Crooked numbers from the lineup? Check.
Scoreless start on the mound? Check.
Consistency and confidence? Check.
After a frustrating opening weekend, Nebraska baseball has flipped its season’s trajectory 180 degrees by producing quality starts, solid bullpen work, and both power and clutch hitting throughout their current five-game winning streak, the latest a 12-3 victory over Hawaii at the Cambria College Classic in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Junior Jace Kaminska set the tone, unfurling his best Husker start yet. The right-handed Wichita State transfer cruised through six shutout innings, allowing only four hits and one walk while striking out three.
Batters 1-7 collected all 18 Big Red hits on the day. The top performance belonged to sophomore right fielder Gabe Swansen: 3-for-5 with two doubles and a homerun, four RBIs, and two runs scored. The 8th-inning homer marked the 8th consecutive game with a Husker homerun.
Nebraska (5-3-1) also got a four-hit day from freshman third baseman Dylan Carey, and three hits apiece from junior second baseman Max Anderson and sophomore left fielder Garrett Anglim. Anderson drove in three on a single, double, and triple. Anglim scored three runs and reached base five times in six plate appearances, smacking three singles and drawing a pair of walks.
Neither team could get things going early on as both offenses were held scoreless for the first three innings. Hawaii (5-4) blinked first in the top of the 4th when senior Griffin Everitt started a two-out rally. Everitt singled, Anglim walked, and Swansen opened the scoring with a two-run double.
An RBI-triple from Max Anderson scored Carey with two down in the 5th, extending the NU lead to 3-0. Meanwhile, Kaminska held the Rainbow Warriors down, not allowing more than four batters in any of his six scoreless frames.
The Huskers broke things wide open in the 6th. Anglim led off with a single. Swansen doubled him over to third. Senior center fielder Casey Burnham was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Junior shortstop Brice Matthews singled in two runs, making it 5-0. Carey then singled, scoring Burnham, and a throwing error allowed Matthews to score, too. Finally, Anderson’s RBI single made it five runs in the inning and an 8-0 Big Red advantage.
Carey and Anderson both drove in runs in the 7th, and Swansen hit his bomb over the left field fence with Anglim on base, giving Nebraska their 12 runs.
Hawaii got on the board with a solo shot and a run-scoring double off of junior reliever Brett Sears in the 7th. Another solo homer in the 8th chased Sears, and senior Jake Bunz finished off the inning before sophomore Drew Christo handled the 9th. Sears and Bunz each struck out one, while Christo punched out two Rainbow Warrior hitters.
Sunday’s finale in the Cambria College Classic will feature Nebraska versus 4th-ranked and defending national champion Ole Miss, with first pitch from US Bank Stadium scheduled for 1:30pm.