Walsh’s shutout against Michigan State keeps Nebraska baseball’s season alive

From The Daily Nebraskan: https://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/walsh-s-shutout-against-michigan-state-keeps-nebraska-baseball-s-season-alive/article_82f7f382-fc41-11ed-8fe8-47dc1e7988c0.html

Will Walsh has had a rollercoaster of a career since arriving in Lincoln.

The redshirt sophomore utility player rarely saw the field as he battled injuries throughout his first two years as a Husker. He started the 2023 season playing first base, but after boasting a poor .176 average, he was moved into a bullpen role. It was not long until he was placed as a midweek starter, then the Sunday starter. Through all the change, he has kept a healthy mindset, wanting to do the best he can no matter what is asked of him.

“These coaches have had so much patience with me,” Walsh said. “Just proving those guys right after they spent their time with me… just showing those guys that it was worth it.”

Walsh had no better chance to show the development was worth it than on Friday, as he was on the mound with Nebraska’s season in his hands. What followed was nine innings of excellence.

The No. 4 seed Huskers defeated the No. 8 seed Spartans on Friday 4-0 behind a complete game shutout from Walsh. The offense rallied in the eighth inning, putting the game away with three big runs with two outs. 

Junior second baseman Max Anderson got Nebraska in the hit column with a one-out single in the first, but the Huskers stalled out with consecutive strikeouts. Walsh took the mound fresh off of a quick but effective outing Wednesday against Rutgers. He picked up where he left off, going three up, three down.

Senior designated hitter Charlie Fischer reached first in the second inning after getting hit by a pitch. Freshman third baseman Dylan Carey once again showcased his phenomenal small ball play, laying down a perfect bunt to move Fischer to second. However, like the previous inning, back-to-back strikeouts ended the scoring chance. The Spartans were able to get a runner of their own to second in the bottom frame, but Walsh worked around it keeping the game scoreless.

The third inning saw Nebraska get two on with two outs, as Anderson recorded his second single of the day and sophomore left fielder Gabe Swansen got a free pass. The potential of the inning ended abruptly with sophomore catcher Josh Caron hitting an unlucky grounder straight to the Michigan State pitcher. Walsh continued to deal, with the lefty going three up, three down with two strikeouts.

The Huskers struck first in the fourth, as Fischer led off the inning with a single. Another great bunt from Carey advanced Fischer to second, and junior first baseman Ben Columbus brought him all the way home with an RBI single up the middle. Columbus, like all Huskers, has adjusted well to the newfound short game.

“I haven’t had the power numbers that I’d like to have this year,” Columbus said postgame. “I’m doing my best to just keep the offense going.”

Walsh continued his hot start, pitching another 1-2-3 inning highlighted by an impressive chase-down catch by junior shortstop Brice Matthews on a flyout. The Nebraska defense was clicking on all cylinders with trust running throughout the lineup.

“Just being on attack,” Walsh said postgame. “The defense made great plays behind me, so just kind of fill it up and let the defense do what they can do.”

Anderson delivered his third hit of the game with a two-out single, as Swansen followed with a single of his own in the fifth. However, a Caron out ended the top frame just like in the third. Michigan State recorded its second hit of the game with a leadoff single, but a foul out and 6-4-3 double play kept Nebraska ahead 1-0.

The Huskers went three up, three down in the sixth inning, while Walsh added another 1-2-3 inning to his day. The frame ended with Swansen making a diving catch at the warning track, preventing a Spartan extra-base hit.

It looked to be another fast inning for Michigan State, but a fielding error with two outs moved Matthews to first. Anderson collected his fourth hit of the game, but it was all for naught, as a Swansen groundout left Nebraska with two runners left on base for the third time in the contest.

Despite the offense's lack of production, Walsh kept the Spartans in check, tossing another scoreless frame despite a single bouncing off of the second base bag. Walsh only needed nine pitches to get the three outs.

After several innings coming up empty, the Huskers scored an insurance run in the eighth inning. It started with Fischer drawing a walk and senior pinch runner Luke Satori replacing him at first. Satori stole second, putting a runner in scoring position for Columbus to deliver his second RBI of the game, making it 2-0 Nebraska.

“The two-nothing lead felt like a little bit more than two runs there with how that game was going,” head coach Will Bolt said postgame. “Those two-out RBIs are obviously always huge.”

The Huskers were not done yet, with redshirt sophomore right fielder Garrett Anglim receiving a free pass to first. That put senior center fielder Casey Burnham up to bat from the nine-hole spot, as his 0-11 hitting in the tournament pushed him down the order. Burnham picked the perfect time to record his first hit in Omaha, a chopper that took an absurd bounce over the first baseman, resulting in a bases-clearing triple. The massive eighth inning gave Nebraska a comfortable 4-0 lead.

“[Burnham] has had some tough luck,” Bolt said postgame. “We kind of joke around about certain things to do to try to change your luck, and he was owed that one tonight.”

Walsh returned to the mound for the bottom of the eighth inning with his pitch count still below 80. He orchestrated another fast inning with 11 pitches, going three up, three down. 

Nebraska went three up, three down in the top of the ninth, but all the fans cared about was the man who was three outs away from the complete game shutout. Walsh took the field to a standing ovation. He struck out the first two Spartans he faced but let up a two-out single as his pitches started to hover around the low 70s. Up at the plate was Michigan State junior first baseman Brock Vradenburg, a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten player with a .400 average. On a 1-2 count and his 104th pitch, Walsh got him swinging, clinching the season-saving win and an all-time Husker performance.

Walsh finished with seven strikeouts while only allowing four hits. He played it with great efficiency with 75 of his 104 pitches being strikes. Walsh’s ability to go the distance saves Nebraska’s bullpen for at least one game against No. 1-seeded Maryland on Saturday.

“You have to have performances like that on the mound to come out of the loser’s bracket,” Bolt said postgame. “Shay [Schanaman] was not available to pitch tonight. [Corbin] Hawkins has thrown a bunch… all those guys are going to be back and ready to throw tomorrow.”

Burnham and Columbus each had three RBI for the Huskers, while Anderson’s four hits made him the first player in the country to reach the 100-hit mark for the year. 

Nebraska finished with four runs on nine hits and no errors. Michigan State finished with no runs on four hits and two errors.

The Huskers will take on the Terrapins in a rematch of Thursday’s game Saturday. If Nebraska were to win, the two teams would play again later that day with a spot in the Big Ten championship game on the line.