Nebraska Wins a Thriller 8-7 Over USC

Huskers cut the deficit to 2. pic.twitter.com/PlsC6WTazo

— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) April 18, 2026 Ty Horn came on to pitch the top of the ninth and sat the Trojans down in order with a strikeout and two ground outs to Carey at shortstop.  His fire gave the fans, and his teammates hope for a big ninth inning. Coach Andy Stankiewicz had gone to his closer, Adam Troy, to get the last out of the eighth inning striking out Jeter Worthley.  He was set to face the heart of the Nebraska lineup in the ninth, writing the perfect script for the drama that had unfolded. For Case Sanderson and Drew Carey, it was time for the dudes to be dudes.  Both of them were 1-4 on the night and both of them had struck out three times.  Both of them are very capable of hitting balls to the gap or over the wall.  What happened over the course of the next nine pitches had to be seen to be believed. Sanderson hit a hard grounder back up the middle that skipped off the mound and then hopped into centerfield as SC’s shortstop tried to field it.  He then advanced to second on a wild pitch by Troy.  Carey then hit one that the second baseman booted for an error, sending Sanderson to third.  They didn’t have big hits, but they put the bat on the ball and Carey represented the tying run. With runners on the corners and no outs, Jett Buck muscled a fly ball to right field that was deep enough to allow Sanderson to tag and score.  7-6 Trojans. Preston Freeman came in to hit in Jesske’s spot and walked.  Freeman, the winning run, was on first base and Carey stood on third.  Troy was definitely feeling the pressure at this point and threw yet another wild pitch.  Carey crossed the plate and the game was tied!  Freeman hustled all the way to third on the wild pitch and got around the tag to put the winning run 90-feet from the plate. That brought up Overbeek, who had homered the previous inning, to face Troy.  Stankiewicz saw his closer struggling and in the middle of the at-bat, and brought in a lefty to face Overbeek.  Overbeek switched to the other batter’s box, but Sax Matson got him looking on two pitches.  The damage was done though, and the game was tied 7-7. TIE BALL GAME!!! 🌽

Huskers tie the game with the runner safe at third. pic.twitter.com/k2rW6Q0nuf

— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) April 18, 2026 In came J’Shawn Unger for the tenth inning.  He did not disappoint the raucous crowd as he struck out all three Trojans he faced and let out a roar on the last one to match the crowd! That set the table for the Stokes walk, Moyer bunt and Matson’s wild throw, resulting in the Nebraska dugout emptying to chase down Stokes and Moyer to celebrate in centerfield.  Ball game! While this year’s version of the Southern Cal Trojans is not known for its offense, they tried to put the game out of reach early on.  With the wind blowing out to leftfield, they took advantage of a struggling Cooper Katskee, making his first Friday appearance of the season.  With one out in the top of the first, catcher Isaac Cardena sent a blast over the wall near the party porch to put his team up 1-0. Even though he’s a slow starter, Katskee was not himself tonight as he missed big and left pitches over the plate where the Trojans put the barrel on the ball.  They scored two in the second inning when they started off with three straight hits, a couple of singles wrapped around a double and increased their lead to 3-0 and sending seven batters to the plate. Edwards used a successful recipe, throwing a first pitch strike and then moving breaking pitches around the strike zone.  In one stretch, he struck out six consecutive Cornhuskers, with none of the Cornhuskers taking a swing at the first strike. That's 100 K's for Mase 🤯

He's the first player in Division I to eclipse the 100 K mark this season and the first Trojan since Ian Kennedy in 2006 with 100 strikeouts in a season ✌️#FightOn x @MasonJEdwardspic.twitter.com/DKL9s1kPZX

— USC Baseball (@USC\_Baseball) April 18, 2026 He was good, but he didn’t go the distance and Nebraska made the bullpen pay.  What’s wild is that those relievers from Southern Cal are very good as well.  And, the coaching staff used their three best, so hopefully that bodes well for the Cornhuskers for the remainder of the weekend. The job done by Jalen Worthley in the middle three innings cannot be lost in everything else that happened tonight.  He shut down the Trojan offense facing only ten batters and took the momentum away from the boys from SoCal to give the Cornhuskers a chance to get on course.  To see him pitching well in recent weeks is a good sign as the team continues the second half of the season. It is yet to be seen how the teams will respond to the result tonight, but with the weather improving over the course of the next couple of days, Nebraska fans should pour into Haymarket Park to find out.  This is the second heavyweight bout for Nebraska in as many weekends and after tonight, they have picked themselves up off the mat.  You can bet that round two will be a battle as well. Carson Jasa will take the mound for the Big Red at 2:00 tomorrow against Grant Govel.  Both pitchers are carrying a 7-0 record and both have a 2.13 ERA.   Looks like it will be another good one! March Madness left us hungry for more!

— Corn Nation (@CornNation) April 18, 2026

***Notes:***

• *It sounds like Ty Horn will be in the bullpen the rest of the season.  He may also be that guy that starts a game in a long tournament run if needed.  He has been very effective in this new role the last two games, and having only thrown 11 pitches tonight, he will be available again this weekend.*
• *Mac Moyer and Jett Buck both had three hits tonight against tough pitching.  Moyer’s bunt was a beauty in the tenth inning.  Buck also had a pair of doubles and two RBI.*
• *After getting six hits off Cooper Katskee, USC only got three more hits in the game.  Jalen Worthley, Ty Horn, and J’Shawn Unger did not give up a hit.*
• *While tonight’s win was huge, Nebraska has to win at least one more this weekend to keep hope alive to host a regional.  Nearly as important is to stay at toward the top of the conference standings as with a new tournament format there is a huge advantage to finish the season in the top four.*

HEART ATTACK HUSKERS! pic.twitter.com/RLzJOhlhR3

— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) April 18, 2026