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Nebraska Falls to UCLA in Big Ten Softball Tournament Semifinals

The Huskers have been eliminated in the league semifinals each of the past three years.

Kaleb Henry

Nebraska fell to UCLA in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
Nebraska fell to UCLA in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. / Nebraska Athletics

A top-25 battle in the Big Ten Conference Tournament saw the newcomer move on.

No. 19 Nebraska fell to No. 9 UCLA in the league semifinals Friday in West Lafayette, 4-2. The teams were seeded 3 and 2, respectively.

This was the third consecutive loss in the Big Ten semifinals for the Huskers after winning the tournament in 2022.

NU moved to 39-13 on the season, while UCLA improved to 49-9. The Bruins advance to Saturday's championship game.

UCLA able to get out in front and play from there the rest of the game. The Bruins scored in the bottom of the first inning before adding a two-run homer in the fourth.

Nebraska make things interesting in the sixth, with Samantha Bland and Ava Kuszak knocking back-to-back singles. They both scored on a Hannah Camenzind triple to cut UCLA’s advantage to 3-2.

But that was all the Husker offense could muster as the Bruins added a solo homer to reach the final score of 4-2.

Jordy Bahl (23-6) took the loss in the circle. She pitched 6.0 innings and allowed four runs and nine hits while striking out 11 batters. Kaitlyn Terry (17-4) claimed the win for the Bruins, notching 13 strikeouts.

Nebraska is now off until the NCAA Tournament, which begins May 16. Before that is the NCAA Softball Selection Show, which will air on Sunday, May 11 at 6 p.m. CDT on ESPN2.

Postgame Notes | Box Score

  • Nebraska is now 10-10 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament.
  • Jordy Bahl notched 11 strikeouts for her ninth double-digit strikeout game this year.
  • Bahl’s 11 strikeouts brought her season total to 254, which puts her at 9th in school history.

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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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