HUSKER BASEBALL: Nebraska Rallies to Beat College of Charleston For Series Sweep

CHARLESTON, SC–(NU Athletics Mar. 3)–A pair of throwing miscues from Charleston capped off Nebraska’s third late-inning comeback victory of the weekend as they took down the Cougars, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon to secure a series sweep at Patriots Point.

Nebraska (7-3) scored five runs on 10 hits with two errors, while College of Charleston (7-3) had three runs on seven hits and a pair of errors.

Silva reached in all five of his plate appearances and stole two bases to finish the weekend hitting .545 (6-for-11) at the plate for the Huskers. Dylan Carey went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, while Will Jesske drove in two runs and Tyler Stone launched his second home run of the season. Cayden Brumbaugh, Cole Evans, and Gabe Swansen each finished with a knock.

Will Walsh allowed three runs, all earned, on five hits with a pair of strikeouts in his 3.1 innings of work. Mason McConnaughey tossed 2.2 shutout frames, retiring 7 of 10 batters faced for the Huskers. Caleb Clark got a pair of outs in the seventh inning before Tucker Timmerman tossed a scoreless eighth to earn his second win of the season. Kyle Perry struck out the final two batters to record his second save this year.

Silva drew a walk for the Big Red in the opening frame and extended his on-base streak to 10 games, before a two-run shot from Trotter Harlan in the bottom half gave Charleston a 2-0 lead.

A one-out double from Carey put the first Husker in scoring position, but both teams went quietly in the second inning. Silva once again reached in the third frame, singling and stealing second before a flyout ended the top half.

The Cougars extended their advantage to 3-0 with an RBI single from Kevin Madden in the third inning. 

Stone led off the fourth with a solo shot, before an Evans’ single set the table for Carey’s sacrifice bunt, a staple of the Huskers offense this season. Jesske drove in the senior with an RBI single to center, drawing Nebraska within a run of Charleston.

Walsh surrendered a double and a walk to begin the fourth, before McConnaughey entered with runners on first and second and one out. The right-hander worked out of trouble unscathed, forcing a flyout and a strikeout to keep the Cougars off the board.

Nebraska evened the game in the sixth inning after an Evans’ walk and Carey single forced Charleston’s starter, Connor Campbell, out of the game. Jesske brought home his second run of the day after a Carey steal allowed him to spoil the double play effort and tie the game at three.

Following a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh inning, Clark relieved McConnaughey and quickly forced a strikeout and groundout. Timmerman made his team-leading sixth appearance of 2024 to get the Huskers out of a jam and strand a runner on third to end the frame.

The score remained 3-3 after the eight innings, with Swansen’s single breaking up six consecutive outs for both sides. However, Nebraska recaptured its magic from Thursday and Saturday as the Huskers rallied for a pair of runs in the top half of the ninth.

Brumbaugh led off the frame with a double before Silva gave the Big Red its first lead of the game, as a bunt single led to a throwing error from Emmet Bice, plating Brumbaugh. The outfielder then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch as another error by the Cougars plated Silva on Evans’ grounder to the short to put Nebraska up, 5-3.

Timmerman got the first out in the bottom of the ninth, but found himself in trouble after Charleston’s Luke Wood singled and Dylan Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice. Perry slammed the door on the Cougars comeback attempt with two straight punchouts to secure his second save of the season and a series sweep for Nebraska.

The Huskers gear up for their home opener next weekend at Haymarket Park with a three-game series against South Alabama on Friday-Sunday, March 8-10.