STILLWATER, Okla. (KMTV) — Facing elimination early in their second tournament in a row, Nebraska baseball held off Niagara 7-5 Saturday in the Stillwater regional of the NCAA Tournament.
Gabe Swansen led the Huskers with two solo home runs, followed by Case Sanderson with four RBIs, including a three-run homer.
Mason McConnaughey got the start on the mound, allowing five runs, five hits and throwing 10 strikeouts in 6 innings.
Niagara got the bats going early with a three-run home run from Eric Rataczak to take the lead.
The Purple Eagles added to it in the second on a sacrifice fly from Nick Groves to make it 4-0.
Nebraska's Case Sanderson cut the gap to 4-3 in the third with a three-run shot of his own, just the third long ball of the year for the freshman infielder.
He later tied the game up in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly that brought in Joshua Overbeek.
Swansen soon followed that up with his first home run to take a 5-4 lead.
But Niagara's Brady Desjardins put his team right back in it, sending the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth out of the park, tying the game at 5.
The Big Red took a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning as Tyler Stone scored on an error, followed in the seventh inning by Swansen's second home run to increase the gap to two.
Nebraska will play the loser of the Florida vs. Oklahoma State game Sunday at 1 p.m. If the Huskers win that one, they would need to beat the winner of Florida vs. Oklahoma State twice—once Sunday evening and once Monday—to advance to the Super Regional.
