Nebraska
Nebraska baseball enters regular-season finale with postseason hopes still on the line
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska baseball has arrived at the final stop of an unusually twisted season. The Huskers will open a three-game series Thursday at Michigan State within reach of their third Big Ten championship in the past seven opportunities.
Nebraska is 32-18 and 14-7 in conference play. Its case for a spot in the NCAA postseason, to be unveiled May 27, appears strong, though it’s not entirely secure with the visit to MSU and a Big Ten tournament in Omaha still ahead.
On the surface, this is a satisfying position. Beneath the appearance of that smooth ride, Nebraska has endured a turbulent spring.
A window opened in March and April for the Huskers to earn an inside lane to go deeper into the postseason since they last won a regional in 2005. But now if Nebraska is to make a run, its path likely must resemble what coach Will Bolt’s team nearly pulled off in 2021. After winning the Big Ten, it pushed national power Arkansas to the final innings of a winner-take-all game in the Fayetteville regional.
“When you get knocked in the face,” outfielder Garrett Anglim said, “one thing you’ve got to do is get back up and show up the next day with that fight.”
Nebraska has absorbed its share of punches.
It’s not alone. The national picture entering the final days of the regular season is clouded. In some cases, it looks upside down. Perennial College World Series participants Vanderbilt, Florida, LSU, TCU and Texas are jumbled near Nebraska with RPIs from Nos. 28 to 44, according to warrennolan.com.
The Huskers come in at No. 31.
“Everybody has more access to talent than we’ve ever had in this sport,” Bolt said. “And it’s hard to win.”
GO DEEPER
College baseball in review: Chase Burns breaks record, Georgia keeps rolling, ECU stumbles
Bolt’s team has won just three of seven series finales against Big Ten foes. Nebraska dropped all three games against in-state rival Creighton and lost 10-6 against lowly South Dakota State on May 8, surrendering six runs in the ninth inning. The midweek defeats crushed hopes the Huskers might sneak into a spot to host an NCAA regional next month.
Two days after the SDSU meltdown, the Nebraska bullpen surrendered seven runs in the ninth against Indiana to lose 10-5.
But, true to the roller-coaster form, the Huskers followed with a pair of clutch wins against the Hoosiers to capture the series and stay alive in the Big Ten race. Nebraska needs to perform one game better than Illinois in this final week to secure a share of the regular-season title and snag the No. 1 seed next week in Omaha.
The Illini (30-17, 15-6 Big Ten) play at Purdue (33-19, 13-8) to end the regular season.
When these Huskers convened before the season, they established a set of defining characteristics. Among the words they selected was resilient.
“Having done this for a while now, the teams that typically are the best are the ones that don’t get too high or too low,” Bolt said. “Baseball can lend itself to being such an emotional roller coaster if you allow it to — because there’s so much failure.”
High moments for Nebraska have included:
• A solid first month that featured a stockpile of road wins against opponents out of conference to boost the Huskers’ RPI.
• Six series wins in seven chances in Big Ten play, powered in weekend openers by ace right-hander Brett Sears, who takes a 7-0 mark and a 2.11 ERA into his next trip to the mound Thursday.
• A no-hitter against Kansas State on May 1 thrown by lefty Jackson Brockett, the first by a Nebraska pitcher in 70 years.
• Last weekend’s showing to close the home season. Cole Evans hit a walk-off, three-run homer in the 10th inning to even the series against Indiana on Saturday. Then Brockett and reliever Drew Christo pitched Nebraska to its second Sunday victory since the start of April.
“Three weeks ago, I didn’t make the travel roster.
Tonight, I threw the first no-hitter for Nebraska in 70 years.”
The No-Hitter by @JaxBrockett13
📖: https://t.co/Ku26K0aR0r pic.twitter.com/dzzi7c8BLi
— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) May 14, 2024
When the midweek losses accumulated or when the relievers struggled, Anglim said the Huskers didn’t dwell on the negativity.
“If things don’t go our way,” he said, “it’s not the end of the world. It’s time to focus on the next thing.”
Nebraska has advanced to the NCAA regional round five times in the past decade. Bolt, as a player with the Huskers, was a four-year starter and played on the first two CWS teams in program history in 2001 and 2002.
In teams ready to make a run in June, he said he’s seen the kind of resiliency evident in the Huskers — and a tendency for older players like Brockett, Christo and Anglim to emerge from the shadows to play major roles.
Bolt played his best baseball over the final few games of his collegiate career, he said.
“You’ve got nothing to lose at that point.”
Left-handed reliever Caleb Clark, effective over his past nine outings since mid-April after a rocky start to his sophomore season, said the vibe among the Huskers is one of “pure excitement” as they head to Michigan State.
The series opener Thursday in East Lansing is scheduled for 5 p.m. First pitch is planned for 4 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday. The Big Ten Network will televise the final two games of the series, presumably for the Huskers with a lot at stake.
“These were the goals that we set forth at the start of the season,” Clark said. “Being in this position is something that we expected of ourselves.”
(Photo of Cole Evans courtesy of Nebraska Athletics)
Nebraska
Pillen: Nebraska senator tears down historical exhibits by PragerU from Capitol walls
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Parts of a temporary historical exhibit inside the Nebraska State Capitol were torn down by a state senator, Gov. Pillen alleges.
Gov. Pillen said Wednesday on social media that several displays of historical figures, key events in the American Revolution and portraits of those who signed the Declaration of Independence were “ripped off the walls” by state Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha.
A 40-second video shared by Pillen appears to show Sen. Cavanaugh taking down several displays and a photo showed the items on the floor of her office.
The displays featuring material made by the controversial conservative group PragerU were put up in the state Capitol as part of the United States’ 250th anniversary.
“Celebrating America during our 250th year should be a moment of unity and patriotism, not divisiveness and destructive partisanship. I am disappointed in this shameful and selfish bad example,” Pillen wrote.
Cavanaugh told 10/11 that senators are prohibited from putting items on the walls in the hallway outside their offices. She said the posters line the entire hallway around the first floor, but she only took down the ones outside her office.
“When I walked in this morning and saw these poster boards lining the hallway of my office, I thought well I’m not allowed to have things lining the hall of my office… I tried to take them down as gently as I could and not damage any of them, and I stacked them inside of my office and I let the state patrol know that they were there,” Cavanaugh said.
PragerU has previously faced criticism for making content that historians, researchers and scholars have considered inaccurate or misleading. Some parents and educators have also spoken out against the nonprofit, saying its content spreads misinformation and is being used for “indoctrinating children.”
The Founders Museum exhibit in particular has been criticized by The American Historical Association for blurring the line between reality and fiction, according to NPR.
The exhibit is supposed to remain on display during public building hours through the summer.
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Copyright 2026 KOLN. All rights reserved.
Nebraska
Oregon State LB transfer Dexter Foster commits to Nebraska
Nebraska has picked up a third linebacker commitment from Oregon State transfer Dexter Foster, a sophomore with three seasons of eligibility remaining, including a redshirt year.
The 6-foot-3, 236lb linebacker started in seven games this fall for the Beavers, totaling 52 tackles with 3.0 tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries and a pass breakup. As a true freshman in 2024, he appeared in 12 games, totaling 43 tackles with two tackles for loss, a sack and two quarterback hurries.
Foster held just two offers coming out of high school prior to committing to Oregon State, but was at one point a target for new Nebraska defensive coordinator Rob Aurich, when Aurich was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Idaho in 2022-2023.
The sophomore joins a linebacker room that has seen a bit of a facelift through transfer portal additions. San Diego State linebacker Owen Chambliss led the Aztecs in tackles this season and has now signed with the Huskers, following Rob Aurich to Lincoln. Iowa State freshman linebacker Will Hawthorne committed to the Huskers on Tuesday. Nebraska fell just short of Iowa State when Hawthorne was coming out of Gilbert (Ia.) in the 2025 cycle.
Foster is the seventh transfer portal addition for the Huskers this cycle and the fourth defensive addition. The Huskers are expected to be done with linebacker portal recruiting at this point and will turn attention to needs up front, both at defensive tackle and edge rusher.
Quick look at what Nebraska is getting in Foster
Standing 6-foot-3, and north of 235lbs, Foster is rangy and athletic in space. Has the versatility to play true strong-side or weak-side linebacker and could even spin down to edge rusher if needed. Possesses the athletic and physical range to track down ball-carriers in space, arm length to keep would-be-blockers at bay. Shows good eye discipline working through traffic, quick to react and trigger downhill, with the fluidity to change directions quickly. Still more read-and-react than anticipatory at this point in his development, but gets to his spots quickly. Has the athleticism to stick in coverage against running backs, tight ends and even slot receivers.
Has the experience, size and play-style to factor into Nebraska’s linebacker rotation immediately, and could even push to start alongside San Diego State linebacker transfer Owen Chambliss. Has the versatility to be a chess piece of sorts for Aurich and stick on the field regardless of personnel.
Nebraska
Nebraska-based pizza chain Godfather’s Pizza is set to open a new location in Queen Creek
QUEEN CREEK, AZ — A slice of the Midwest is coming to the East Valley! Godfather’s Pizza from Omaha, Nebraska, is set to open a new location this month in Queen Creek.
Bruce Cannon, who owns and operates two Godfather’s Pizza locations in Lincoln and Norfolk, Nebraska, will also own and operate the new Queen Creek restaurant.
“This marks the brand’s first traditional Godfather’s Pizza restaurant in Arizona since 2009, signaling an exciting return to the Phoenix metro area,” read the news release sent to ABC15.
The restaurant will open near Queen Creek Rd and Signal Butte Rd.
The restaurant will provide dine-in, carryout, and third-party delivery options, featuring its classic pizza lineup alongside favorites like breadsticks, streusels, and specialty pies.
IF YOU GO
- Opening date: January 19, 2026.
- Address: 22485 Queen Creek Road, Suite 101
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