Nebraska baseball notes: Tougher Big Ten coming, breakout candidates, roster moves (2024)

The exact format isn’t yet set but the reality is already clear. Big Ten baseball will be a different animal in 2025.

The league right now is where it usually is, with one preseason top-25 school — in this case, No. 20 Iowa — and a general outlook as a three-bid conference, give or take. A glance at the national polls, though, shows what’s coming down the pike like a 95-mph heater.

There’s future B1G member UCLA checking in at No. 22, boosted by the sport’s No. 1 incoming recruiting class. And Oregon, which came two outs shy of its first College World Series last season. USC is receiving votes under a new coaching regime and still boasts more CWS titles (12) than any other program. Washington — which made its Omaha debut in 2018 — is coming off an NCAA-tournament campaign.

What it all means to Nebraska and everyone else is a new standard is coming.

“Our conference is going to be enhanced by adding those teams,” NU coach Will Bolt said. “It’s also going to force us to play more conference games, which I think is going to be a good thing.”

Nothing is yet finalized, but expect the number to land at 30 league contests. Big Ten teams this season will again play 24 — that is, eight three-game weekend series while missing four other opponents. The new configuration would mean a team seeing 10 of the other 16 schools. Coaches are generally against the “pod” scheduling from the 2021 league-only pandemic season that often saw three teams gather at one site and play a pair against each other for four games in a weekend.

The eventual 17-team Big Ten — Wisconsin doesn’t have baseball — is still considering divisions after operating without them for most of its history and since 1988. Of note, the SEC has used divisions since 1959 but will remove them when Oklahoma and Texas join in 2025 and instead feature two permanent opponents for each school in the 16-school conference.

Nebraska baseball, incidentally, hasn’t competed within a designated division since the Big Eight last used them in 1980.

Bolt, a former SEC assistant at Texas A&M, said divisions can help with the optics of at-large postseason candidates — “Finishing third in your division can be good versus looking at it like finishing seventh in the league from a (selection) committee perspective,” he said.

Resolution on the new format is expected no later than this summer.

Let’s go around the horn:

Roster almostset

Nebraska began full team practices last week with 42 players listed on its roster and needs to trim to 40 when the season starts Feb. 16. One move is essentially already made as infielder Aaron Manias — a junior-college addition who was set to provide infield depth — underwent shoulder surgery following an injury and will miss the year.

Other decisions helped the Huskers whittle down too. Sophom*ore pitchers Austin Berggren and JC Gutierrez pivoted to junior colleges while underclassman right-hander Will Rizzo retired.

It’s possible NU won’t need to make a cut — a year ago multiple preseason injuries reconciled most of the roster gap.

Breakout candidates

There are no shortage of options here, not with 25 newcomers and other returning contributors who could take the metaphorical next step.

A popular one: Junior right-hander Drew Christo. It’s possible — maybe even likely — Christo is Nebraska’s opening Day starter. The former top-100 national recruit from Elkhorn has electric stuff and oozes intangibles as a team leader.

Command has been the hurdle. In 22 career college innings, Christo has walked 13 batters and hit another seven. This offseason he added a harder slider/cutter he found success with in the fall — it’s become his favorite pitch, he said — and tweaked the grip on his curveball for more consistency. Those will mix with a low-to-mid-90s fastball and a changeup.

Christo credited new pitching coach Rob Childress for helping him smooth out his mechanics and for drills emphasizing body control. The pitcher has also found a personal headspace of focusing on daily process over results.

“Coming into this year I think I’m pretty free of expectations of myself and I’m able to compete just for the love of the game,” Christo said. “Over the past summer and fall it’s made me a better player.”

Another returning Husker to watch is Ben Columbus. The senior catcher batted .262 with eight extra-base hits in 47 Nebraska games last season but internal analytics suggest the production could have been considerably better. Columbus enjoyed a strong fall after a summer in the Texas Collegiate League where he hit .282 with 10 doubles and two homers across 36 games with a notable walk-to-strikeout ratio of 31-to-18.

Columbus will be in the mix behind the dish with Josh Caron and could also serve as designated hitter or first baseman as he did at times in 2023.

New assistants impact

New on-field assistants Mike Sirianni and Childress have made quick differences as recruiters since their official hires last summer. Their presences will be felt on game days too.

The immediate effect Childress has on the pitching staff — Nebraska aims to walk among the fewest batters in the country while posting an elite strikeout-to-walk ratio approaching 3-to-1 — is among the top storylines of the season. Childress spent the previous two years in a support role as NU director of player development following 16 seasons as head coach at Texas A&M.

“You definitely can tell that he brought his wisdom from being a coach and implemented it into our daily routines,” Christo said. “A lot of the stuff is focused on competing and throwing the ball over the plate. That’s something I think has helped me become a better pitcher.”

Sirianni, an assistant and recruiting coordinator at Wichita State the previous four campaigns, will coach first base and work with infielders. He too has been a head coach, at NCAA Division II Regis (2017-19) in Denver, and brings fresh ideas in areas of base running and hitting.

“He’s seen success with guys that maybe we’ve tried to say it a different way and it resonates the way he says it,” Bolt said. “He’s a great communicator, he’s a worker. Exactly the things I thought hiring him, he’s made a major, major impact. Look forward to seeing how that plays out with our offense this spring.”