Nebraska baseball knocks off Michigan State to stay alive in Big Ten tournament

Perhaps the only thing rarer than squaring up the Nebraska left-hander Friday night was a self-compliment from the redshirt sophomore. Walsh thanked a boisterous crowd of 5,317 at Schwab Field for making its presence felt. He credited assistant Jeff Christy for the pitch calls. He tipped his cap to a defense that was error free with a few highlights sprinkled in. And to an offense that found its clutch just in time.

“Big ball yard, wind is usually blowing in,” Walsh said. “Just attack the strike zone and make them earn everything.”

The Husker starter twirled an efficient four-hitter — allowing only one runner to venture as far as second base — and Ben Columbus cracked a pair of RBI singles before NU pulled away late in a 4-0 win over Michigan State that pushes it into the semifinal of the Big Ten tournament.

Fourth-seeded NU (33-22-1) will meet top-seeded Maryland at 1 p.m. Saturday and would need to also beat the regular-season champs again later in the day to advance to Sunday’s title game. Any damage the Huskers do moving forward will come with a major assist to Walsh, who saved the bullpen — which had several key arms unavailable because of heavy recent use — ahead of a potential doubleheader.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder was magnificent throughout, needing no more than 17 pitches in any inning while commanding a lively breaking ball. The two-way player who moved into the weekend rotation midway through spring allowed a one-out single in the second and leadoff hit in the fifth — both to catcher Bryan Broecker — with the latter instance wiped out by a 6-4-3 twin killing. A Brock Vradenburg knock in the seventh caromed off the second-base bag and Trent Farquhar managed a two-out single in the ninth to account for the Spartan offense.

“That’s how it’s done — three pitches for strikes, both sides of plate,” Michigan State coach Jake Boss said. “We were never really comfortable in the box. He kept us off balance all nightlong. Give him a lot of credit, that’s a blueprint for how to pitch. And he did it on a night when they needed it probably most.”

Nebraska coach Will Bolt pointed out that in two of the program’s previous league tournament title runs — Big 12 crowns in 2000 and 2005 — the Huskers lost their first game and bounced back with arm-preserving lengthy outings by at least one starter. NU senior Shay Schanaman did something similar in the NCAA tournament two years ago that propelled that team to a regional final.

A key for Walsh, Bolt said, was early strikes.

The hurler can run into trouble when he falls behind in the count and has to offer something over the middle of the plate. On Friday, he threw 22 first-pitch strikes to the 30 batters he faced, including each of the first eight. Consistently landing the change-up against a lineup featuring five left-handed hitters kept the eight-seeded Spartans (33-22) off balance.

“It seemed like he was ahead of every hitter,” Bolt said. “I thought he had a chance to give us some length in this game and was going to give him the opportunity to do that. But to think that he’s going to give you a complete game, certainly you don’t expect that.”

Walsh — who previously hadn’t gone longer than seven innings in his college career — needed 104 pitches for the complete game. He faced three batters over the minimum, walking none and striking out four. The Leawood, Kansas, product logged 14 pitches in relief Wednesday and was warming late in NU’s extra-inning loss to Maryland 20 hours before making the start with his team’s season on the line.

NU’s defense helped the cause, too.

Shortstop Brice Matthews tracked down a would-be blooper in shallow left field on a dead sprint in the fourth. Swansen in left ended the sixth with a spinning, tumbling catch onto the warning track. A red-clad crowd relished every out.

Walsh, who has allowed three runs in 16⅔ innings on the Omaha field this season, including games against Creighton then Rutgers in the Big Ten tourney this week, took a moment of personal reflection. His first two years at Nebraska included Tommy John surgery, a broken hamate bone in his wrist, a torn labrum and a torn MCL.

All the rehab with coaches and trainers paid off Friday.

“Proving those guys right, spending their time with me, being patient with me, showing those guys that it was worth it (was awesome),” Walsh said.

Nebraska stranded runners in each of the first three innings — including men at second base in the second and third — before mustering the game’s first run in the fourth. Charlie Fischer tagged an 84-mph off-speed pitch into center field, advanced on a Dylan Carey sacrifice bunt and came around on a first-pitch Columbus single.

“I haven’t had the power numbers I’d like to have this year that I’ve had in the past,” Columbus said. “I’m doing my best to just keep the offense going and do my best to find a barrel, find a hole.”

The Huskers chased MSU freshman left-hander Joseph Dzierwa in the fifth after two-out singles from Anderson and Swansen, though their rally fizzled from there. Dzierwa struck out six across 4⅔ innings after throwing 14 pitches — when he recorded no outs and allowed two runs — a day earlier against Rutgers.

NU found welcome insurance in the eighth.

A two-out, two-strike hit from Columbus on an 89-mph fastball produced a run after Charlie Fischer walked and pinch runner Luke Sartori stole second. After a Garrett Anglim free pass, a Casey Burnham chopper with heavy top spin rolled over the first baseman into right field for a two-run triple and 4-0 lead.

Anderson — shifting to the two hole after 54 straight games hitting third — finished 4 for 5 to become the first Division I hitter to reach 100 hits. His batting average raised to .418, among the best nationally and good for what would have been NU’s best individual mark since 2001 (.418 by John Cole) if the season had ended.

Matthews finished 0 for 5 to see his 55-game on-base streak that began last season come to an end.

The Huskers took the field less than 24 hours after a walk-off loss to Maryland in extra innings late Thursday. If there’s no crying in baseball, there’s no being sad, either — Bolt said the team moved on quickly.

Now the season extends one more day.

The only way it goes another after that is with two wins in the Saturday semis — a task made a bit less daunting after Walsh's masterpiece.

“We knew when the sun comes up it’s a new day,” Anderson said. “It’s the only day we had guaranteed today so we figured we might as well give it everything we have.”