Nebraska
Nebraska Baseball Weekend Preview: Michigan State
Series Preview
Michigan State Spartans (3-8) at Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-5)
Location: Hawks Field at Haymarket Park, Lincoln, NE
Dates: March 6th-8th
Times (all CT): Friday @ 2pm, Saturday @ 1pm, Sunday @ 12pm
Advertisement
Head Coaches: Jake Boss Jr. (18th season, 496-450) & Will Bolt (7th season, 177-131-1)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Radio: All Nebraska games on Huskers Radio Network, Huskers.com, Huskers App
Nebraska baseball goes into conference play having won both of its mid-week games since returning home to Haymarket Park. It’s riding the hot bats of Dylan Carey, and Mac Moyer. Carey is fresh off a 5 for 5 game, the first 5 hit game for a Husker since Gunner Hellstrom in 2018. Carey is leading all Big Ten batters in both hits (28) and doubles (8) and is 2nd in avg. (.509). He is piling up the RBIs with Moyer reaching base at a .592 clip. He is tied for the Big Ten lead with 13 walks.
Advertisement
Nebraska should also be getting Will Jesske back after a week off due to feeling a twing in his hamstring Friday night at Auburn. Husker coach Will Bolt said he was going to pinch hit if needed the last inning against South Dakota State, but didn’t want him playing the field yet with the cold weather. Jesske has 3 home runs on the year, but with the amount of hits on the barrel he has had at some giant ballparks, he could be close to the Big Ten lead if he played all his games at a place like Haymarket Park.
The Spartans had the biggest upset of the first week of the season, taking the series from then #8 Louisville by winning the first 2 games 4-3 and 13-4. They have struggled mightily since, going 1-8 against a pretty rough schedule. They went from Louisville to #3 Texas and were swept by a combined score of 15-2 in 3 games.
They have a yearly “residency” as they call it, in Greenville, South Carolina early every year, thanks to a big alumni base in the area. They struggled to put up runs in those 2 weeks, never putting up more than 4. Their lone win was a 4-1 victory over Albany, and they ended the residency on a sour note, with a 7 inning run rule loss to #10 Clemson, 12-1. Husker pitchers will need to limit walks and hit batters, and should be able to manage the lineup if they can.
Pitching Probables
Game 1: RHP Ty Horn (0-0, 4.05 ERA) vs. RHP Aidan Donovan (0-1, 3.95 ERA)
Advertisement
Game 2: RHP Carson Jasa (1-1, 7.71 ERA) vs. RHP Carter Monke (1-1, 2.35 ERA)
Game 3: RHP Gavin Blachowicz (1-1, 2.31 ERA) vs. RHP Logan Pikur (0-2, 7.30 ERA)
It was a rough weekend for Husker starting pitching. In fact, in 2026 no weekend starter has turned in a quality start. Ty Horn started strong, piling up strikeouts in the first couple innings before a couple hits and an error jump started the Tigers’ offense. Still looking for him to work on getting through the order a couple times in a more efficient fashion. It would really behoove Friday starters to go longer so the bullpen is more available the next two days. That is just as big of a deal as being dominant for 5 innings.
Really nothing went right on Saturday for Carson Jasa. Well, he could locate his fastball for strikes, but that was about it, and Auburn quickly realized it. 2 walks and a hit batter went a long way to giving up 4 earned runs in his lone inning of work, but Auburn learned to just sit and hunt his fastball, and when you connect with a 97 mph fastball, it tends to go a long way. Regaining a feel for his cutter/change and slider is really all he can do.
Advertisement
Even the most steady of the starters for the first 2 weeks had a rough go. Gavin Blachowicz seemed to get out of an issue with minimal damage in the 2nd inning against Auburn in which an error led to a run being scored, but a wild pitch and then giving up a no doubter 3 run home run, opened the game up. Rather than let him work out of it, Nebraska had a couple strong options in the bullpen to turn to, so they let Kevin Mannell come out and get some work in to try and regain his confidence. Blachowicz needs to work on not letting a mistake turn into a big inning, and he should regain his form.
MSU had 2 starting pitcher and kinda filled in the Sunday position last season. They lost Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Joseph Dzierwa, and their Saturday guy was moved to a long relief role. Aidan Donovan was mostly a mid-week starter last season, but has moved into the Friday role. He showed a lot of promise as a freshman in 2025, with a 2-3 record and 4.70 ERA. He pitched well against Louisville and Texas, but struggled in his last outing against Illinois. Don’t look for him to pile up strike outs or go deep into the game, his season high is 5 innings and he has 10 strikeouts in his 13.2 innings so far.
Carter Monke is a grad transfer from Illinois State. He started 14 games in his 2 years at ISU, and had a 6.16 ERA, striking out 67 in 83 innings of work. Despite those numbers, he has pitched very well to start 2026. He started 2 of their 3 wins, and in his loss only gave up 1 earned run in 6.1 innings against Texas. Logan Pikur led the team in appearances the past 2 seasons, but has really struggled moving into the starting rotation. He has a career ERA over 7.00 and career batting average against of .315. Nebraska’s offense should be ready to roll Sunday.
Scouting Report
The Spartans returned a lot of position players, but from an offense that really struggled in 2025. They have far and away the fewest hits of any Big Ten team currently, a combo of their offensive struggles and their incredible strength of schedule. They have only 62 hits on the year. The next lowest is 83, and Nebraska by contrast, has 132. They have scored only 33 runs on the season. Nebraska is below average in the B1G, but still has scored 78 runs.
Advertisement
Everything starts with returning 2nd Team All-Big Ten second baseman Ryan McKay. Like everyone, he’s had a rough start to the year. A .250 average and only 1 double from a guy that hit .306 with 20 home runs a season ago. He epitomizes the team’s philosophy of working deep into counts, but not striking out. He has as many walks in his career as strikeouts. He also likes to run, already with 4 stolen bases despite the limited opportunities.
Sliding over from short stop to first base, senior Randy Seymour is leading the team in most hitting categories so far, batting .256, with 2 home runs and 3 doubles. He is a very free swinger though, striking out 11 and only walking once. The team was also expecting big things out of outfielder Parker Picot, and in the second game of the season, he delivered, hitting 2 home runs and driving in 8 RBIs in the 13-4 win over Louisville. Other than that game, he is 1 for 25 with 1 RBI.
The Spartans landed a huge recruit in 3B/OF CJ Decking. They beat out a long list of Big Ten and SEC programs to get him out of Illinois. Needless to say, a freshman starting his career playing against a top 10 team in 6 out of 8 games has been a rough go. He’s batting .100 with 7 strikeouts, but he will explode eventually.
Advertisement
The MIchigan State bullpen is solid. They don’t strike a ton out as a group, but keep guys off the basepaths, only walking 40 in 93+ innings. Last season’s Saturday starter, Gannon Grundman has transitioned into a bullpen role. He leads the team with 6 appearances, He’s had 2 terrible outings, allowing 4 runs against Texas and 6 against Clemson, ballooning his ERA to 14.04
One of their better arms is Tommy Szczepanski. He stands 6’5 and 235 lbs, and will appear in late game situations. He has 13 strikeouts in 8.2 innings, but also has 8 walks already on the year. He has 1 of the team’s 2 saves on the year.
Per usual, Michigan State is solid on defense. Something to be expected with a SS moving over to first baseman. They currently sit at a 98.2 fielding percentage.
Series History
Nebraska leads the all time series 21-11 against Michigan State. They last met in the opening game of the Big Ten Tournament last year. Nebraska won 5-4 in 10 innings in a game that will long be remembered. The Spartan right fielder dropped the final out in the 9th in what due to the setup of the tournament was essentially an elimination game. That allowing Nebraska to start their improbable run to be Big Ten Champions.
On Deck
Dylan Carey is 2 doubles shy of owning the career record at Nebraska, currently held by head coach Will Bolt. With the tear he is on, and how up and down the Spartan pitching staff is, a new record by the end of the weekend is not out of the question.
Nebraska
Nebraska Football Flips Minnesota Edge Commit, Adding to Stellar Recruiting Weekend
Nebraska football’s big weekend of official visits turned one edge rusher from a rival into a Cornhusker.
Ma’atoe Moe, a 6-3, 240-pound edge rusher from Utah, announced his commitment to Nebraska football on Sunday. Moe flipped his original verbal commitment from Minnesota after his official visit weekend in Lincoln, along with several other high-profile recruits. Moe becomes the fifth commit of the visit cycle, joining cornerback Bryce Williams, tight end Joey Hunter, linebacker Eli Harris, and defensive lineman Errol Demontagnac as commits for the Huskers over the weekend.
The pass rusher had been verbally committed to Minnesota since last Sunday during an official visit to the Golden Gophers in the final weekend of May, but took down his initial social media post later that same day. Moe confirmed to Rivals on Wednesday he was committed to Minnesota, but changed his status following the visit to Lincoln.
COMMITTED! to THE University of Nebraska! #AGTG #GBR #BLKSHRTS❤️🖤 pic.twitter.com/NvjchUf9YR
— Ma’atoe Moe (@maatoe_moe0) June 7, 2026
“When in doubt, wear Red,” Moe reposted to his social media pages Sunday morning.
Nebraska had originally offered on May 5, becoming the latest of several Division I offers for the pass rusher since the spring. The Huskers earned Moe’s commitment over other offers from Utah Tech, BYU, Boise State, Washington State, UNLV, Utah State, Colorado State, and San Diego State.
Moe has transferred to Timpview High School in Provo, Utah, for his junior season in 2025, but was held out for five contests due to transfer eligibility rules in the state. The three-star prospect recorded 17 tackles, one sack, and 10 quarterback hurries in six games.
Moe is rated as a top-100 edge rusher prospect in the country and the No. 15 rated prospect in Utah, earning an 86 overall rating from 247Sports. Moe becomes the 10th three-star prospect to commit to Nebraska and bumps the Huskers’ 247Sports recruiting ranking to No. 17 in the country. Nebraska still trails fellow Big Ten programs Penn State (No. 7), UCLA (No. 8), USC (No. 10), Ohio State (No. 11), Oregon (No. 12), Minnesota (No. 13), Michigan (No. 14), and Washington (No. 16).
Nebraska continues to add commits from its new coaching staff additions, as Moe becomes another addition for assistant coaches Roy Manning and Corey Brown, as well as defensive coordinator Rob Aurich. Moe’s commitment becomes the third defensive line or edge rusher commitment of Nebraska’s 2027 Class, as St. Frances Academy’s Jayden Travers committed back in Dec. 2025, joining Moe and Demontagnac’s verbal commitments this weekend.
Moe fits a critical need for Nebraska as well, with the Huskers rostering nine current edge rushers for the 2026 season. Nebraska will graduate two at season’s end in Cameron Lendhart and UCLA transfer Anthony Jones Jr. The Huskers have five sophomores and two juniors on this year’s roster, including converted tight end Mac Markway, who will be playing as an edge rusher for the first time in his college football tenure.
Since the 2026 cycle began, Nebraska’s defensive priorities have adjusted under new defensive coordinator Rob Aurich. Moe’s flip marks the 10th defensive commit or signee for the Huskers, including four-star safety Corey Hadley Jr. and Omaha athlete Tory Pittman. The 2026 cycle wrapped with high-profile additions of defensive lineman Dylan Berymon, cornerback Danny Odem, and three-star Elkhorn North grad Jase Reynolds.
After limiting the program’s signees for the 2026 class to only 12 commits, Nebraska has surpassed last year’s total with the official visit haul from this weekend. The Huskers are now up to 16 hard commits, as several more high-profile targets could still be up for grabs.
Nebraska football was able to bring LSU commit and five-star tight end target Ahmad Hudson on an official visit this weekend as well, marking Hudson’s fourth visit to Lincoln overall. The Louisiana product is also a dominant force on the hardwood, as Hudson had been in Lincoln to visit Fred Hoiberg and Nebraska basketball as a potential addition to play two sports for the Huskers.
Hudson would tell Rivals on Sunday that Nebraska is “close” and added that the program would “change the whole offense for me.” Hudson has created a new budding relationship with now in-state Nebraska commits Trae Taylor and Tay Ellis, as the Millard South pair connected with the five-star prospect since the ‘Battle at the Boneyard’ event last summer.
“I don’t talk to a lot of quarterbacks. I’m more of a receiver guy,” Hudson told 247Sports last summer. “So the fact that we just clicked instantly that could possibly mean that if I do come here, we could possibly just click just like that. It wouldn’t be we have to go out and throw every day. Just click. So being able to click with him like that helps with my recruitment.”
If Nebraska paired Moe’s flip with a Hudson commitment, the weekend could go down as one of coach Matt Rhule’s and the Huskers’ most important – and successful – recruiting weekends in the program’s history.
Follow
Nebraska
68th Nebraska Shriners Bowl
Nebraska
Nebraska DHHS reviewing federal rule on Medicaid work requirements, declines call to ‘press pause’
LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) -Nebraska became the first state to implement new federally mandated work requirements for Medicaid recipients in May, and the federal government this week released a first look at what all states would need to follow by Jan. 1.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its interim final rule on the work requirements Monday for public review. Local nonprofit Nebraska Appleseed blasted the proposal as more onerous than Nebraska’s requirements, implemented eight months early, and which the advocacy organization argues could lead to more hurdles down the line.
Broadly, the federal requirements mandate that certain adults receiving Medicaid who are between the ages of 19 and 64 will need to work, volunteer or attend school for at least 80 hours per month, earn at least $580 a month or qualify for an exemption.
Among those who are exempt are people who are pregnant, have a disability, are a parent or caretaker of a young child, or veterans with a total disability rating.
Collin Spilinek, a spokesperson for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, said the agency is reviewing the new guidance “to determine what changes, if any, will be necessary to make.”
The state agency has said roughly 25,000 of the 72,000 adult Nebraskans enrolled through Medicaid expansion will eventually be subject to the updated work requirements to keep or get Medicaid coverage at their renewal period.
The federal proposal includes a new hurdle on top of Nebraska’s requirements, Appleseed argues, that “directly targets” people with disabilities, mental conditions or medical needs, such as cancer or HIV, by requiring Medicaid recipients who have serious medical needs or disabilities to “prove” a condition makes them unable to work to qualify for an exemption.
“This federal rule adds major and punitive new restrictions that will directly hurt Nebraskans, especially those with serious medical needs and disabilities,” said Sarah Maresh, Appleseed’s health care access program director, in a statement.
Maresh said Nebraskans were already “confused, scared and at risk of unnecessarily and inappropriately losing” health care because Gov. Jim Pillen decided to act early.
Collin Spilinek, a spokesperson for Nebraska’s DHHS, said the agency has been able to “successfully manage” the new workload of implementing the requirements with “no issues.”
“Staff members have the foundational expertise to absorb the new requirements without expanding headcount and have received targeted training specific to the work requirements, including new policy content, system workflows and verification standards,” Spilinek said this week.
Maresh and Appleseed urged DHHS to “press pause” and join the rest of the nation in implementing requirements by January 2027. Spilinek said there are “no plans” to do so.
“People’s lives are on the line,” Maresh said.
In April, days before Nebraska moved ahead with the work requirements, Drew Gonshorowski, director of the state’s Division of Medicaid and Long-Term Care, told KETV the changes are meant to promote workforce and curb Medicaid misuse.
“Our commitment here is to ensure that our members receive coverage long term,” Gonshorowsk told KETV at the time. “And we will work with our providers to ensure sustainability of our systems.”
Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com.
Click here to subscribe to our 10/11 NOW daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.
Copyright 2026 KOLN. All rights reserved.
-
Utah5 minutes agoLocal Utah church speaks out during Pride, Fidelity Month conversation
-
Vermont8 minutes agoMountaineers take home opener over North Shore
-
Virginia13 minutes agoVirginia Lottery Pick 3 Night, Pick 3 Day results for June 7, 2026
-
Washington20 minutes ago
Washington Lottery Cash Pop, Pick 3 results for June 7, 2026
-
Wisconsin23 minutes agoWisconsin School Board Keeps Dual‑Language Program After Community Pushback
-
West Virginia28 minutes agoClassroom 2 Career initiative continues work to pair West Virginia students with career pathways – WV MetroNews
-
Wyoming35 minutes ago‘Hurts my heart’: Wyoming archaeologist speaks out against petroglyph vandalism
-
Crypto38 minutes agoBitcoin Surges 5% to $64K, Settles Near $62.5K as Trump Says Netanyahu Must Accept Iran Deal