Nebraska baseball upsets No. 7 Auburn 9-8 in extra innings

This was not a game we had ever seen before, Auburn vs. Nebraska on the diamond. In fact, going to any SEC team for a weekend series isn’t something we see very often. But the way the NCAA tournament committee rewards teams that have a tough non-conference schedule, it will likely become a more common sight. And with the quality of the match we saw tonight, it would be welcome.

For the first time this season, the game had a true Friday night feel as the teams deployed high-profile starters to start a series. Nebraska with Ty Horn and Auburn with Virginia Tech transfer Jake Marciano, and they battled from the start. They combined to strike out 7 batters in the first two innings.

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Auburn struck first in the 3rd inning. Mason McCraine hit a single to the right side of the infield and stole second base. His brother, Brandon, hit a choppy grounder to Husker third baseman Josh Overbeek, who fell short. A sac fly brought home 1 point. Then, Horn slipped covering a bunt, potentially another out awarded to the Tigers. a 3-2 walk loaded the bases for Auburn and back-to-back singles made it 4-0. Amid all of this, Horn and Worthley were also upset during the pitch call, despite wearing communications devices. Just a bad half inning all around.

The Huskers would respond in the next half inning. Case Sanderson singled to lead off. Overbeek and Dylan Carey both went 3-2 pitches, including Sandy, making 3 straight batters reaching a full count. DH Cole Kitchens had no interest in going for a full count, taking his first pitch out of the War Eagle Wall (Auburn’s version of Fenway’s Green Monster) for an RBI double. Nebraska left fielder Will Jesske hammered a ball (on a full count!) to almost the same spot, trading places with Kitchens and cutting the lead to 4-2.

Jesske had a lot of punch in his bat to start the season, the only problem is he played to some of the biggest and weirdest outfield fences you can find. If Nebraska had played all of its games at places like Haymarket Park, Jesske very well could have led the nation in home runs. Could this be an omen?!

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Auburn added a run in the 4th, ending Horn’s day at 3.2 innings pitched, with 4 earned runs allowed, on 5 strikeouts and 2 walks. Things went wrong for him, for the first time in several outings, as he was down the stretch for Nebraska last year and had a strong start to 2026.

Marciano only managed to get away with 5 himself, as the Huskers were able to work him deep often, and he continued the strikeouts, all 9, but allowed no walks. Nebraska struck out 18 during the 10-inning game, but despite numerous deep counts, ended up with zero walks. This shows you how ready you have to be in the batter’s box, but also how predictable pitches can be when they come in for a 3 ball count.

Relievers led by Cooper Katskee for the Huskers and Jett Johnston for the Tigers took over, throwing zeroes until Nebraska broke through in the 8th. Mac Moyer reached on an error, Case Sanderson singled to center field and Overbeek loaded the bases by taking a fly to the elbow.

The exact man coach Will Bolt and Husker fans everywhere would want to address the situation has come around the corner in Dylan Carey. Although he was 0-3 on the night, Carey managed to make it 3-2 and, as noted above, got a predictable hit right up the middle of the plate and smashed the 51st double of his career against the War Eagle Wall. Two pitches later, Cole Kitchens tied the game with a double to the right field corner. Overbeek scored on the play, and Dylan Carey may have scored on the kickoff, but came back to score as the defender looked about to catch it on the fly from his perspective.