No. 19 Nebraska softball steamrolled to a 14-1, five-inning victory over Southeastern Louisiana Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. The win puts the Cornhuskers (41-13) within one win of the NCAA regional championship and a bid in the super regional round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014 and just the third time in school history.
Nebraska jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. After Jordy Bahl and Ava Kuszak drew walks, Hannah Camenzind clubbed a three-run home run to centerfield to put the Huskers ahead early. The Lady Lions answered with a run in the bottom of the first inning, as Elkhorn native Cydnee Schneider lined a two-out single to left to put SLU on the board.
But from there, it was all Nebraska. In the third inning, Olivia DiNardo drew a walk. Hannah Camenzind followed with a single to center. With one out, Bella Bacon doubled to center to drive in DiNardo’s pinch runner, Kennadi Williams. Ava Bredwell followed with a walk to load the bases. With Emmerson Cope at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Hannah Camenzind to score, Bacon to advance to third and Bredwell to advance to second. After Cope struck out, Bahl drew a walk to load the bases again. Samantha Bland hit an infield single through the right side to push the lead to 6-1. Ava Kuszak then came to the plate and clubbed a grand slam to centerfield, boosting the lead to 10-1.
The barrage continued in the fourth. Abbie Squier led off with a double to left. Bacon reached on an error by the second baseman, moving Squier to third. A Bredwell sacrifice fly to center scored Squier to grow the lead to 11-1. Bacon moved to third on the play. With Lauren Camenzind at the plate, a wild pitch scored Bacon to build the lead to 12-1. With two outs, Jordy Bahl came to the plate and hammered a home run to left. The longball, her 22nd of the season, tied Ali Viola’s 1998 school record for home runs in a season. Bland followed with a home run of her own to left to push the lead to 14-1.
Hannah Camenzind made it stand up. After Bahl threw three innings, allowing one earned run, Camenzind retired all six batters she faced, securing Nebraska’s 25th mercy-rule win of the season.
Bahl (24-6) earned the win, walking one and striking out three in three innings of work. In the first two games of the regional, Bahl has had to throw a combined six innings and 90 pitches, leaving her fairly fresh for Sunday’s regional final.
Bland paced Nebraska’s offense, hitting 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and two RBI. Bahl drew three walks and homered, running her regional hitting totals to 3-for-3 with three home runs and five walks.
The Huskers are 2-0 to start a regional for the first time since 2013, when Nebraska advanced from a home regional to the super regionals, and then the Women’s College World Series. The Huskers seek their first regional championship since 2014, when NU overcame a first-round loss to win four straight elimination games in 24 hours to clinch the regional title.
But winning this regional will not nearly be as arduous. The Huskers only have to win one of two games Sunday to advance to Super Regionals, where the regional champion from Baton Rouge will take on the winner of the Knoxville regional.
Nebraska will take on Southeastern Louisiana in the regional final Sunday at 2 p.m. Pregame coverage will begin at 1:45 p.m. on KLIN. The Lady Lions defeated LSU, 8-7, Saturday night in the elimination bracket, to setup the rematch with the Huskers.