When the baseball bounced toward foul territory in front of the first base dugout Saturday night and Nebraska sophomore Tucker Timmerman fell face down on the pitcher’s mound, coach Will Bolt knew the situation was not good.
“He’s not one to be dramatic,” Bolt said.
Well, not dramatic in that way.
Timmerman is apt to deliver drama with his reaction to a key moment. The 6-foot-3 right-hander pumped his fists in celebration after he struck out Vanderbilt’s R.J. Austin on a 2-2 pitch to end the sixth inning with the Huskers holding a one-run lead.
FIRE ME UP TUCK. 😤
The Beatrice native gets us out of the sixth unscathed. pic.twitter.com/6lCRq7Tpng
— Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) February 16, 2025
But in the eighth, with Nebraska ahead 6-4 and one runner aboard for the Commodores, Jonathan Vastine knocked a hard one-hopper off the left side of Timmerman’s face. Nebraska first baseman Case Sanderson tracked the ball down and made a heady play to end the inning with a tag of Vastine.
The rush of blood from Timmerman’s nose was immediate. Bolt and Nebraska trainer Tanner Fowler got to the pitcher in seconds. The area around his left eye was already badly bruised and beginning to swell.
“It was worse than I thought,” Bolt said. “But his reaction coming off the field tells you everything you need to know about him.”
His face covered in blood, Timmerman pumped his fists again. Closer Luke Broderick worked a perfect ninth inning to secure Nebraska’s first victory of the season on opening weekend in Scottsdale, Ariz. Players and coaches dedicated it to the memory of Greg Sharpe, the Huskers’ longtime radio voice who died Friday of pancreatic cancer.
And Timmerman’s reaction after taking a shot in the face made the win even more memorable. He posed with teammates for the Huskers’ customary victory photo, still smiling through the bloody mess, and then visited an emergency room with his mother, Missy Timmerman, Fowler and Nebraska deputy athletic director Dennis Leblanc.
Bolt received a text at 2:45 a.m., informing him that Timmerman had suffered a fractured bone near his eye socket. Nebraska got Tucker and Missy on a flight out of Phoenix to Omaha on Sunday morning.
Timmerman will need surgery to repair the fracture, Bolt said Monday.
It’s possible that Nebraska’s medical team could fit Timmerman with a “custom shield,” Bolt said, to allow him a speedy return.
“We’ll see what the doctor says,” Bolt said. “From what I understand, the average person is going to take a little longer, but hockey players can sometimes come back within a week. I would put Tucker in that category potentially.”
While in high school in Beatrice, Neb., Timmerman starred in baseball, basketball and football. He committed to Nebraska at age 15 after his freshman year in 2020.
Timmerman later sent video to Nebraska coaches of himself in the weight room, executing heavy power-clean lifts.
“We were like, ‘Hey man, that ain’t good for a pitcher,’” Bolt said. “‘We know you’re strong. But you don’t need to be ripping off outrageous numbers and torquing your elbow like that.’”
Timmerman hadn’t considered such logic.
He made 15 appearances last year as a freshman on Nebraska’s NCAA Tournament team and finished 2-0 with one save — and some struggles to find consistency. In the summer after his first season, Timmerman played in Alaska.
Pitching coach Rob Childress encouraged him to take a “football mentality” to the mound.
Childress knew it existed within Timmerman. The coach had seen it. Timmerman’s father, Ryan, was an offensive lineman at Ball State.
He thrived in Alaska and rediscovered the intensity that Childress sought.
“When he’s on the mound, it’s personal with him,” Childress said during the offseason. “That’s the thing I love most about Tucker. He’s going to be the ultimate competitor with the ball in his hand.”
His competitiveness came out Saturday in a key early season win for Nebraska against a perennial SEC power.
The Huskers finished 2-1 at the MLB Desert Invitational after a 13-0 rout on Sunday against San Diego State. They stayed in Arizona to face Grand Canyon on Monday.
Expect Timmerman to rejoin his teammates soon after their arrival back in Nebraska. Bolt said he expects Timmerson will embrace the intimidation factor that comes with wearing a mask or shield on the mound.
“It’s been important for him to get his edge back this year,” Bolt said. “We want him to remember that he’s a nice, humble kid off the field but a savage competitor on the field.”
Through one weekend, Timmerman has undeniably taken that message to heart.
(Photo courtesy of Nebraska Athletics)
