2025 Baseball

[AuroranHusker]

 

[AuroranHusker]

 

[AuroranHusker]

 

[Red Rum]

 

18 hours ago, AuroranHusker said:

 

Might have to make a baseball road trip this year since its not looking good for another basketball roadie

[AuroranHusker]

 

[throwback]

https://www.sportswriters.net/ncbwa/news/2025/02/03/texas-a-and-m-tops-2025-preseason-ncbwa-division-i-poll

 

NCBWA Top 30

 

Other teams of interest: LSU #4, Oregon St #7, (Oregon #12), Vanderbilt #14, (Indiana #25), bluebirds (RV), (Illinois (RV)), Iowa (RV), Kansas (RV), K-State (RV), Louisiana (RV), Maryland (RV), (Penn St (RV)), Purdue (RV), UC Irvine (RV), UCLA (RV) - B1G teams we don't play in parenthesis

[throwback]

https://d1baseball.com/season-preview/2025-big-ten-season-preview/

 

D1 Baseball B1G preview (paywall)

# 1-Oregon

# 2-NEBRASKA

# 3-Indiana

# 4-Penn St

# 5-Michigan*

6-Maryland*

7-UCLA*

8-Illinois

9-Iowa*

10-USC*

11-Ohio St

12-Minnesota*

13-Purdue*

14-Rutgers*

15-Mich St

16-N'western*

17-Washington*

 

* teams we play

# projected NCAA tourney teams

[throwback]

I didn't realize Sanderson was draft eligible this year as a sophomore, but he'll be 21 years old on draft day, so he qualifies. Kind of surprised Swanson did not make the list. (Technically, Swanson was a 2024 draft class, so maybe that's why he's not listed.)

 

Edited February 6 by throwback

[hskr4life]

17 hours ago, throwback said:

https://d1baseball.com/season-preview/2025-big-ten-season-preview/

 

D1 Baseball B1G preview (paywall)

# 1-Oregon

# 2-NEBRASKA

# 3-Indiana

# 4-Penn St

# 5-Michigan*

6-Maryland*

7-UCLA*

8-Illinois

9-Iowa*

10-USC*

11-Ohio St

12-Minnesota*

13-Purdue*

14-Rutgers*

15-Mich St

16-N'western*

17-Washington*

 

* teams we play

# projected NCAA tourney teams

 

I know it's not going to end up like this, but it's never a great thing when you don't play any of the Top 4 teams and only one series against a team projected to make it to the NCAA tournament.

[throwback]

 

[throwback]

9 hours ago, hskr4life said:

 

I know it's not going to end up like this, but it's never a great thing when you don't play any of the Top 4 teams and only one series against a team projected to make it to the NCAA tournament.

Agreed on both points - especially on how it's definitely not going to finish that way.  Having said that, Oregon & Indiana should be really good, so I think the top 3 are pretty accurate. I'm also sure somebody will jump up and contend that's not expected to.

 

However, this might be part of why we scheduled up out of conference so much.

 

I'd love to see the B1G get really creative with scheduling and do some 4-game weekends with 3 teams playing each other twice, just to play a higher percentage of league teams, but the coaches don't seem to want any part of unusual scheduling formats at this point.

 

Edited February 6 by throwback

[throwback]

World Herald had a story today about how JuCo players getting an extra year could affect NU quite a bit in 2026 - Frost, Daiss, Stokes, Silva, Overbeek, and Stone all are seniors who could potentially take another year. 

 

Mac & Broderick would be jrs who would also qualify, but they're probably heading toward the draft if they have their expected seasons. Even if they came back, they wouldn't have to decide til after next season.

 

Can't imagine we'll bring back all 6 - some of them might turn pro or just decide to move on - especially with rosters having to go down to 34 next season from 40 this season. But Bolt likes having an older offense, so I'd bet some of them are here another year.

 

[Red Rum]

New jersey alert

 

[throwback]

 

[throwback]

No surprise, but it sounds like on the bump we're going:

• Mac - UCI Friday
• Horn - Vandy Sat
• Walsh / Brockett - San Diego St Sun / GCU Mon (I don't think they've decided which order these two will pitch in yet)

Worthley & Stone appear to be questionable with injuries - Worthley really hurts as he's our best lefty out of the pen, but it sounds like a short-term thing. Stone didn't practice in the fall & has not recovered as expected - his could be longer-term. Sanderson, Swanson & Buttenback are all options at 1st base. There's no plan to have Walsh hit and play 1st this year at this point - he's going to focus on pitching only. I suppose that could change depending on how things shake out, but that's not part of the discussion now.

 

Overall, our defense likely will be down a bit from last year, but it's probably worth the tradeoff to get more punch in the lineup. 

 

Not sure either of our backup catchers are quite ready after offseason surgeries, so Helligso will definitely do the majority of the catching and could catch all 4 games - not ideal, but not a huge concern since we have no DHs scheduled. Monday will be the toughest one as the 4th game in 4 days and an afternoon game following a night game. Buttenback & Jesske could be emergency catchers if we get into a pinch.

 

[LincecumFan]

FYI, the NU v. Vanderbilt game in the Desert Invitational next Saturday will be televised on the MLB Network. Telecast starts at 7:00 pm Central.

[AuroranHusker]

 

[AuroranHusker]

 

[throwback]

 

[AuroranHusker]

 

[AuroranHusker]

[Bugeaters1]

Can Horn throw strikes this year?

 

[throwback]

4 hours ago, Bugeaters1 said:

Can Horn throw strikes this year?

 

He had a great summer & followed it up in the fall - he's definitely going to get tested tho - his first 3 starts could be vs Vandy, Louisiana, and LSU.

[throwback]

OWH B1G prediction:

https://omaha.com/sports/huskers/baseball/evan-blands-preseason-big-ten-baseball-rankings-for-2025/article_13f0d3df-2f9d-5f84-b0e6-c08d20b82535.html

 

1 - NU

2 - Oregon

3 - Indiana

4 - Illinois

5 - Iowa*

6 - Maryland*

7 - Penn St

8 - Michigan*

9 - Purdue*

10 - UCLA*

11 - Mich St

12 - Rutgers*

________ (tourney cutoff)

13 - Ohio St

14 - Minnesota*

15 - USC*

16 - Washington*

17 - N'western*

 

* - NU plays

 

If nothing else, this schedule sets NU up to potentially win the regular season title. Pretty soft schedule at first glance, although I have to think USC & UCLA are going to finish better than this prediction.

 

Edited February 12 by throwback

[throwback]

B1G preseason coaches poll - still picking only 6 even though 12 make the tourney - the B1G is so weird sometimes.

 

Big Ten Preseason Poll
1. Oregon
2. Nebraska
3. Indiana
4. UCLA
5. Michigan
6. USC

 

https://bigten.org/base/article/blt4cc4393dd3e906dd/

 

Top 3 are pretty consistent in all the polls - after that, it's a crapshoot. NU has two advantages when trying to win the league - pitching depth & a soft league schedule. I think NU will lead the league in pitching again. The rest of the B1G doesn't have much returning production on the mound.