Will Bolt explains decision to start Carson Jasa vs. South Dakota State
On Thursday following his team’s practice at Haymarket Park, Nebraska head coach Will Bolt explained his decision to start the Huskers’ ace, Carson Jasa, against South Dakota State in Friday’s Lincoln 3 p.m. Lincoln Regional opener.
Jasa, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound right-hander, is 9-2 on the season, owns a 3.76 earned-run average and will be making his 16th start of the season.
“About a month ago, we shuffled our rotation to make sure Carson was taking the ball on Friday to prepare for game one of a regional,” Bolt said. “He’s been out most consistent pitcher all year long, and we feel like he gives us the best chance to set the tone for the weekend.”
Bolt said he wants to go with his best arm to begin the regional, and the quality of opponent doesn’t change that, even with either Ole Miss or Arizona State waiting on Saturday.
“No matter who you’re playing this time of year, it’s three wins to win the tournament,” Bolt said. “And we feel like he gives us a really good chance tomorrow to set a great tone for the entire weekend. And that’s how this team has played so well and so consistently, is they feed off each other’s energy and emotion and confidence. The crowd gets behind those things as well, we’ve seen that over the course of the year.
“We feel like sending Jasa out there is the only option. It’s not that there weren’t conversations neccesarily, but at the end of the day, respect your opponent. South Dakota State is coming to beat us tomorrow, so our best bet in our opinion to win the game tomorrow is to throw Carson Jasa.”
Bolt said he’s not going to deviate from how he and pitching coach Rob Childress have operated in these kinds of situations in the past.
“Rob and I have been together for eight regional championships between coaches and players,” Bolt said, “and we’ve started our No. 1 pitcher in seven of those on the first game. Maybe it’s in the DNA of how our teams play and how they feed off each other and those types of things, but again, you throw your best guy out there the first day.”
While South Dakota State comes to Lincoln with a losing record and surprised many by winning its Summit League Tournament as the No. 4 seed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, Bolt doesn’t want to look past anyone.
“This isn’t some David vs. Goliath matchup — it’s just not,” Bolt said. “You have seen enough of our games this year — we have to play a certain brand of baseball to win. We’re not going to just show up and out-talent everybody in the country. We have plenty of talent, everybody has talent. So to think anything other than, we’re going with Jasa until we have to take the ball from him because he’s out of bullets, I’m just not really thinking about that.”
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