(Lincoln, NE) – Nebraska senior Brett Sears was chosen in the seventh round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Atlanta Braves, making him the No. 221 pick overall. He is the fourth player in Nebraska University (NU) history to be picked in the seventh round. Under head coach Will Bolt, Sears is the fifth NU pitcher to be selected in the draft’s first 10 rounds, following Spencer Schwellenbach, Cade Povich, Emmett Olson, and Jace Kaminska.
The former Harlan Cyclone received unanimous Second-Team All-American honors from D1Baseball, Baseball America, ABCA/Rawlings, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and Perfect Game. He also became the first NU baseball player since 2016 to be named a second-team Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators, and the first Husker to be both an All-American and Academic All-American in the same season since Aaron Marsden in 2003.
Before these accolades, Sears earned first-team all-region honors and was named District 6 Player of the Year. He was also a semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and National Pitcher of the Year. In the Big Ten, he was named Pitcher of the Year and a First-Team All-Big Ten selection, finishing the season with a 9-1 record, a 2.16 ERA, and 101 strikeouts over 104 innings.
Nationally, Sears ranked fourth in WHIP (0.88), fifth in ERA (2.16), 19th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.32), 20th in hits allowed per nine innings (6.23), and 24th in walks allowed per nine innings (1.64). Following Nebraska’s win against Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament, he became the first NU pitcher since at least 1999 to achieve a 9-0 record. Additionally, Sears is the first Husker with over 100 strikeouts in a season since 2008, ending with 101, which is ninth in program history.
