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He's a great kid. Mature. Was surprised to hear he may be sitting at the top of the line-up too. I do believe he does a great job getting on base, just surprised me.
We'll definitely have our SoS in tact with a ton of Q1 games already underway. If we can even get to 5-6 it would be a serious win heading into conference / home games
Ya.....will get to it later today
Any truth to Miken Miller having a great fall to the extent they can try Worthley at other positions?
Miller was told he is a top 9 hitter and if Bolt goes for an offensive lineup, Worthley will play CF.
d1baseball.com
2025 Fall Report: Nebraska • D1Baseball
After scratching and clawing its way into another regional last year, Nebraska returns an experienced, talented core with designs on a Big Ten title run.
2025 Fall Report: Nebraska
by Patrick Ebert, D1Baseball
Nebraska opened the 2025 season as D1 Baseball’s 24th-ranked team, and the impetus for that lofty preseason placement had everything to do with how the Huskers performed in the fall. After speaking with head coach Will Bolt at this time last year, it was evident the team checked a lot of boxes with few visible weaknesses. They also boasted both depth and star power, the latter of which was best evidenced by soon-to-be staff ace Mason McConnaughey entering the year as a Preseason All-American.
Unfortunately for the Huskers, McConnoughey’s season lasted only three weeks before getting cut short by injury. And while at times during the 2025 season it looked uncertain as to whether or not the Huskers would make the Big Ten Tournament, much less the NCAA Tournament, they finished strong to claim their second straight B1G Tournament title and postseason appearance with an automatic bid-clinching win against UCLA at Charles Schwab Field.
Then-sophomore Ty Horn pitched the best game of his college career against the favored Bruins, providing eight shutout innings in a 5-0 victory. Horn returns to front a deep staff with an intriguing blend of experience and stuff.
But it’s the offense that has Coach Bolt the most intrigued after the fall. There were a lot of extra-base hits, some big home runs and loud exit velocities. While he has a rough idea of who is going to be penciled into the starting lineup come Feb. 13, for the most part, there’s enough depth to make a few positions interesting with healthy, internal competition.
“I’m excited about our team and I think we really hit on our portal guys, just from what they showed right away this fall, and really hit from the makeup standpoint,” Bolt said of his team. “The culture piece [is positive] and guys are hungry to take that next step.”
Position Players
If the Huskers were to play today it’s likely six of the nine batters in their lineup would be returners from 2025: first baseman Case Sanderson, third baseman Joshua Overbeek, shortstop Dylan Carey, center fielder Devin Nunez, left fielder Will Jesske and right fielder Max Buettenback. There are a few changes to positions involved here, with Nunez and Jesske moving to the outfield after spending most of last year as the team’s designated hitter and backup catcher, respectively.
Of this group the lefthanded-hitting Sanderson could be in store for the biggest move forward. He’s always been an accomplished hitter, and a polished defender at first base, but for as powerfully as he’s built (6-3/205) he hasn’t tapped into his power as much as he could have; in two years with the program he’s batted .320/.440/.431. The slugging percentage and the total extra-base hits during that time (24) support this. He has always flashed more power potential in batting practice and scrimmages, but that power hasn’t manifested itself in games as much as the coaching staff expected it to.
Previously content with taking pitches to the opposite field and hitting line drive singles, that could change this coming spring during his junior season based on Sanderson’s performance this fall.
“I would say the guy that made the biggest move was Sanderson, just from the standpoint of showing a little more pop,” Bolt said. “He’s always had the hit tool, I think his career average is hovering around .320 in his career. But he hasn’t really flashed a whole lot of extra-base hit pop and he really worked hard on that this fall, and he had a really loud fall – his best exit velo was 110 and I think his PR prior to this year was probably about 103.”
Bolt never thought Carey would return, as he is a gifted athlete who hit .288/.377/.486 last year with 20 doubles and eight home runs. For as consistently productive as Carey has been, he too could be poised for a true breakout campaign as a senior.
Overbeek, a switch-hitter, provides a steady presence at third base, both offensively and defensively, but after breaking his foot rounding second base at the Big Ten Tournament, he re-broke the same foot during fall ball. He should be fully healthy before the season begins and is a career .277/.381/.442 hitter in two years at Nebraska after beginning his college career at the JUCO level.
Buettenback gives the Nebraska lineup another big lefthanded bat in the middle of the lineup, and he was enjoying a strong sophomore season before mono limited his playing time late in the spring (and the first half of the summer). During the fall he was dealing with a tender hamstring, but last spring he hit .286 with seven homers in 40 games and could take another step forward as a junior.
Jesske served as the team’s No. 2 catcher in 2025, playing in 43 games and starting 29 of those, batting a plenty respectable .288 with 10 extra-base hits, three of which were home runs. He was really good in the fall, and the team decided he would be a better fit as an everyday player – most likely in left field – while also providing versatility as an emergency catcher. It’s the bat that has Bolt most excited, as he’s another candidate to break out during his junior season.
Nunez is the youngster of the returning group, and his role a year ago came somewhat as a surprise. Based on his first fall camp showing, Bolt did not think Nunez would play a major role on the team. That changed when the players returned from winter break, however, with Nunez showing incredible progress, forcing his way into the starting lineup early in the season, which included a 7-for-14 performance with 10 RBIs against Sam Houston, LSU and Kansas State at the Frisco Classic.
A lefthanded hitter, Nunez was previously an infielder but has made a seamless transition to center field with very good speed and first-step quickness. He likely will hit somewhere near the top or bottom of the lineup after leading the team with a .331 average as a freshman.
“He’s a perfect example of a guy that really wasn’t in the photograph in that small, six-week fall snapshot,” Bolt said of Nunez’s development. “We had a lot of returning experience on last year’s team, so there wasn’t the expectation that we were going to need to put him in the fire. But yeah, Nunez really forced our hand.”
Division II (Washburn) All-American transfer Jett Buck is one of two portal additions that Bolt believes will make an instant impact. Originally signed thinking he would take over at shortstop for Carey, Buck will suit up at second base on an everyday basis after batting .347/.393/.702 with 35 home runs in two years at the D-II level. He’s not overly physical at a listed 6-foot, 180 pounds, but his unique background and profile allow his tools to really play up.
“Just put up huge numbers, had a great career at Washburn,” Bolt explained. “Not a real big guy, but just a stick of dynamite in terms of how the ball comes off his bat. Has a knack for getting the ball elevated to his pull side. Kind of a unique story, he grew up riding dirt bikes and his grip strength is off the charts – I think a lot of that power comes from that strength between his elbows and his fingertips.”
Buck is athletic enough to play center field if the team needed him to, and while he broke his hamate during the fall, he will be 100 percent ready to go well before the beginning of the 2026 season.
Slugger Cole Kitchens is the other portal acquisition expected to make regular contributions offensively, a native of Arkansas who arrived in Lincoln after spending two years at the junior college level followed by a year at Southern Indiana. He enjoyed a monster season with the Screaming Eagles, slashing .371/.420/.624 with 18 doubles and 12 home runs on his way to being name First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference. With Sanderson entrenched at first base, look for Kitchens to serve as the team’s primary DH.
Nebraska will turn to a pair of newcomers to handle the catching duties. The first has a unique profile: freshman Jeter Worthley, the younger brother of Huskers lefthander Jalen Worthley and one of the team’s most-prized recruits that made it to campus. He’s a 6.6 runner in the 60-yard dash, and exhibits a really good baseball IQ with elite bat-to-ball skills. That led to him being inserted into the leadoff spot during the fall, a rare assignment for a catcher, much less a freshman, but Worthley routinely proved he had what it took to get on base and score runs while aptly handling the pitching staff.
Miken Miller is the lefthanded hitting complement to Worthley, a former hockey player with a tough, aggressive approach to the game of baseball. He’s an athletic, bat-first backstop who batted .375 with 12 home runs in two years at Johnson County CC. Both Worthley and Miller are athletic enough to play other spots on the field, with Bolt noting Miller in particular could find some time in left field as a way to get his lefthanded bat into the lineup.
Three other transfers from the junior college ranks – Preston Freeman, Nico Newhan and Mac Moyer – are also in the mix for playing time and each offers some versatility. Freeman is a lefthanded hitter that made some key adjustments in the fall that could allow him to get more regular looks. Newhan Is a short/stocky righthanded hitter who showed big power at the JUCO level (19 home runs at Grossmont College) and is the son of former big leaguer David Newhan. Moyer also has big league bloodlines as his dad, Jamie Moyer, used to regularly carve up lineups during his 25-year MLB career. Bolt noted that Nico could evolve similar to how Devin Nunez did a year ago and come back from break a much different ballplayer.
Worthley and Drew Grego will likely be the only freshmen to make an impact among the position players. Grego impressed with his athleticism and versatility, a player Bolt called a “mini-Buck,” in reference to Jett Buck, given his ordinary stature (6-0/190) yet impressive impact, leading the team with the highest average exit velo during the fall. There’s a little too much chase at this point of his development, but he enjoyed a big summer with the Liberal Bee Jays in the Rocky Mountain Baseball League.
After finishing 12th in the Big Ten in home runs and 11th in runs scored, look for a more powerful version of the Huskers in 2026.
Pitchers
Ty Horn may not receive the same kind of preseason accolades that Mason McConnaughey was honored with a year ago, but the optimism surrounding his development path is very similar. Horn served as the team’s Saturday starter a year ago, finishing the season better than he started it, carrying the Huskers to a Big Ten Tournament championship by shutting down UCLA in the title game while going 4-4, 4.94 in 18 games, 17 of which were starts. He led the team in innings (85.2) and strikeouts (76), showing a well-rounded four pitch mix that includes a fastball that sat at 94-96 mph during the fall, a low- to mid-80s slider, a mid- to upper-80s changeup and an upper-70s curveball that helps change eye levels.
His command continues to improve, doing a good job to establish both sides of the plate with his fastball with enough heat to get batters swinging up in the zone. The slider, which has shorter cutter-like break to it, is a perfect put-away pitch. Horn is now ready to assume the role of staff ace and front a staff that offers both depth and star power.
“Some of the inconsistencies last year was him not always controlling the controllables, at times letting the emotions get the best of him,” Bolt said of Horn. “But that’s also what makes him successful, It’s just his competitive nature. Once he really started channeling that In the right way he took off last year, [like] when you see him pitching with emotion against UCLA in [the Big Ten] championship game. [He] seemed to get better and better as the game went along and was able to pitch out of jams because he does have plus stuff and can punch you out. He kept the ball in the ballpark a lot better the back half of the season and a lot of that was pitch usage.”
If Nebraska is going to have success during the 2026 season, junior righthander Tucker Timmerman will likely play a big role. He missed a good part of the season a year ago after being struck by a line drive early in the season that required surgery. Upon his return he continued to enjoy success, posting a 5.82 ERA in 12 games spanning 34 innings, with a handful of weekend starts sprinkled in, but was doing so without his best stuff. He’s at his best commanding a 91-93 mph sinker down in the zone and is expected to return to form after having a minor procedure on his elbow to clean things up. Since that was done, Timmerman is feeling great with no pain and his velocity has since rebounded.
Since he didn’t pitch in the fall his role is still TBD. Bolt would prefer to use him as a weekend starter where he would log 80-100 innings and help form one of the Big Ten’s better starting staffs. If not, he’ll still carry plenty of value as a 50-70 inning reliever that can throw multiple innings a couple of times each week. That will be determined as pitchers start to ramp back up for the new season with Timmerman expected to go “full throttle” by January.
One of the key portal pickups on the pitching side of things is Cooper Katskee, a well-built 6-foot-4, 215-pound righthander who Bolt physically compared to McConnaughey. Katskee was named the MAC Pitcher of the Year last season, going 11-2, 3.08 at Miami (Ohio) after beginning his college career at Indiana. Bolt praised Katskee’s competitiveness and clubhouse presence, a mature pitcher who uses a four-pitch mix that includes an 88-91 mph fastball as well as a sharp breaking ball to regularly sit opposing hitters down. Katskee will likely serve as the team’s Saturday or Sunday starter, depending on Timmerman’s role.
The aforementioned star power on the staff comes in the form of 6-foot-7 righthander Carson Jasa. Jasa (pronounced Yasa) spent his summer on the Cape, where he was named an all-star with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks and routinely wowed onlookers, including our own Joe Healy, with his 95-98 mph fastball and mid- to upper-80s slider.
As you may suspect, for as good as his stuff is his command continues to be a work in progress, striking out 24 batters in 18 2/3 innings last spring with 19 walks. It remained a similar story over the summer with 34-to-25 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 27 innings. But the stuff is undeniable, and he made great strides in the fall to throws more strikes.
A big part of that development has been the progression of his slider, which he was throwing like a cutter in the 90-92 mph range during fall ball. Jasa found more success establishing that pitch early in the count to get him ahead, using his fastball to blow opposing batters away. Due to the elevated base on balls, which will likely continue to be a part of his game, Bolt and pitching coach Rob Childress prefer the idea of Jasa starting over coming out of the bullpen, where a free pass or two in a high leverage situation could make a sticky situation even worse. As a starter, presumably on Sundays or midweeks – a role Jasa feels more comfortable with – he would given the opportunity to get out of his own jams.
“He’s just right on the cusp of making that move, his upside is a day one pick,” Bolt said. “He was a lot more reliant on the fastball in the past. And even at 95-97 [he was hittable], just because he was behind in the count so much, it was very predictable. He’s really been pitching off his slider, or cutter – whatever you want to call it – but it’s 90 to 92. He’s throwing a fork ball, kind of a split-change type pitch, as well, and a curveball. So, it can be really, really nasty.”
The next men up in the rotation, presenting the potential to start as needed but more than likely serving in key bullpen roles, are a pair of sophomores: righthander Gavin Blachowicz and lefthander Colin Nowaczyk.
Blachowicz was already established as one of the team’s most frequently turned-to bullpen options as a freshman, posting a 3.80 ERA in 17 appearances spanning 21 1/3 innings. He has a mid-90s fastball that gets tremendous finish thanks to 20-22 inches of induced vertical break according to Bolt. Blachowicz continued his success with a strong summer in the Alaska Baseball League and he’s expected to assume many of the team’s “x-factor innings” during year two of his development.
Nowaczyk also enjoyed an impressive summer showing, taking his talents to California, and he also had a good fall. He generates a lot of swing and miss with an 88-92 mph fastball and two different breaking balls.
Serving in more of a situational role a year ago was now-senior lefthander Grant Cleavinger. He posted a 4.26 ERA in 19 relief appearances, striking out 20 in 12 2/3 innings with a three-pitch mix that includes a fastball that tops out at 93-94 mph.
Two more experienced, senior lefthanders providing innings will be Caleb Clark and Jalen Worthley. Returning righthanders filling situational roles include Pryce Bender, Ryan Harrahill and J’Shawn Unger.
Mississippi State transfer Kevin Mannell gives Nebraska a second key portal acquisition on the pitching side of things, and he’s expected to step in and serve as the team’s closer. Mannell is a big-bodied (6-4/220), low-slot righthander who can touch 94 and is at his best commanding a heavy, running fastball which he pairs well with a sweeping slider. Mannell began his career at Kansas State before dominating at the junior college level in 2024. Last year with the Bulldogs he made 11 appearances out of the bullpen, posting a 4.30 ERA with a 19-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 14 2/3 innings.
“He can make the ball move 23 inches in both directions with a sweeper and a fastball that really, really, moves,” Bolt said. “He’s got the bulldog mentality that you look for.”
Righthander Jace Ziola was the “most eye-opening freshman of the group,” according to Bolt when asked about the first-year pitchers. A big, physical righthander at 6-foot-3, 200-pounds, Ziola starred on the travel circuit in high school with a riding fastball that has touched 97 mph and a really good slider. His twin brother, Cade, is a 285-pound monster on the Huskers wrestling team that won a pair of state championships in Nebraska while in high school, and Jace carries similar intensity and toughness on the mound.
Although the Huskers did ultimately make the postseason a year ago, they underachieved during the first half of the regular season. The pitching staff returns several key arms for a collective unit that posted a 5.06 ERA last season, good for seventh-best in the Big Ten. There is depth and experience on the staff in addition to a nice collection of both left- and righthanded options for a variety of roles.
The biggest key to the season may very well be the offense, which proved to be a productive unit but often lacked in big blows. They will be put to the test early and often with a challenging schedule that includes back-to-back national tournaments to open the season. The Huskers begin 2026 at the MLB Desert Invitational in Scottsdale, Ariz., and the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series (facing Louisville, Kansas State and Florida State) at Globe Life Field before taking on Auburn on the road.
How they respond to that early adversity could go a long way in determining the team’s resolve and ability to compete with other postseason-hopeful programs.
“These juniors, all they know is dogpiling,” Bolt said. “The guys that have been in our program for three years saw a team in ‘24 that was gritty and tough through and through and won over 40 games and just missed the conference championship [but] won the tournament. [It was] kind of an underachieving team last year that dealt with injuries but overcame some adversity to win the championship. [They] also know the shortcomings of that team and what we need to do differently.
“A lot of really good player leaders in this group, a lot of guys that have won a lot of games in college and are hungry to do more.”
Nebraska will turn to a pair of newcomers to handle the catching duties. The first has a unique profile: freshman Jeter Worthley, the younger brother of Huskers lefthander Jalen Worthley and one of the team’s most-prized recruits that made it to campus. He’s a 6.6 runner in the 60-yard dash, and exhibits a really good baseball IQ with elite bat-to-ball skills. That led to him being inserted into the leadoff spot during the fall, a rare assignment for a catcher, much less a freshman, but Worthley routinely proved he had what it took to get on base and score runs while aptly handling the pitching staff.
I’ve heard that Jeter was pretty positive about time in the outfield as well.
Jeter runs a 6.6? Holy crap that’s a fast catcher.
I was told by an MLB scout that at USA Baseball testing he popped a 40+ inch vertical and almost 12 foot Broad jump. To put the broad jump into perspective, the longest broad jump ever at the NFL combine is 12 foot 3 inches.
Insane if true.
kid was a pretty solid QB for his high school team too.
