Photo Courtesy of the University of Nebraska
Big Ten Conference
No. 2 Nebraska 2, No. 8 Penn State 1
On Sunday, the Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated Penn State 2-1 in the Big Ten Baseball Tournament championship game, their first Big Ten title in program history since joining the conference in 2011.
According to Husker Online, Nebraska is the first team to win the Big Ten Tournament after losing its opening game since 1995.
There were two pivotal players in the game for Nebraska. The first was starting pitcher Jackson Brockett, who delivered eight strong innings. The lefty ran into trouble at first, loading the bases. A pickoff throw to second base gone wrong allowed Penn State’s only run of the game to score. Brockett settled down nicely and finished with five strikeouts and four hits allowed.
Nebraska’s Josh Caron lifted a solo home run to right-center field in the seventh and tied the game at one. Nebraska took a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth on an RBI double from Gabe Swansen, who led the team with 10 RBI during the tournament. Penn State went down quietly in the ninth, securing Nebraska’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“Our guys never stopped believing,” Brockett told Husker Online. “No matter who is on the mound or who is at the plate, the biggest thing is we all have trust in everyone. I knew if I just went out there and just gave my defense a shot, gave my hitters a shot, I knew they’d pull through.”
