Huskers are a ‘well-oiled machine’ ahead of season opener in San Diego

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Nebraska baseball is ready to get back into the swing of things.

The Huskers are preparing for their first road trip of the season: to sunny San Diego to face the Toreros.

Nebraska head coach Will Bolt, who is in his fourth season at the helm, said Wednesday that he’s excited for games to get underway.

“The adrenaline’s going for sure, just as you get closer to the season, and the excitement’s there,” he said.

Nebraska will begin its season with a four-game series against San Diego starting on Friday.

Bolt said a successful opening weekend would see the Huskers work together, communicate and not become content over the course of a game.

“Just playing a brand of baseball that’s very competitive, where, you know, if we get punched, we punch back,” he said.

Junior infielder Max Anderson said the team, which includes 25 new players, has already become “really close” because of their shared love for baseball.

And that team chemistry has translated to balls on bats.

“It’s been our whole entire offense coming together to produce runs and just kind of having a well-oiled machine going,” he said.

That machine will bring success, if the Huskers play together as a team, according to Bolt.

“We’re going to try to put our guys in the best position to succeed, and if we do that as a team, then I think the results have a chance to be what we want,” he said.

Anderson shared a very similar sentiment.

“As long as we kind of stay with them and keep supporting everybody on our team and throughout, I think that’s the No. 1 goal right now,” he said.

Junior pitcher Emmett Olson, a former reliever, will be the first Husker to take the mound this season.

The Illinois native said his pitching style hasn’t changed since becoming a “Friday night guy,” and the goal is still to get outs and strikes.

“If you go out there and just everyone practices, you bust your butt and pick your guys up, good things happen,” Olson said.