Behind two home runs from Emmerson Cope, the No. 18 Nebraska softball team claimed an 8-5 eight-inning win over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the first of two games Friday in Wichita, Kan.
Cope led the offense, going 3-for-4 with her two home runs, including a game-tying solo home run with Nebraska down to its final out in the top of the seventh inning. Cope added a career-high four RBIs. Ava Kuszak and Jordyn Bahl both went 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
Bahl (6-2) grabbed the win in the circle after entering in a tied seventh inning. She pitched 2.0 shutout innings with three strikeouts. Hannah Camenzind threw the first 4.2 innings for the Huskers (13-4) and allowed three earned runs. Kylee Magee pitched 0.1 innings and Cope came in for the sixth inning. Cope and Magee each allowed one earned run. Madi Mangulis (1-3) took the loss for South Dakota State (5-10).
The Huskers struck first in a two-run first inning. Kuszak reached on a Jackrabbit error and Bahl singled to center field. Olivia DiNardo was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and a Cope single sent Kuszak and Bahl to the plate.
Nebraska notched another run in the top of the fourth, as Lauren Camenzind got on base with a single, advanced to second on a Hannah Camenzind sacrifice bunt and scored by an Abbie Squier RBI single up the middle.
In the top of the fifth, Cope knocked a home run to center field for her second hit of the day to make the lead 4-0.
South Dakota State logged a four-run bottom of the fifth to tie the score at 4-4 with all four runs scoring with two outs.
The Jackrabbits scored again in the bottom of the sixth off an Akayla Banard homer that gave SDSU a 5-4 lead.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Cope sent a 2-1 pitch over the wall in right field for her second home run of the day to tie the game at 5-5. The game-tying blast marked Cope’s first career multi-homer game.
In the top of the eighth, Hannah Camenzind opened the inning with a double, then proceeded to advance to third on a wild pitch. A Kuszak double sent Camenzind to the plate and gave the Big Red a 6-5 lead. Bahl then doubled to score Kuszak, and Bahl went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI ground out from Samantha Bland.
Leading 8-5, Bahl retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth with a pair of strikeouts.
NU will play its second game of the day at 12:30 p.m. (CT) against No. 16 Oklahoma State in Wichita, Kan. The game can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
Natalia Hill started in center field, her first start at the position.
Emmerson Cope hit home runs in the fifth and seventh innings for the first multi-homer game of her career.
Cope also tied her career high with four RBIs.
Cope, Ava Kuszak and Jordyn Bahl each had three hits. It marked the second career three-hit game for Cope, the fifth for Kuszak and the third for Bahl.
Today’s win marks the Huskers’ first extra-inning win of the season. NU is 1-1 in extra-inning games this season.
The Huskers used four different pitchers against South Dakota State – Hannah Camenzind, Kylee Magee, Emmerson Cope and Jordy Bahl. That is the first time this season NU has used four pitchers.
Huskers.com
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