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Nebraska Softball Splits Day, Beats RV-Baylor, Falls to No. 4 UCLA

Nebraska softball split Thursday, securing a win over RV-Baylor before falling to No. 4 UCLA.
Maren Angus-Coombs|
Nebraska softball's Bella Bacon celebrates hitting a home run against Baylor at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
Nebraska softball's Bella Bacon celebrates hitting a home run against Baylor at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. | Nebraska Athletics

With Big Ten Co-Player of the Week Ava Kuszak sidelined Thursday with concussion-like symptoms, the No. 16 Nebraska Huskers shuffled their lineup and split their first two games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif.

Nebraska beat RV-Baylor 4-1 in the first game and dropped the nightcap to No. 4 UCLA 9-1.

Lauren Camenzind moved over to shortstop and into the leadoff spot for both games while freshman Natalia Hill and junior Katelyn Caneda shared second-base responsibilities.

Game One

Nebraska down the Baylor Bears 4-1 to open play in Southern California Thursday afternoon.

Jordy Bahl (4-1) secured the win for Nebraska (9-2), allowing just two hits and striking out nine without surrendering an earned run.

At the plate, Olivia DiNardo led the Huskers' offense with a 3-for-4 performance, including two doubles. Bella Bacon added a home run, while Hannah Camenzind contributed with two RBI singles.

Bacon, a junior first baseman, opened the scoring in the top of the second inning with her second career home run to give Nebraska an early 1-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, Ava Bredwell singled through the left side, and Kacie Hoffmann reached on an error that advanced Bredwell to third. Hannah Camenzind then delivered an RBI single, bringing Bredwell home to give Nebraska a 2-0 lead.

Bahl was impressive in the fifth inning. With Baylor threatening, loading the bases with no outs, Bahl responded by striking out three straight batters to escape the jam.

In the top of the fifth, Bredwell and Hoffmann drew walks to put runners on first and second. Kennadi Williams entered as a pinch runner for Hoffmann, and Camenzind followed with her second RBI single of the game, scoring Bredwell. Abbie Squier then added a sacrifice fly, bringing Williams home to extend the Huskers' lead to 4-1.

Baylor added its lone run in the bottom of the seventh.

Postgame Notes | Box Score

  • Jordy Bahl extended her scoreless inning streak to 16.2 innings before Baylor scored in the bottom of the seventh. Despite losing her scoreless streak, Bahl extended another streak, as she has not allowed an earned run in 27.0 consecutive innings.
  • Lauren Camenzind made her first start at shortstop for Nebraska.
  • Freshman Natalia Hill made her first career start, as she played second base for the Huskers.
  • Bella Bacon knocked her second career home run in the top of the second inning. 
  • Nebraska’s 9-2 start to the season is the best since 2018 when the team also was 9-2 through 11 games.

Game Two

The nightcap against the No. 4 UCLA Bruins came down to timely hitting and the Huskers didn't have it.

The matchup initially lived up to the hype as a potential Big Ten Championship matchup and the Huskers treated it that way, opting to start Bahl in the first game rather than this one.

While NU produced three hits against Taylor Tinsley, they couldn't deliver with runners on base going 0-for-13 with runners on and 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Hannah Camenzind got the start in the circle and kept the Bruins off-balance limiting them to two earned runs on one hit and two walks. She struck out two in 3.1 innings of work.

Kylie Magee came on in relief and struggled with her command. She surrendered four earned runs on three hits, two hit batters, one walk, and a wild pitch.

Cope allowed three earned runs on three hits and one walk in 0.1 an inning.

Samantha Bland drove in the one run for the Huskers in the top of third inning while Bahl, Hoffmann and Hannah Camenzind each had a hit.

Nebraska returns to the field Friday for a 3 p.m. CST game against No. 11 Duke. The game will be streamed on FloSoftball and can be heard for free across the Huskers Radio Network.

Postgame Notes | Box Score

  • 13 of Nebraska’s 20 at-bats came with runners on base, but the Huskers were 0-for-13 in those situations.
  • Nebraska is 9-3 this season with all three losses to teams currently ranked in the top 20. The Huskers also own a win over No. 5 Tennessee and a Baylor team that received the second-most votes of any non-ranked team this week.

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 and spent the 2023 season covering Husker Softball for Hail Varsity. In addition to All Huskers, she is a staff writer for the Los Angeles Sports Report.

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