Nebraska secured its second consecutive Big Ten Tournament title with a 5-0 shutout of UCLA on Sunday at Charles Schwab Field, becoming the first team in over a decade to repeat as champions. Sophomore Ty Horn delivered a career-best performance, throwing eight scoreless innings and capping a dominant week for the Huskers, who entered the tournament needing to win out just to make the NCAA field.
The Omaha crowd leaned heavily in Nebraska’s favor, with 15,139 fans packing the stands on Memorial Day weekend. UCLA, ranked No. 13 nationally entering the week, walked into a buzzsaw—facing a red-hot Huskers team that had already rattled off back-to-back elimination wins on Saturday.
Horn set the tone immediately, retiring the side in the first with help from a spectacular catch in right-center by junior Robby Bolin, who had to leave the game afterward due to injury. Nebraska wasted no time backing him with runs.
In the top of the second, Gabe Swansen was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a single by Case Sanderson. Dylan Carey then opened the scoring with a double down the right-field line. A passed ball brought Sanderson home, and Rhett Stokes added an RBI single through the right side to make it 3-0.
Horn stranded a leadoff single in the second and kept cruising until the fifth, when UCLA put two on with one out. But the sophomore righty induced two harmless flyouts to preserve the shutout. In the sixth, UCLA threatened again with runners on second and third, but Horn struck out Roman Martin and A.J. Salgado in the game’s defining moment.
COME ON 20. 🗣️
THE CHUCK IS ROCKING. pic.twitter.com/o2An7nuZov
— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) May 25, 2025
Nebraska starter Ty Horn shook off his Tuesday start and delivered a statement on Sunday. After finishing eight shutout innings on 118 pitches, he motioned to Coach Will Bolt for a chance at one more frame.
WE GO TO THE 9TH. pic.twitter.com/ZvKoRREcTr
— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) May 25, 2025
The Huskers added two more runs in the third inning when Carey doubled again to the same right field corner, and Devin Nunez followed by launching a fastball deep into the bleachers for a two-run homer—his fifth of the season and second in five games.
“Words can’t even describe, in that moment, what I was feeling,” Nunez said. “It was just unreal.” Nunez’s blast gave Nebraska a 5-0 lead it would never relinquish.
BACK TO BACK TOURNEY CHAMPS 🏆#B1GBaseball x @HuskerBaseball pic.twitter.com/Nl0KOeEuN9
— Big Ten Baseball (@B1Gbaseball) May 25, 2025
Horn’s final line: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 118 pitches. Senior Casey Daiss entered for the ninth and closed out the four-hit shutout, striking out two. Nebraska’s pitching staff held UCLA to 1-for-17 with runners on and 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
The win moved Nebraska to 32-27 overall. Carey, Nunez, Stokes, and the pitching duo of Jackson Brockett and Luke Broderick were all named to the All-Tournament Team. The Huskers now await their NCAA regional destination, to be announced Monday at 11 a.m. CDT on ESPN2.
For a team that was barely above .500 heading into the tournament and at risk of missing the NCAA regionals for the third time in four years, the turnaround was stunning. Head coach Will Bolt called the win emotional and credited the team’s resilience through a season filled with injuries and doubt.
“The fortitude these guys have shown after being left for dead and basically told they were terrible—they just blocked out the noise and kept going one foot in front of the other,” Bolt said. “That’s life. If you get knocked down, you get back up.”
2025 Big Ten Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team
P: Cade Obermueller, Iowa
P: Jackson Brockett, Nebraska
P: Luke Broderick, Nebraska
C: Noah Miller, Michigan
1B: Drake Westcott, Illinois
2B: Cayden Brumbaugh, Nebraska
SS: Roch Cholowsky, UCLA
3B: Roman Martin, UCLA
OF: Devin Taylor, Indiana
OF: Gabe Swansen, Nebraska
OF: Paxton Kling, Penn State
DH: Dominic Hellman, Oregon
Most Outstanding Player:
Roch Cholowsky, UCLA
Congrats to @UCLABaseball’s Roch Cholowsky for winning Most Outstanding Player at the #B1GBaseball tournament ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/L5Vt6Ipnty
— Big Ten Baseball (@B1Gbaseball) May 25, 2025
2025 Big Ten Baseball Tournament Schedule
All Game Start Times Are Eastern Daylight Time
Second Game of Each Session Will Begin Approximately 30 Minutes After the Conclusion of the First Game
Tuesday–Sunday, May 20–25
Charles Schwab Field – Omaha, Nebraska
Tuesday, May 20 – Opening Games
Game 1: No. 11 Illinois 6, No. 6 Michigan 5 – Final (F/10)
Game 2: No. 10 Rutgers 5, No. 3 Indiana 2 – Final
Game 3: No. 8 Nebraska 5, No. 9 Michigan State 4 – Final
Wednesday, May 21 – Pool Play Begins
Game 4: No. 2 UCLA 8, No. 11 Illinois 6 – Final
Game 5: No. 9 Penn State 5, No. 5 Washington 3 – Final
Game 6: No. 4 Iowa 4, No. 10 Rutgers 3 – Final
Thursday, May 22 – Pool Play Continues
Game 7: No. 2 UCLA 7, No. 6 Michigan 5 – Final
Game 8: No. 9 Penn State 2, No. 4 USC 1 – Final
Game 9: No. 1 Oregon 4, No. 9 Michigan State 2 – Final
Game 10: No. 3 Indiana 5, No. 4 Iowa 0 – Final
Friday, May 23 – Pool Play Concludes
Game 11: No. 4 USC 6, No. 5 Washington 5 – Final
Game 12: No. 8 Nebraska 7, No. 1 Oregon 3 – Final
Saturday, May 24 – Semifinals
Game 13: No. 8 Nebraska 6, No. 9 Penn State 3 – Final
Game 14: No. 2 UCLA 9, No. 4 Iowa 3 – Final
Sunday, May 25 – Championship Game
Game 15: No. 8 Nebraska 5, vs. No. 2 UCLA 0– Final
Vanderbilt and Ole Miss will both host NCAA regionals, with play beginning Friday, May 30.
🚨 The host sites for the 2025 DI Baseball Regionals 🚨
Host sites are in alphabetical order.#RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/pAwaTP0qKk
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 26, 2025
