Nebraska Baseball Can’t Overcome Early Big Inning at Illinois

WILL JOHANNES. GRAND SLAM.

B3 | Illinois 7, Nebraska 0 pic.twitter.com/9v6maCFVNd

— Illinois Baseball (@IlliniBaseball) April 25, 2026

Nebraska finally got to Hall in the 5th. A sharp single by Will Jesske was followed by a Jett Buck double. Jesske, still not 100% running, held at 3rd. Overbeek hit a line shot that seemed destined for the right center gap and 2 runs, but the second baseman climbed the ladder and snatched it out of the air, saving a 2 run double. A Drew Grego sac fly pushed one run across, getting NU on the board.

The Huskers scored again in the 6th. Jeter Worthley hit a popup over first base that the first baseman lost in the sky and it bounced on the turf. Worthley ran it out to second base and in the scorebook shows up as a standard double. Case Sanderson drove him home with an RBI single to center.

The inning continued as Dylan Carey reached on an error by the third baseman, then the Huskers caught a huge break as it seemed to be a double play, but Jesske was able to leg it out and beat the throw, and upon review, the defender completely missed touching second base. The bases were loaded. Jett Buck drove in Sanderson with an RBI single. Then Overbeek hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Carey. Grego walked to load the bases. After a bad second strike call, Stokes had no choice but to swing at anything, and struck out, stranding three. The lead was cut to 7-4.

Keep fighting.

Beek SAC fly makes it a three run game. pic.twitter.com/YRpNsMbRpZ

— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) April 25, 2026

The Illini responded in the bottom of the inning. Jalen Worthley walked the leadoff batter, which is always a recipe for disaster, and he and Ty Horn combined to give up 3 runs on 3 hits, as Illinois put the game out of reach, at 10-4

The Huskers added the final run of the game in the 7th, as Mac Moyer kept his reached-base streak alive at 41 with a single, and came around to score on a Carey single. Hall finally exited the game after that inning, having thrown 117 pitches and held the Husker offense, that had come in slugging the ball all over the field, to just 2 extra base hits, both doubles, and one of those should have been an easy pop out to the first baseman.

What can Nebraska do from here to right the Friday night starting woes? Do they do another shuffle of the pitching staff? Or go back to Ty Horn who had an unreal first week as a reliever, but has struggled since? Or do they continue with what they have, knowing they have to take care of the weakness before it gets to a ridiculous 7-0 score? It’s a hard thing for a team that has had so much success on the season up to this point to consider a second major move in just a few weeks.

This game doesn’t take away from the team’s goal of hosting a regional. A series win is all that matters at this point. This team always seems to respond biggest after some adversity. Carson Jasa turning in his usual dominant Saturday afternoon performance will put the team right back on track. Tune in at 2pm on Saturday to see the team try to get back into this series.

Upset in Champaign 🔥 @IlliniBaseball takes down No. 20 Nebraska, 10-5 💥 pic.twitter.com/L7HQOh19HA

— Big Ten Baseball (@B1Gbaseball) April 25, 2026