Husker baseball staves off elimination against Holy Cross in Chapel Hill Regional
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The Nebraska baseball team survived its elimination game against Holy Cross on Saturday, beating the Crusaders 4-1 at Boshamer Stadium in the Chapel Hill Regional.
Just won’t quit.#HuskersWin! pic.twitter.com/DBbIxS0Ege
— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) May 31, 2025
It was a slow start offensively for both squads, with the first run of the game coming in the fifth inning.
Senior first basemen Sean Scanlon cranked a home run to right field to give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead.
But Nebraska immediately responded. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Cayden Brumbaugh hit a two-run shot to left-center field to give Nebraska a 2-1 advantage.
Brumbaugh providing the spark pic.twitter.com/ceL0Fy0i5X
— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) May 31, 2025
It was all Nebraska from there. Hogan Helligso homered to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning and hit an RBI single in the eighth inning to help the Huskers advance in the regional.
Nebraska had a late night Friday, and an early start Saturday. Head Coach Will Bolt says that was challenging, but all they had to do was flip a switch.
“The key is just hit the reset button,” said Bolt. “It’s easier said than done. If you let your emotions get involved and you tell yourself how tired you are you’re not going to play very well.”
Bolt also said he was proud of the defense the Huskers put on Saturday morning, but knows The Big Red shine the brightest when their season is on the line.
Sophomore pitcher Ty Horn (W, 4-4) had a fantastic outing on the mound, pitching 7.1 innings while only giving up five hits and striking out six batters.
Luke Broderick came in for his 13th save of the year, pitching 1.2 innings while only walking one batter.
Dylan Nunez led the Huskers with a 4-for-4 showing from the plate, hitting two doubles.
Helligso and Brumbaugh each had two RBIs apiece.
Bolt has yet to decide on a starting pitcher for Sunday, but adds that he’s excited to compete once more tomorrow.
“We’ll talk about it this evening, and then wake up. The challenging thing is we get to extend our season. That’s the fun part of this,” said Bolt.
“Just let it fly. You don’t think about the what if. We’ve been backs against the wall for a while now, and our guys seem to play at their best when they’re in that kind of scenario.”
The Huskers will play the loser of No. 5 North Carolina and Oklahoma at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
