Nebraska baseball gets a rare home date with a ranked opponent this weekend when the Huskers host No. 12 USC in a three-game series at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park in Lincoln from April 17-19, 2026. Friday’s opener is set for 6:02 p.m., with games Saturday at 2:02 p.m. and Sunday at 12:02 p.m.
Cooper Katskee is scheduled to start Friday for Nebraska against Mason Edwards, followed by Carson Jasa against Grant Govel on Saturday and Gavin Blachowicz against Andrew Johnson on Sunday. All three games will stream on B1G+, and Sunday’s finale also will air on Nebraska Public Media, with Nick Handley and Ben McLaughlin calling the series on the Huskers Radio Network.
The matchup comes at an important point for Nebraska, which was ranked No. 22 by Perfect Game, No. 24 by the NCBWA and No. 25 by /Coaches after going 1-3 last week against Kansas and No. 21 Oregon. The Huskers dropped out of the D1 Baseball rankings and Baseball America’s Top 25, while D1Baseball’s latest poll included No. 1 UCLA, No. 12 USC and No. 19 Oregon as the Big Ten’s representatives.
USC is a familiar but infrequent opponent. The schools have met seven times on the diamond, with the Trojans holding a 4-3 edge, and USC took two of three games from Nebraska in California last season. Before that series, the teams had played single games in 1979, 1984, 2005 and 2013. This weekend will be USC’s first visit to Lincoln in the all-time series.
Nebraska’s rotation gives the Huskers a chance to lean on three of their most productive arms. Katskee is 5-0 with a 3.27 ERA in 44 innings and has 51 strikeouts while limiting opponents to a.182 average. Jasa is 6-1 with a 4.34 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 42 innings across nine starts. Blachowicz is 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 39.2 innings.
The series also lands in the middle of a strong home run for the Huskers. Nebraska is in its 25th season at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park and has not had a losing season at home in any of the last 24 years. After Tuesday’s 5-4 win against Creighton, Nebraska is 456-184-1 in 641 all-time games at the park and 16-1 at home this season.
That home record helps explain why this weekend matters beyond the rankings. Nebraska is 28-9 through 37 games, and those 28 wins are tied for fifth-most by the program this century. The Huskers have reached 26 wins through 37 games only twice under Will Bolt, including the 2021 team that started 26-11. Nebraska’s current pace trails only teams that won 31 games in 2006, 30 in 2005 and 29 in both 2008 and 2001 through the same stretch.
For Nebraska, the task is straightforward: protect home field, keep the rankings picture from slipping further and handle a USC team arriving with one of the Big Ten’s best early-season resumes. For the first time in the series, the Trojans will have to do it in Lincoln.