BSB Preview: at No. 22 Kansas

NEBRASKA at NO. 22 KANSAS
April 8, 2025
Lawrence, Kan. | Hoglund Ballpark

Tuesday, April 8 – 6 p.m. CT
Pitching: RHP Ryan Harrahill (0-0, 3.24 ERA) vs. RHP Patrick Steitz (2-0, 3.27 ERA)
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: Huskers.com, Huskers Radio Network, Huskers App

Follow the Game
• Tuesday night's midweek matchup can be seen on ESPN+. 
• Fans can also listen to Nick Handley call the action on Tuesday on the Huskers Radio Network.
• Every game this season can be heard for free on Huskers.com and the Official Nebraska Huskers App for both iOS and android devices.

Nebraska vs. Kansas
• Through 254 all-time meetings, Nebraska holds a 149-103-2 advantage over Kansas in the all-time series. 
• The Jayhawks swept the Huskers in a home-and-home series last season, with Kansas recording a 13-11 win in Lawrence and a 9-4 victory in Lincoln in 2024.

McConnaughey to Miss Remainder of 2025 Season
• Nebraska Coach Will Bolt announced the first week in March that junior right-handed pitcher Mason McConnaughey will miss the remainder of the 2025 season after suffering an arm injury against Sam Houston at the Frisco Classic.
• McConnaughey began the season as the first husker named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List since 2016 and earned Preseason All-American recognition from D1Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Big Red vs. Ranked Foes in 2025
• Nebraska takes on a ranked opponent for the sixth time this season with Tuesday night's matchup at No. 22 Kansas.
• The Big Red are 3-2 against ranked teams this year after facing No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 2 LSU and No. 5 Oregon State (3x).
• The Huskers picked up wins against No. 16 Vanderbilt (6-4) and No. 5 Oregon State (7-3, 16-7 (8 inn.)) and fell 11-6 to No. 2 LSU and 16-5 in seven innings to the fifth-ranked Beavers.

Lucky Number Six in the Bolt Era
• Nebraska is 117-25 under head coach Will Bolt when scoring at least six runs.
• The Big Red have scored six-plus runs in 13 of the 14 victories this season, defeating No. 16 Vanderbilt (6-4), San Diego State (13-0), Louisiana (6-1), Washington (6-2), Wichita State (10-1), Pepperdine (9-6, 11-4). USC (6-5), Oregon State (7-3, 16-7) and Rutgers (8-5, 10-5).
• The Husker offense reached the six-run mark 34 times last season, compiling a 28-6 record.
• Nebraska scored six-plus runs in 33 contests (26-7) in 2023 after tallying at least six runs 23 times (19-4) in 2022, 28 times (26-2) in 2021 and seven times (5-2) in 2020.

Big Red’s First Top-Five Series Win Since 2011
• Nebraska recorded its first top-five series win since UCLA in 2011 after taking two of three games against No. 5 Oregon State at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park on March 28-30. 
• The Huskers opened the series with a 7-3 win on Friday night and suffered a 16-5 setback in seven innings on Saturday, before wrapping up the series with a 16-7 eight-inning win on Sunday afternoon.
• The Oregon State pitching staff came into the weekend with a 2.81 ERA, before the Huskers plated 28 runs on three doubles, eight homers and a .370 batting average from the NU offense in the three-game series.

Sanderson’s 4-Hit Games in Back-to-Back Weeks
• With a pair of four-hit performances at Kansas State and Omaha in back-to-back weeks, Case Sanderson became the first Husker since Max Anderson (2) and Griffin Everitt (2) in 2022 with multiple four-hit games in the regular season.
• Sanderson led NU at the plate and fell a triple shy of the cycle at K-State after going 4-for-5 with a double, home run, three RBI and a trio of runs scored.
• The sophomore had a 4-for-6 night with a double, an RBI and a run scored at Omaha last week.

Husker Offense on the Rise in Last 10 Games
• Nebraska has seen significant rise in offensive production lately, as the Huskers are scoring 7.4 runs per game and hitting .323 as a team in the last 10 games.
• The Husker offense began the season hitting .245 and scoring 5.5 runs per game through the first 22 games of the year.
• The Big Red have homered 13 times in the last 10 games, after homering 17 times in the first 22 games.
• With the turnaround in the last 10 games, the Husker offense has seen a 25-point jump in batting average, 42-point spike in slugging percentage and a leap of 24 points in on-base percentage for the season.

Bats in the Nebraska Lineup
• Devin Nunez is batting a team-best .310 at the plate with three homers, 15 RBI and 14 runs scored in 25 games this season. 
• Case Sanderson comes into the weekend hitting .309 with a team-leading .452 on-base percentage after posting career-high four-hit games at Kansas State and Omaha in the last two weeks.
• Cayden Brumbaugh is batting .300 and leads the NU offense with 28 runs, nine doubles and eight stolen bases in 32 starts this season. 
• Dylan Carey has driven in a team-best 28 runs and is tied with a team-best five home runs and nine doubles on the season in 32 starts.
• Max Buettenback is hitting .281 at the plate and tied with a team-best five home runs on the year after hitting .412 (7-of-17) with two homers and seven RBI in NU's five games last week.
• Tyler Stone is one of four Huskers with five homers on the year while sitting second on the team in doubles (8), RBI (19) and slugging percentage (.570).
• Riley Silva is hitting .277 at the plate and is second on the team with a .420 on-base percentage and five stolen bases in 28 games played, while Joshua Overbeek is batting .273 with seven doubles, a triple, seven RBI and 13 runs scored in 27 games this season.
• Will Jesske is hitting .308 with a homer, four RBI and four runs scored in NU's last 10 games, while Hogan Helligso has driven in nine runs in 21 games this season.
• Cael Frost has slugged five home runs in 27 games and is third on the team with 18 RBI on the season.

Huskers in the Pen
• Luke Broderick is 2-0 with five saves and a 2.84 ERA in 11 appearances this season, picking up victories against USC and No. 5 Oregon State. 
• Drew Christo is 1-1 with 29 strikeouts in 25.2 innings across a team-high 14 appearances this season, while Caleb Clark is second on the team with 13 appearances on the mound.
• Casey Daiss has allowed two runs in 8.2 innings across seven appearances against K-State (twice), Washington, Pepperdine, USC, No. 5 Oregon State and Omaha.
• Jalen Worthley has posted a 2-0 record and is third on the team with 11 appearances after a 2.2-inning relief outing against Rutgers on Saturday.
• Carson Jasa and TJ Coats have shared time as midweek starters and relievers out of the bullpen on the weekend. Jasa is 2-2 with 23 strikeouts in 18 innings, while Coats has totaled 12 punchouts in 9.1 innings across six appearances.
• True freshmen Pryce Bender, Gavin Blachowicz, Blake Encarnacion and Colin Nowaczyk have combined for 32.1 innings in 30 relief appearances on the mound in their debut season at Nebraska.
• Grant Cleavinger has taken the mound nine times and has tallied nine strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work this season.

Silva Climbing the All-Time HBP Chart
• Riley Silva has been hit by pitch 36 times in his two seasons as a Husker, which is tied for eighth all-time in program history.
• Silva is one away from tying Alex Gordon (2003-05) and Nick Sullivan (2006-09) in sixth and 10 shy of Kale Kiser (2009-12) in fifth.