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Jordy Bahl Joins Elite Club, Leads Nebraska Softball Over UConn at Baton Rouge Regional

The Huskers run-rule the Huskies to open the Baton Rouge Regional.

Kaleb Henry

Nebraska starting pitcher/relief pitcher Jordy Bahl .
Nebraska starting pitcher/relief pitcher Jordy Bahl . / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jordy Bahl put on a signature performance to begin the postseaon.

The Big Ten Pitcher and Player of the Year posted a dominant outing in both the circle and at the plate to lead Nebraska softball to a 10-2 win in six innings over UConn in the opening game of the Baton Rouge Regional. The Huskers improve to 40-13 while the Huskies fall to 35-18.

This is the 14th 40-win season in program history.

Getting the start in the circle, Bahl allowed just three baserunners over 3.0 innings. Two of those runners were walked with the third reaching on an errors. Bahl did no allow hit, while striking out three Huskies.

At the plate, Bahl reached base in all four of her plate appearances. She was walked in her first two trips to the plate, but launched home runs in her next two, including the 100th homer of the season for the Big Red. That home run also put Bahl into the history books as the fourth player in NCAA history to have 20 home runs and 20 wins in the same season.

With Bahl at the plate for a fifth time, Bella Bacon scored on a wild pitch go give the Huskers a run-rule victory.

Nebraska tallied 10 hits on the day, with Ava Kuszak, Abbie Squier, and Ava Bredwell joining Bahl with multi-hit efforts. Kylee Magee pitched the final 3.0 innings, allowing two runs on four hits.

On the other side of the bracket, Southeastern Louisiana upset No. 10 national seed and host LSU, 4-3.

Nebraska and Southeastern Louisiana play in the winners bracket Saturday at 12 p.m. CDT. UConn and LSU fall to the losers bracket to play Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CDT.

Jordy Bahl rounds the bases after a home run against UConn in the first round of the Baton Rouge Regional.
Jordy Bahl rounds the bases after a home run against UConn in the first round of the Baton Rouge Regional. / Nebraska Athletics

Postgame Notes | Box Score

  • With its four-run second inning, NU has now scored 4+ runs in 41 innings this season.
  • Nebraska’s 10 runs tied for its highest-scoring NCAA Tournament opener in program history.
  • NU also scored 10 in its opener against Arizona State in 1997.
  • The Big Red has now hit 100 home runs on the season and is the fourth Big Ten team in history to homer 100 times in a season.
  • With the win, the Huskers reached 40+ wins for the first time since 2022 and the second since 2014.
  • NU is now 66-56 in the NCAA Tournament and 56-39 in the regional round.
  • Nebraska has 24 run-rule wins on the season, which is the most in school history.
  • Jordyn Bahl became the second Husker ever and first since MJ Knighten in 2016 to have 60+ hits, runs and RBIs in a single season.
  • Bahl now has 21 home runs and 23 wins this season, making her the fourth ever NCAA player to have 20+ wins in the circle and 20+ home runs at the plate in the same season.
  • Bahl has three multi-homer games on the season.
  • Bahl matched her career high with five RBIs on the day.
  • Ava Kuszak’s single in the fourth inning put her at a 12-game hit streak.

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Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

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