into trouble in his second trip through Oklahoma’s lineup. Already leading 3-0, Oklahoma exploded for six runs in the top of the third inning, with the first five hitters of the inning reaching base—four of them notching extra-base hits. On the day, eight different Sooner hitters tallied multi-hit games, led by Easton Carmichael, who crushed a pair of homers and drove in four runs. The Sooner offense pounded out eight extra-base hits and went an impressive 9-for-19 with runners in scoring position.
Nebraska reliever Tucker Timmerman managed to record just one out, giving up three more hits before exiting the game after throwing 0.1 of an inning.
That was more than enough support for Oklahoma starter Cade Crossland, who effectively mixed speeds and pitched with an early lead, keeping the Huskers off the scoreboard until the sixth inning. Crossland delivered 7.0 strong innings, allowing just one unearned run on five hits while striking out nine and walking two across 107 pitches to earn the win. Nebraska’s struggles to string together runs in the NCAA Tournament continued against the Sooners, as the Huskers managed just six hits and went a meager 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
The Huskers finally scored their lone run of the game in the sixth inning, loading the bases against Crossland with one out. Dylan Carey singled to bring in a run, making the score 15-1 at the time.
Sunday’s lopsided result served as a bitter punctuation mark on a late-season run that had seen Nebraska impressively win the Big Ten Baseball Tournament for the second consecutive season.