Survive and advance.
Nebraska baseball rallied from an early deficit to come back and eliminate Niagara 7-5 on Saturday afternoon in the Stillwater Regional. The Huskers improve to 40-21 and remain alive in the postseason, while the Purple Eagles see their season come to a close at 46-13.
Niagara got on the board first with three home runs in the first inning. This was the first of five teammates in the game. The Purple Eagles scored another run in the second inning.
NU responded with a Case Sanderson homer in the third, conceding three runs. In the fifth inning, Sanderson hit a sacrifice fly before Gabe Swanson’s home run gave the Big Red the lead.
Trailing for the first time in the game, Niagara needed just one pitch to tie things up when another ball went over the fence.
Nebraska took the lead for good with a run in the sixth inning on a throwing error after Rhett Stokes laid down a sacrifice bunt. Swanson added some insurance in the seventh with another home run.
Mason McConnaughey earned the win, pitching 6.0 innings while allowing five runs, all earned. He struck out 10 in the match. Jaylen Worthley got the save in these 3.0 shutout innings.
Nebraska next plays Sunday at 1 PM CST. The Huskers will face the loser of Saturday night’s game between Oklahoma State and Florida. In order to win the regional championship, NU will need to win twice on Sunday as well as a winner-take-all contest on Monday.
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