In the latest episode of the Pick Six Podcast, Sam McKewon, Evan Bland and Tom Shatel break down Nebraska's quarterback competition between Dylan Raiola, Daniel Kaelin and Heinrich Haarberg. The crew opens with a look at Nebraska's latest open practice, including the quarterback competition …
LINCOLN — Teddy Deters stood shivering with a puddle of water at his feet and a smile on his face. The latest Creighton baseball hero in a game against Nebraska was in no hurry to leave the field.
Truth be told, the Creighton right fielder didn’t expect the result he got minutes earlier as his bat connected with a hanging slider in a tense ninth inning under the Haymarket Park lights Tuesday. But the ball kept carrying, all the way to the center-field shrubbery for a grand slam. And the Jays ended a dramatic midweek duel the way most games in the in-state series have gone of late – with a CU victory.
“Not much was said afterward other than, ‘Let’s go,’” Deters said. “We just took the series from our biggest rival. That was fun.”
Thrilling too, at least for the blue-clad crowd on the first-base side. Deters' big swing – his second homer of the game – completed an improbable comeback for a 6-4 win in a matchup of top-45 RPI clubs. Colby Canales also went yard as the Jays beat NU for a 10th time in their last 12 tries.
Nebraska (23-11) mounted a rally soon after with a Tyler Stone RBI single and Clay Bradford double off the wall in left that put the tying runs in scoring position. But Creighton closer Mason Koch struck out pinch hitter Max Buettenback to end the game, touching off a second Jays celebration in two weeks at the expense of Big Red. Teammates dumped water on Deters during a live television interview soon after.
“That fight, that determination, that competitive spirit really came out in the last couple innings,” CU coach Ed Servais said. “That’s what you expect when we get together.”
Creighton (27-7) travels to Villanova this weekend while Nebraska continues its homestand with a series against Maryland. The Huskers trudged off the field after an extended team meeting in left field following another late blown lead and another frustrating offensive outing that had coach Will Bolt shaking his head afterward.
“We gotta finish,” NU catcher Josh Caron said. “Bottom line.”
The Huskers were on the verge of an emotional celebration before the Jays rose up in the ninth. Singles from pinch-hitter Matt Scherrman – a two-strike poke to right – and Nolan Sailors and a one-out Nolan Clifford walk loaded the bases against Kyle Perry. NU turned to Rans Sanders for the righty-righty matchup that lasted one pitch as Deters slugged a 74-mph breaker that stayed belt high just over the fence in center.
“Thought it was going to be a fly ball, honestly,” said Deters, a junior Xavier transfer. “But it just kept on going. And when it went out, I just blacked out – it was awesome.”
Offense came at a premium for both lineups despite an inviting wind howling out to left. Each left-handed starter – Eli Nissen for Creighton and Caleb Clark for Nebraska – tossed two scoreless innings with little fuss. Both teams went to their bullpens in the third frame in preplanned moves and turned away the side in order.
The symmetrical proceedings continued into the fourth with the Jays and Huskers swapping solo homers. Deters popped up a 1-0 pitch to left into the jet stream that barely cleared the chain-link fence for his seventh blast of the spring. Caron in the bottom half deposited the first pitch he saw 370 feet away in right for the equalizer.
Nebraska gained separation in the sixth with some good fortune while managing a leadoff baserunner for the first time. A wind-blown popup off the bat of Dylan Carey landed in shallow right against new CU reliever Tommy Lamb, then Case Sanderson worked a full count and walk. Caron followed with RBI No. 40 on the spring, lacing a double to left-center with an exit velocity of 114 mph. Cole Evans added a sacrifice fly after a diving catch in left by Creighton’s Cuyler Zukowski to push the lead to 3-1.
The game seemingly hung in the balance in a tense seventh. Singles from Ben North and Sailors and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. NU’s Casey Daiss – a co-closer this spring – responded with a looking strikeout on a breaking pitch, a lineout and dribbler to the catcher. First baseman Ben Columbus saved multiple runs by spearing a screamer from Clifford while lunging airborne to his right.
Creighton drew within a run in the eighth when Canales – who entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth – pulled a full-count pitch way out to left.
Servais said his squad settled in late before a crowd of 5,209. The next task is transferring that intensity in the weekend, where CU just dropped a series at Xavier.
“We gotta go back on the road and find a way to win,” Servais said. “It’s a whole lot easier going to practice (Wednesday) with this kind of result than it would be the other way.”
Nebraska, meanwhile, falls to 3-4 in midweek contests and continues its lowest stretch of the year after losing for a sixth time in its last nine games. Bolt said the pitching was solid save for the ninth – five Husker pitchers combined to allow just two runs into the final frame. The offense needs to provide more cushion for the bullpen if Big Red is to go where players and coaches believe it can.
“We gotta be better, that’s the bottom line,” Bolt said. “This is a results-based business. We need to stay positive, 100%. We’re a good team – we feel like we’re a good team. But we need to keep moving in the right direction that way.”