Arizona State baseball eliminated Nebraska from the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon, securing an 11-8 victory in the regional matchup.
The Sun Devils built an early 11-1 lead, aided by Nebraska defensive errors, before the Huskers mounted a late comeback.
>>> Florida State Baseball Edges Northern Illinois 7-4 in 10 Innings
Nebraska brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning but fell short, ending their season with a 43-17 record.
The Huskers hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2008.
“A lot of teams, a lot of players like to pretend that they gave everything they had, and they like to say it,” said Nebraska head coach Will Bolt.
“It makes them feel better at the end of the year. It’s another thing to go do that and go be about that.
And I think that’s the biggest compliment you can have as a person is if somebody tells you that you’re about what you say you’re about.
And that’s what these guys have done.”
Bolt added, “This last game was like a microcosm of our season.
>>> Saint Mary's Eliminates UCLA from NCAA Tournament with Extra-Inning Win
I mean, we get the tying run to the plate down ten runs in the middle innings. We defied a lot of odds.
I think we overachieved.”
Arizona State opened the scoring in the first inning when Nu'u Contrades hit a solo home run.
Nebraska tied the game in the third inning on a solo homer by Joshua Overbeek.
The Sun Devils responded in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs on four hits and a Nebraska error, highlighted by a two-run home run from Dominic Longo.
Dominic Smaldino extended the lead with a solo homer in the fifth inning, and a grand slam in the sixth made it 11-1.
Nebraska rallied in the seventh, scoring five runs on RBIs from Rhett Stokes and Mac Moyer to cut the deficit to 11-6.
>>> Royal Challengers Bengaluru Clinch Back-to-Back IPL Titles
The Huskers added two more runs in the ninth, but Arizona State closed out the 11-8 victory.
