Three things we learned from Nebraska baseball's first fall practice

With the 2020 baseball season now officially underway, players and coaches are using this fall as a chance to get to know one another and see how they gel as a team. For junior outfielder Joe Acker, it's exciting to be able to get back on the field and start competing with his teammates again after a long summer vacation.

"I'm very anxious, I've been waiting all summer for it," Acker said. "We've been out on the field a little bit these past couple of weeks but today's obviously the first official day of practice. It will be nice to get a little scrimmage going today and start competing with the new guys and some of the upperclassmen and just kind of see how we're all meshing together on the field so I'm excited."

Acker also had great things to say about new head coach Will Bolt, who replaced former headman Darin Erstad after his retirement. Acker said his first impressions of Bolt have been great and he's excited to start working with him.

"I have nothing but great things to say about Coach Bolt," Acker said. "We're hungry, he's hungry. I think it's a perfect match."

As for Bolt, his first impressions of the team have been that of a determined baseball team. "It's a hard-working group," Bolt said. "I've really sensed the hunger from these guys and kind of wanting to take that next step and them not being satisfied."

Any time a new coach is brought in for a team, things are certain to be different. In the case of Will Bolt and the Nebraska baseball team, players pointed to a stronger emphasis on the order and direction that this new staff is bringing in.

"It's a lot more about discipline," sophomore pitcher Colby Gomes said. "It's not hard things but if you can't do the little things, how do you expect to do the big things?"

Gomes added to his comments by saying the new staff is focusing on this culture of discipline both on the diamond and off it. "On the field, off the field, the little things matter," Gomes stated. "Right now, breakfast is mandatory. If you don't go to breakfast, you're going to have a punishment. We didn't have that last year."

First-year head coach Will Bolt piggy-backed off of what Gomes said, saying that he believes players want to have that structure and accountability in their life. Bolt believes that holding the players accountable for the little things, whether that be breakfast or in the classroom, will translate to their performance on the field.

"I think kids want discipline, I know they do," Bolt explained. "It's just a matter of giving them some structure and some things that are going to help them be the best players."

As far as the talent level at Nebraska, the jury is still out for Bolt and his staff. However, Bolt said that he sees the ability that the Cornhuskers have and this fall is going to be crucial to find out the level of depth that the team has across all facets of the game.

"I like the makeup," Bolt said. "I think the guys are a lot of hard workers and we definitely have talent just based on what I've seen so far. I think the pieces are in place to do what we need to do."

While Nebraska returns many key bats to the starting lineup, the big hole that needs to be filled is the starting weekend pitching rotation as the Huskers lose Matt Waldron, Nate Fisher and Reece Eddins. As a way to combat this problem, a few players are starting to take on a new role for the season ahead.

Colby Gomes is one of those players looking to take on new responsibilities. Previously, the Huskers used Gomes as more of a closer but the sophomore says being a starter in college is something he's always wanted to do.

"With those three guys leaving, people definitely have to step up," Gomes said. "It's always been my dream to be a weekend starter so I think that's the biggest thing I'm working towards this year."

Not only will Gomes look to find himself in a starting role, but he's now also going to stay exclusively on the mound and move away from being a positional player.

"I walked in there and they asked me the question 'what do you want to do?' I basically just said I want to specialize," Gomes explained. "Hitting last year obviously wasn't the greatest so I think pitching was kind of my go-to."

In addition to Gomes, we learned that Shay Schanaman will now be available both as a pitcher and as a position player and Jaxon Hallmark will move from a part-time outfielder to mainly staying in Nebraska's middle infield.