Nebraska baseball heartbroken as season ends after loss to ASU in Lincoln Regional
No. 13 overall seed Nebraska baseball (43-17) had its season ended after an 11-8 loss to Arizona State (39-20) in the Lincoln Regional on Sunday at Haymarket Park.
The Huskers had a breakthrough season under head coach Will Bolt, hosting their first regional since 2008. However, the at-home loss to cap off the wild ride will sting all off-season.
From the end of the Ole Miss game to the start of ASU, Nebraska was beyond off until facing a massive deficit.
Numerous key contributors had their outstanding Husker careers come to an end. The immediate names that come to mind are Dylan Carey, Joshua Overbeek and Rhett Stokes.
Trailing 11-1 entering the seventh, NU threw one of its final punches of the year for a five-run inning. However, the hole Nebraska dug for itself was too insurmountable.
In a fitting final at-bat, Carey, the school-record holder in career doubles, drilled one final RBI single in the ninth. NU loaded the bases in that frame as the tying run came to the plate. However, the Huskers could not pull off the miracle.
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Nebraska’s disastrous start leads to heartbreak
Gavin Blachowicz (3.89 ERA) clearly wasn’t at 100% in his start. In fact, he puked on the field in the bottom of the first. Blachowicz surrendered five runs (one earned) in three innings off 69 pitches.
The sophomore righty surrendered a solo blast to Nu’nu Contrades in the first, but settled in the second for a clean frame. In the third, Blachowicz faced a two-on jam after a one-out single and an issued walk.
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He nearly escaped the inning unscathed, but similar to Ole Miss on Saturday, NU’s highly efficient defense committed a costly error that turned into a crooked Sun Devil frame.
Second baseman Rhett Stokes and shortstop Dylan Carey had a 4-6-3 routine double play set up. However, Stokes’ poor throw to Carey led to a run scoring and was beyond costly. ASU took advantage of the golden gift to cap off a four-run frame.
Other than Joshua Overbeek’s lead-off home run in the third, Arizona State starter Colby Guy stuffed the Big Red lineup. Guy struck out six of the first 14 Huskers through four innings as NU chased his breaking ball.
Cooper Katskee took over in the fourth and worked a 1-2-3 frame. But the story came from power-hitter Landon Hairston tossing his bat after being rung up. The home-plate umpire did not see it, but the ump at first did. After the conclusion, Hairston and his 28 homers on the season were tossed to throw Nebraska a massive bone.
Despite that, Dominic Smaldino’s one-out blast in the fifth stuffed the brewing tide-turn. And the Sun Devils did not stop as it posted a five-run sixth inning, and the Sea of Red started to file out of Haymarket Park one final time for 2026.
The Huskers threw one final punch in for a five-run seventh inning. Still, that 11-1 deficit was too much to match with just nine outs left to keep the season alive.
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