Brice Matthews may have saved the Nebraska baseball season. The Huskers (22-30, 9-14 Big Ten) defeated Michigan State (24-29, 8-15 Big Ten) by a score of 6-3 on Friday night. The win kept Nebraska's postseason hopes alive, and there was no play greater than Matthews' three-run homer in the eighth that put the Huskers ahead for good.

A scoreless first inning gave way to fireworks in the second. Michigan State opened the scoring in the top half of the inning with a solo blast by Jack Frank. When Nebraska came to the plate in the bottom of the second, Colby Gomes sent a ball 433 feet to right-center. His seventh home run of the season tied the game 1-1 with two innings in the books.

Husker starter Emmett Olson held the Spartans off the board in the top of the third and handed it off to Cam Chick and the Husker bats. Chick doubled to right-center field to start the home half of the third. Garrett Anglim reached after being hit by a pitch and Max Anderson delivered a high-hopping single over Michigan State third baseman Dillon Kark’s head. That scored both runners and gave Nebraska a 3-1 lead.

The Spartan counterpunch came from Trent Farquahr. He led off the fourth with a towering home run that landed deep in the right-field pavilion. The Huskers appeared poised to answer with their chance in the frame. Matthews began the inning with a single and Luke Jessen put one of his own through the right side.

After Jessen stole second, Nebraska had a pair of runners in scoring position but neither crossed home plate. Efry Cervantes and Chick each struck out while Anglim, the Huskers last hope, sent a weak grounder back to the pitcher to close the frame.

Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the fifth before the scoring resumed in the sixth. Michigan State got production from the bottom third of its order in a single from Peter Ahn. He advanced to second and, with two outs, Casey Mayes tripled to right-center to bring Ahn home and tie the game 3-3.

The Huskers got a leadoff runner in the sixth but just like Chick’s leadoff walk in the first, Nebraska couldn’t capitalize. Olson returned to the mound in the seventh inning and, with Koty Frank warming in the bullpen, the sophomore showed no signs of slowing down. He worked his fourth clean inning of the evening to send it to the seventh-inning stretch.

The Huskers made a critical error on the base paths in the seventh. Anglim got on with a one-out single but cost Nebraska a chance at a run moments later. Griffin Everitt popped a pitch up in foul territory down the first baseline. Anglim was well on his way to second by the time the ball was caught and it was an easy double play for the Spartans to end the inning.

Frank relieved Olson in the eighth and dispatched the first two Michigan State batters he faced in short order. Then things started to get dicey. Frank walked the next two in the lineup before tallying his first strikeout to avoid any damage.

Nebraska was in prime position to score the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth with Anderson, Gomes and Leighton Banjoff due up. Anderson grounded out before Gomes launched a ground-rule double to left and Banjoff walked.

Then Matthews stepped up to the plate with a chance to be the hero. The sophomore, who had already come up with multiple highlight defensive plays on the evening, delivered a monster shot to dead center field and gave Nebraska a 6-3 lead heading to the top of the ninth.

Frank did his job on the bump. The senior in what could be his penultimate game at Haymarket Park struck out the final two Spartan batters to seal the deal. Nebraska ended the night tied with Northwestern for ninth place and a game back of Purdue in the eighth. The Huskers have the tiebreaker on the Wildcats via a better record against common opponents.

Brice Matthews had a game for the ages on Friday night.

First, he put his defensive prowess on full display. A brilliant defensive play in the second inning was likely the third best play he made on the evening. His second-best highlight came in the infield too. A seventh-inning web gem from Matthews set the table for his crowning moment.

The home-run blast in the eighth traveled 437 feet at 107 MPH and garnered a mighty roar from the Haymarket Park crowd that hadn't been heard all season. Not only was it Matthews' biggest moment of the night, but it may also have been his most momentous this season.

His Friday showing is part of a broader trend for Matthews.

In his last 11 games, he has a hit in all but one. That game was a pinch-hitting appearance against Illinois last weekend. He is batting .419 in his last eleven games with one double, five homers and 13 RBIs. That's compared to a .221 batting average in the first 41 games of the year to go with seven doubles, two home runs and 16 RBIs.

Add that with the defensive improvement and it's clear Matthews' confidence has returned as he spoke at length about in the video above. His last error came on April 22 against Indiana which was the beginning of his recent hot streak. He had 13 errors in the first 41 games equivalent to one every three games.

Matthews is flashing the leather and booming the bat. That's a welcome sight for head coach Will Bolt and the Huskers.

For what may be the first time this season, Nebraska fired on all cylinders.

The defense, pitching and bats combined for a win when the Huskers needed it most. Nebraska got another quality start out of Emmett Olson who went a full 7.0 innings allowing five hits, three earned runs and striking out seven. Olson bounced back time and time again. After surrendering each of his earned runs, the Illinois native responded with one or more strikeouts and never allowed more than one run across.

Nebraska played a relatively error free game on the infield. The Huskers had just one which came from newly-entered first baseman Jack Steil who has been prone to disaster on the bag this year and has seen little action of late. Steil simply had a routine toss to first base roll out of his hand.

But, Koty Frank was their to pick his teammate up with a pair of strikeouts to finish of the game. That's a mentality or outcome that has been sorely lacking this year for Nebraska.

The bats were alive throughout for the Huskers as well.

Most importantly, the hitting was timely. Colby Gomes hit his solo home run immediately after Michigan State had hit one of their own in the top of the second. Max Anderson delivered two RBIs after to push Nebraska ahead in a big moment and Brice Matthews succeeded where so many Huskers had failed. He delivered a clutch hit in the biggest moment of the season thus far.

It may be too little too late but if the cards don't fall Nebraska's way on Saturday, the Huskers can build on the blaze of glory they went out with on Friday.

Nebraska has the chance to clinch a spot in the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday with a win and a Purdue loss. Weather will play a factor in Lafayette with high chances of storms throughout the day.

If the game is not played, Nebraska will finish ninth in the standings even with a win over the Spartans in the series finale. First pitch between Nebraska and Michigan State is set for 12 p.m. and the Huskers will honor six seniors on Senior Day.