Nebraska BSB: Caron explosive, Christo strong as Huskers hold off Nicholls

LINCOLN, Neb. – Why knock the guy out right away when you can trade punches? It makes the fight more entertaining.

Right?

In a nail-biter that had fans on the edge of their seats at Haymarket Park, Nebraska baseball emerged from the smoke holding a 7-6 win over Nicholls State in the opener of a three-game series Friday night.

The Huskers (11-5) pulled out a razor-thin victory behind the hero of the night, junior catcher Josh Caron, whose powerful bat secured their 10th win in the last 13 games and put down a red-hot Colonels team (17-4) that had won nine of its last 10 entering the series.

The Huskers almost certainly don’t win this game without his big night at the plate, as he finished 3-for-4 and accounted for six of the Huskers' seven runs. That included five RBI to tie a career high, two runs scored and a three-run bomb for his team-leading fifth home run. He also added a double to finish a triple short of the cycle.

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Nebraska starting pitcher Drew Christo worked five innings, allowing five hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out four and walking none in a no-decision.

The junior right-hander got into a bit of trouble in the first inning when he allowed a leadoff single to Nicholls senior Parker Coddou, who reached second and stole third base. However, Christo was able to pitch out of the jam, striking out the next two batters and inducing a ground out to end the inning.

He allowed just one baserunner over his next three innings to pave the way for a big fourth inning.

Nebraska came out strong in the bottom half, beginning it with a single and subsequent steal of second by junior Joshua Overbeek as well as a walk by senior Cole Evans. Caron then strolled to the plate with two outs and blasted a home run to right field on the first pitch he saw, putting the Huskers up, 3-0.

Nicholls State got on the board to score two in the top of the fifth. The inning started with a double by Colonels junior Drake Anderson, continued with an RBI single by Basiel Williams and ended with an error by Huskers senior left fielder Clay Bradford. That miscue allowed Nicholls to push its second run across, but the Huskers caught Kaden Amundson trying to stretch the error to second.

Nebraska answered right back in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore Dylan Carey reached on a bunt single, stole second base and scored on junior first baseman Tyler Stone's two-out, line-drive single to right field to extend the lead, 4-2.

The Huskers added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning before Nicholls State jump-started a comeback to tie it at 5-5 in top of the seventh on a sac fly and a two-run double.

Nebraska immediately answered in the bottom half of the seventh, scoring two runs. Once again, it was Caron to the rescue. Once again, he came up clutch on the first pitch he saw. This time, he scorched a two-RBI single to center field to plate both junior Riley Silva and redshirt sophomore Cayden Brumbaugh, who had earlier drawn his third walk of the game. Brumbaugh, the Huskers' leadoff man, finished the game with four walks.

Nicholls threatened again in the top of the eighth inning, loading the bases on a four-pitch walk with two outs, and then a wild pitch on a swinging strikeout thrown by Mason McConnaughey allowed Colonels senior infielder MaCrae Kendrick to score. Jaden Collura reached first base on the play to load up the bases again, but the inning – and any more scoring by the Colonels – ended when McConnaughey induced the Colonel's Parker Coddou into a groundout.

Junior right-handed pitcher Evan Borst picked up the win for Nebraska, allowing one earned run over 0.2 innings. Borst, McConnaughey, Tucker Timmerman and Casey Daiss combined to allow four runs on fours across four innings. Daiss earned his fourth save of the season, facing the minimum in the ninth and ending the game on a 4-6-3 double play.

The Huskers will return to action Saturday afternoon. Game 2 is scheduled to start at 2:05 p.m. CT with RHP Brett Sears (2-0, 1.78 ERA) going against Nicholls LHP Jack Nelson (0-0, 4.91 ERA).

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