Sears Lands All-American Recognition from NCBWA

Senior Brett Sears was recognized as a second-team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) on Wednesday morning.

Sears’ second-team All-American honor is the highest by an NU starting pitcher since Aaron Marsden in 2003.

The senior becomes an All-American after earning first-team all-region and NCBWA District 6 Player of the Year honors earlier this month.

A semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and National Pitcher of the Year, Sears was the Big Ten’s Pitcher of the Year and a First-Team All-Big Ten honoree while posting a 9-1 record with a 2.16 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 104 innings.

Sears had a breakout 2024 campaign, ranking among the national leaders throughout the season. The Westphalia, Iowa, native is fifth nationally with a 2.16 ERA and 0.88 WHIP, 19th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.32), 21st in hits allowed/9 inn. (6.23) and 24th in walks allowed/9 inn. (1.64).

After Nebraska’s win over Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament, the senior became the first NU pitcher since at least 1999 to reach a 9-0 record on the mound.

Sears is the first Husker hurler with 100-plus strikeouts in a season since 2008 after compiling 101 punchouts, which is ninth-most in program history. Sears also completed the season tied for eighth in program history with 104 innings pitched in 2024.