With menacing intent, the Nebraska baseball team used 18 hits and seven walks to overpower Hawaii 12-3 in Saturday’s second day of the Cambria College Classic at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn.
“Good ol’ fashion butt whupping,” UH coach Rich Hill said.
The Rainbow Warriors, who dropped to 5-4, complete the tournament — and 10-day road trip — with today’s game against ninth-ranked Maryland. First pitch is set for 5:30 a.m. Hawaii time.
The Cornhuskers, who upset seventh-ranked Vanderbilt on Friday, improved to 5-3-1.
The Cornhuskers turned hard luck into hard hits. In the fourth inning, Garrett Anglim hit a shot over the fence in center that appeared to give the Cornhuskers a 2-0 lead. But home plate umpire Eric Loveless called time a nanosecond ahead of UH left-hander Randy Abshier’s release, negating the home run. Anglim then coaxed a walk from Abshier. Right fielder Gabe Swansen followed with a two-run double.
The Cornhuskers added a run in the fifth, then broke it open with a five-run sixth.
But the ’Bows, down 10-0 entering the bottom of the seventh, refused to tap out. Third baseman Kyson Donahue belted his second homer of the year and cousin Jordan Donahue had an RBI double to cut the deficit to 10-2.
“That’s a 10-run rule we were faced with in two different innings, but we punched back, and scored a two-spot,” Hill said. “They had us on the ropes again (in the eighth), on the brink of elimination, but we punched back.”
Matt Wong’s second homer of the tournament cut it to 12-3 in the eighth.
Abshier did not allow a run in the first three innings.
“Randy was able to throw his breaking ball for a strike for a couple innings,” Hill said. “It just kind of got away from him.”
Swansen went 3-for-5, including two doubles and a homer. Dylan Carey had four hits, and Anglim and Max Anderson each added three hits.
“You’ve got to give Nebraska credit,” Hill said. “Even their outs were loud all game. They can hit.”
The Cornhuskers also have crafty pitching. Right-hander Jack Kaminska allowed four hits in six scoreless innings to improve to 2-0. Kaminska was with Wichita State for two seasons — he was a Freshman All-American in 2021 — before transferring to Nebraska in August 2022.
“He was a portal guy, and he dominated it — and some,” Hill said of Kaminska. “Just tip your cap some days.”
After the game, Hill discarded the critique session.
“I told the guys, ‘hey, we can go through feedback for our improvement list and talk about all the negative things, but let’s talk about the positive things instead,’ ” Hill said. “The defense was spectacular.”
The ’Bows will face their third Big Ten team in a row this morning. “As crazy as it sounds, I think Maryland is the best team here,” Hill said. “Maryland is an Omaha-type team. There are four teams here that are Omaha caliber, which is great for us to see.”
