A spot in the Corvallis (Oregon) Regional, home of the nation's top-ranked baseball team, meant Nebraska was going to have its work cut out for it.
"We have our foot in the door," Husker coach Darin Erstad said moments after the NCAA Tournament field was revealed last Monday. "That means we have a chance."
For a second straight season, the bats faded and Nebraska went 0-2 in regional play. The Huskers never got a chance at No. 1 Oregon State. The Big Ten regular-season champions lost to Yale 5-1 and Holy Cross 7-4.
The finish was a mirror image of last year's NCAA Tournament appearance, when offensive struggles doomed the Huskers in losses to Oklahoma State and Western Carolina at the Clemson (South Carolina) Regional.