Big Ten Baseball Tournament Recap: Day After (2024)

With the incredible happenings that took place over the past 48-hours at Charles Schwab Field, it seemed that it is necessary to try and wrap things up a bit on this incredible 2024 Big Ten Baseball Tournament as we look forward to a regional appearance next weekend.

Aaron and I had a great time covering the tournament for Corn Nation, and his articles on each of the Nebraska games were outstanding. I have to admit that being able to hang out in the amazing press box at The Chuck is about as pampered as I have been in a number of years, making it really easy to watch a lot of baseball over six days. Well, four days for me as I was not there for the final three games (yeah, I know!) as my new grandson was born on May 17 and I had yet to see him! So, Aaron actually did double-duty on the final two days.

Believe me, after having been at so many of the Nebraska games this season starting in Arlington, Texas back in February, it was nerve wracking listening to the first game Saturday while driving across Iowa, and then watching the second game, and Sunday’s game, while splitting my attention with my two grandkids. Yeah, normal people multi-task all of the time, but boy that was hard for me!

Sunday morning, while watching on my laptop, euphoria rushed over me with Josh Caron’s home run, and then I literally cried when Gabe Swansen doubled in what became the winning run. I do not remember the last time I had tears over the outcome of a game of any type. I cried when my daughter was introduced and walked out to her mother and me on the ballfield on her senior day in college. Maybe it was when we all counted down the final ticks on the clock when the Cornhuskers left the Miami Hurricanes bent over with their hands on their knees realizing they were whipped that wonderful night in the Orange Bowl. Okay, I digress!

All-Conference Re-do

When they handed out paper copies of the B1G All-Conference team on Tuesday in the press box, Brett Sears’ name was toward the top as Pitcher of the Year, and then looking down a bit, he was obviously there on the first team. With my finger on the page, I kept moving down looking for other Cornhuskers on the front page and then the back. Something, or someone, was missing. It took me a moment before I looked at Aaron and said, “Josh Caron?”

Okay, he isn’t the best defensive catcher, though he does throw out base stealers. His average was below .300, but he led the number two seeded team in the conference in home runs and RBI. I had not seen Camden Janik (1^st team) from Illinois, J.T. Marr (2^nd team) of Penn State, or Connor Caskenette (3^rd team) from Purdue prior to the tournament. Nebraska did not play against any of their teams, and I don’t follow conference stats as close as a lot of people. I just found it incredibly difficult to believe that there were three better catchers in the conference, or that many catchers that were more responsible for their team’s success, than Josh Caron. In my opinion, and I think you can tell from Aaron’s tweets, it was a major snub.

We all know what happened after these teams were released! The 4^th(?) Team Big Ten All-Conference catcher absolutely blew up the conference tournament. His six home runs set a tournament record. He was pitched around a few times, and unselfishly slapped singles to right field. He drove in eleven runs, and he caught every inning of the six games Nebraska played over six days in Omaha. He was incredible and was more than deserving of being name the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

In addition to Caron, four other Cornhuskers made the All-Tournament team. What can you say about Will Walsh? For the second year in a row, he pitched a complete game in a do-or-die situation for Nebraska in this tournament. He has been amazing on the biggest stage! Rhett Stokes batted just under .500 over the six games with three doubles and three runs scored. His defense was very solid as well as he took over at second base. And certainly, in the argument for Most Outstanding Player, Gabe Swansen. He came up big time after time in Omaha, and was responsible for the championship winning run on Sunday.

Baseball Is Hard

While I was very happy for Josh Caron and his performance after the snub, I was over the moon for Gabe Swansen. So much was expected out of him coming into the season off his 18-home run season last year. The former Johnston Dragon put up power numbers in stride with draft picks Brice Matthews and Max Anderson. His spot in the heart of the batting order wasn’t penciled in, it was written with a Sharpie. And then it wasn’t.

I’ve recently completed reading H.A. Doftman’s The Mental Aspect of Baseball, and throughout the discussion of “the slump,” Gabe Swansen’s image was front and center in my brain. You could see that something was off with the swing. You could see that he was trying too hard. A couple of times you got a glimpse of what was possible when he put the barrel on the ball, but that did not happen often and there certainly was no consistency in games.

Coach Bolt didn’t forget about him. He did not give up on him. When there was a need for a right-handed pinch-hitter, Swanny was on the short list. It still took most of the season before it clicked, and it could not have come at a better time. According to Bolt, he had a very good two to three weeks hitting live off Nebraska’s pitchers and earned the start against Ohio State on Tuesday. He got one of Nebraska’s four hits, a double, and after that there was no way you could take him out of the lineup.

While he had a handful of Sport Center Top Ten worthy moments in the tournament, nothing was bigger than the twelve-pitch walk he worked against Purdue in the elimination game on Thursday. Nebraska had been humiliated two nights prior and they seemed rudderless early in the game against the Boilermakers. There was incredible tension in the stadium as it was unimaginable that the number two seeded team could be two-and-BBQ. And then up came Gabe, who had struggled all season, and he fought off pitch after pitch after pitch to earn a walk. He pumped his fist, the crowd roared a bit, and a spark had been lit for the Big Red that carried them through five games and ended fittingly, with a Gabe Swansen double that scored the winning run. Movies are made of this!

After the Friday game, I asked Swansen what got him through the tough times this season. His response was, “It’s baseball. It’s going to be hard. I had my team. I worked hard and I had these guys.” Nebraska baseball is fortunate to have you, Gabe Swansen.

Good Pitching Beats Good Hitting

This philosophy has been part of baseball as long anyone can remember, and while over the years there have been exceptions – think of the 1990’s era of bats with the concussive power of a canon – over the course of time, it proves out to be true. That was definitely the case in this tournament.

After beating Ohio State on Friday, Buckeye skipper Bill Mosiello was asked about the state of Big Ten baseball and specifically about his thoughts about Nebraska. Mosiello has coached in other big time baseball conferences, including the SEC, and had gone up against both Will Bolt and Rob Childress while they were at Texas A&M. He shared that the best Big Ten teams were built around offense, and from that perspective, were as good as teams from other top conferences. However, in his opinion, there was only one team that had the quality and depth in its pitching that they could compete with top teams, and that was Nebraska. In fact, he called it in that post-game press conference saying that if any team could come back from a first game loss, it was Nebraska, because of their pitching. He went further and said that the team was built for a tournament like this, and for a regional.

Eliminate what happened Tuesday night against the Buckeyes and you cannot find any reason at all to criticize the Cornhusker pitching staff. They. Were. Outstanding! And frankly, the Tuesday night disaster was as much about a pathetic offense as it was about the pitching. Every one of the guys that took the ball pitched with a sense of purpose and courage. Nebraska’s pitching was the difference in this tournament.

I Want These Guys in My Foxhole

There has been a lot of criticism thrown at Will Bolt and Rob Childress over the course of the season from Nebraska fans. Corn Nation social media has been the focal point of some of the Fire Will Bolt venom and justification that has been bantered back and forth. In reality, criticism and second-guessing is par for the course in athletics, whether you’re winning or losing.

There is no question that there were games this season when I was beyond exasperated with the team. How can a team that qualifies for a regional and puts on a five-game run like they just did have a losing record in midweek games against lesser competition, with the possible exception of Kansas State? How can they play so bad on a Sunday wearing black uniforms against teams that they had already beaten twice?

Childress was an easy target at times because of the inconsistency of the pitching staff at times, but especially on Tuesday and Wednesdays. Over the course of the season, there are going to be ups and downs with your weekend starters, but for the most part, they stayed solid throughout. It did seem like it took time to figure out who you could trust out of the bullpen, and there isn’t a guy out there that could say they didn’t get an opportunity. This week it came together, and because the starters were so outstanding in the final five games, Bolt and Childress had a hand full of aces that they could choose from. That’s a good hand to have.

Will Bolt, Rob Childress, Lance Harvell, and Mike Sirianni are not going anywhere. There is not a person outside of the program that has a better understanding of the players on this team and all that goes into the development and preparation in the program. They were second in the conference during the regular season and they just won the tournament doing what no other team had ever done before since the league went to the current format. Chirp if you want, but don’t pretend to know more about Nebraska baseball than these guys.

On to Regionals

While writing this I am not sure where our boys will be playing next weekend, but we will most certainly provide you with full coverage of each game here at Corn Nation. Who knows, maybe we’ll get another couple of opportunities as well!