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Alex Henwood bumped a white placard bearing his name off the table as he sat for a postgame press conference. The Nebraska senior sighed and rolled his eyes at himself.

On a day that ended with a mercy-rule victory over a border rival, it felt like the only mistake the Huskers made.

The morning after thunderstorms wiped out the scheduled nightcap with Iowa, Nebraska proved to be early riser in an 11-1 runaway in eight innings Friday at TD Ameritrade Park.

Senior starter Nate Fisher and a suddenly hot offense combined to push fifth-seeded NU past the No. 8 seed and into the Big Ten tournament semifinals for the first time in five years.

“We’re striding in the right direction,” Fisher said. “So it was big.”

The Huskers (30-20) will start senior Reece Eddins against second-seeded Michigan Saturday at 9 a.m. A Husker win would put them in Sunday’s 1 p.m. title game while a loss would force an elimination game at 5 p.m. Saturday.

“Of all those scenarios, this is probably right now the best place you can be,” Nebraska coach Darin Erstad said. “So we just gotta get some rest and be ready to play early.”