The No. 21 Nebraska softball team is set to travel to Evanston, Ill., for a Big Ten series this weekend against the Northwestern Wildcats (20-12-1, 9-1 Big Ten). Saturday’s game is set for 2 p.m. (CT), Sunday’s contest is at 4 p.m. (CT) and Monday’s finale is at 3 p.m. (CT).
NU was tabbed No. 21 by the NFCA Coaches Poll this week, No. 23 by USA Softball/ESPN and No. 25 by Softball America.
Last weekend, the Big Red (29-10, 8-3 Big Ten) traveled to Iowa City, Iowa, to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in a Big Ten series. NU grabbed victories on Friday (12-0, 5 innings) and Saturday (14-1, 5 innings) but took a loss on Sunday (2-5). In Saturday’s win, Nebraska hit six home runs to tie the school record for most home runs in a game. Three of those home runs came from Samantha Bland, and she is now tied for the most home runs in a game in program history. The Huskers also notched their 18th run-rule win of the season, which is the most in Nebraska softball history. NU downed the Creighton Bluejays by a score of 8-2 in a midweek matchup on Wednesday. In that game, the Huskers hit their 77th, 78th and 79th homers to grab the single-season home run record.
Saturday and Monday’s games will be streamed on B1G+ and Sunday’s contest will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Every game will have a free radio broadcast with Nate Rohr on the call. The radio broadcast is available at Huskers.com/listen and on the official Huskers app.
Leading Off
Nebraska now has 79 home runs on the season and has the school record for most homers in a season.
If the season ended today, the Huskers would rank first in school history in slugging percentage (.651), second in on-base percentage (.430) and fourth in extra-base hits (157).
Ava Kuszak is currently tied for 10th place in school history with 15 home runs on the season, and Jordyn Bahl is tied for 10th in school history with 27 extra-base hits.
The Huskers are ranked No. 21 in the NFCA Poll. NU has been ranked by the NFCA every week this season.
Kacie Hoffmann is two hits away from 100 in her career.
Nebraska notched six home runs in the game two win over Iowa, including three from Samantha Bland. Both the team’s mark and Bland’s mark tied school records for most home runs in a game.
In last Saturday’s game at Iowa, the Huskers notched their school-record 18th run- rule win of the season.
NU currently has three athletes batting above .400 — Jordyn Bahl, Ava Kuszak and Olivia DiNardo. The only time the Huskers have finished the season with multiple batters above .400 was when it had two in 2015.
Huskers Have Record Week
The Nebraska softball team either tied or broke numerous school records over the course of last weekend’s 2-1 series win over Iowa and in the 8-2 win over Creighton on Wednesday.
The Huskers downed the Hawkeyes 12-0 on Friday and 14-1 on Saturday to notch their 17th and 18th run-rule wins of the season. Eighteen run rules is the most in program history.
As a team, NU hit six home runs during Saturday’s game. That mark tied the school record that was set in 1996 against Creighton.
Three of the Big Red’s home runs on Saturday came courtesy of Samantha Bland, who is now tied for the Nebraska and Big Ten records with three home runs in a single game. She is tied with Kaylan Jablonski, Christie McCoy and Ava Kuszak, who knocked three homers against Montana earlier this season.
Before the 2025 season, only two Husker hitters ever had hit three home runs in a single game. NU has had two hitters do it this year.
The Big Red’s six home runs on Saturday brought the season total to 76, and Nebraska hit its 77th, 78th and 79th home runs against Creighton on Wednesday to grab the single-season home run record.
Husker Home Run Quick Hitters
The Nebraska softball team has enjoyed a solid season at the plate, most notably with its home run numbers.
Nebraska is second in the nation with 79 home runs in only 38 games and is on pace to hit 101 home runs in a 50-game regular season. NU broke the school record for single-season home runs, notching its 77th, 78th and 79th against Creighton on Wednesday.
A total of 14 Huskers have hit a home run this season, including 13 players with multiple home runs.
The Huskers have homered five times in a game on five occasions this season, including three consecutive games to open the Troy Cox Classic.
Nebraska has produced 14 innings this season with multiple home runs, including five innings with three or more home runs.
Nebraska has hit back-to-back home runs six times this season, including three times with three consecutive home runs that includes a school-record four straight home runs against San Jose State on Feb. 22.
Ava Kuszak (twice), Jordyn Bahl, Samantha Bland, Abbie Squier, Emmerson Cope (twice) and Hannah Camenzind have all had a multi-homer game this season, including three-home run games from Kuszak against Montana on Feb. 16 and Bland at Iowa on April 5, both of which tied the Nebraska and Big Ten records for home runs in a game.
Kuszak has hit more home runs herself (15) than 105 NCAA Division I teams. Together, Kuszak (15) and Jordyn Bahl (12) have combined for 27 home runs. Their two-player combined total of 27 home runs would rank 105th among all NCAA Division I teams this spring and would be more than five Big Ten schools have hit as a team.
Ten Huskers – Bahl, Kuszak, Squier, Bella Bacon, Alina Felix, Hannah Camenzind, Malia Thoms, Lauren Camenzind and Samantha Bland – have already matched or exceeded their career season highs in home runs.
Bahl Solid at the Plate
Nebraska softball pitcher and utility player Jordyn Bahl has not only had an impact in the circle, but her offense is a force to be reckoned with.
Bahl ranks in the top 25 nationally in extra-base hits (7th), runs per game (7th), runs (11th), total bases (14th) and slugging percentage (19th).
On the season, 27 of Bahl’s 52 hits have gone for extra bases. She averages an extra-base hit every 4.2 at bats and almost one extra-base hit per game.
Bahl has nearly as many hits herself as she has allowed as a pitcher. Bahl has 52 hits in 118 at bats at the plate and in the circle, she has allowed only 66 hits in 491 opponent at bats.
Bahl has also scored more runs herself (48) than she has allowed (45) in 121.0 innings in the circle.
Huskers in the Record Books
The 2025 Nebraska softball team is first in school history with 79 home runs on the season.
As it stands, the 2025 squad is fourth in school history in extra-base hits with 157 on the season. It would rank first in slugging percentage (.651) and second in on-base percentage (.426).
The Big Red scored 10+ runs in five straight games from Feb. 14-16 for the first time in program history.
NU notched five home runs in three straight games for what is believed to be the first time in school history.
In the Huskers’ game against San Jose State at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, they hit four straight home runs for the first time in program history.
Nebraska scored 102 runs in its first 10 games of the season, which marked the quickest the team has hit the 100-run milestone. The Huskers scored 200 runs in their first 23 games of the season, which marked the quickest the team has hit the 200-run milestone.
NU scored 300 runs through 37 games, which marked the quickest the team has hit the 300-run milestone. Before this year, the fastest pace was games 43 in 2015.
Ava Kuszak and Samantha Bland have both posted three-homer games and are now tied with Kaylan Jablonski and Christie McCoy for the school record for home runs in a game.
Kuszak is currently tied for 10th place in school history with 15 home runs on the season, and Jordyn Bahl is tied for 10th in school history with 27 extra-base hits.
If the season ended today, Bahl would be first in school history in batting average (.441) and Kuszak would be ninth (.402). Bahl would also rank first in slugging percentage (.890), while Kuszak would rank third (.863).
Huskers Hit the Portal
Nebraska utilized the transfer portal this offseason, bringing in six new players — Hannah and Lauren Camenzind and Kacie Hoffmann from Arkansas, Olivia DiNardo from Arizona, Kylee Magee from Arizona State and Ava Kuszak from Wisconsin.
Hannah Camenzind was a second-team All-SEC member in 2023. Over her two seasons with the Razorbacks, she posted a 14-3 record with 3.11 ERA over 119.1 total innings. At the plate, she batted .308.
Lauren Camenzind was a third-team NFCA All-South Region member in 2023. Over her two seasons at Arkansas, she played in 86 games (79 starts) at both catcher and shortstop.
DiNardo racked up numerous accolades during her two years at Arizona. She was a second-team NFCA All-West Region member in 2023 and a Third-Team member in 2024 and was named a Second-Team All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honoree in 2023. Over the course of two seasons with the Wildcats, DiNardo started 102 games and built up a batting average of .340, along with 15 doubles, 20 home runs and 74 RBIs.
Hoffmann played in 106 games with 96 starts during her time with Arkansas. She hit .244 and logged 16 doubles, 15 home runs and 47 RBIs.
Kuszak earned second-team All-Big Ten honors and third-team NFCA All-Great Lakes Region accolades in 2024. During her two seasons at Wisconsin, she played in 76 games with 65 starts and notched 16 doubles, 10 home runs and 33 RBIs on a .278 batting average.
Magee was named a member of the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team at Arizona State in 2023. She suffered an injury early in the 2024 season. She pitched in 27 games with 24 starts and compiled a 3.51 ERA and two saves, along with striking out 79 batters in 89.2 innings.
What Nebraska Returned in 2025
Nebraska’s 2025 roster consists of 25 total athletes. Fourteen of those are returners.
The Huskers welcome back 14 letterwinners from last season – Bella Bacon, Jordyn Bahl, Samantha Bland, Ava Bredwell, Katelyn Caneda, Dakota Carter, Emmerson Cope, Alina Felix, Mckinley Malecha, Caitlin Olensky, Abbie Squier, Malia Thoms, Talia Tokheim and Haidyn Warner.
NU returns half of its starting lineup from 2024 in outfielder Samantha Bland, catcher Ava Bredwell, first baseman Bella Bacon, second baseman Katelyn Caneda and designated player Emmerson Cope.
Nebraska returns three of its top five hitters from 2024 – Ava Bredwell (.329), Emmerson Cope (.304) and Alina Felix (.302).
Returners Ava Bredwell, Samantha Bland, Bella Bacon and Katelyn Caneda each started in more than 95 percent of the Huskers’ games last season.
Huskers Returning from Injuries
Nebraska faced significant adversity in 2024, as a total of six players suffered season-ending injuries, including four that are returning for the 2025 season. Additionally, Arizona State transfer Kylee Magee had to use the offseason for rehab.
Jordyn Bahl suffered a knee injury in the Huskers’ 2024 season opener that required season-ending surgery. Bahl was a First-Team All-American, the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and one of 10 national finalists for player of the year in 2022 and 2023.
Abbie Squier, a returning All-Big Ten and all-region selection, returns after being out for the 2024 season due to surgery. In 2022 and 2023, she was the Big Red’s starting left fielder.
Dakota Carter, the Huskers’ designated player, was deemed out for the 2024 season before it even began. In 2023, she scored 13 runs as a pinch runner and appeared in 39 games.
Caitlin Olensky suffered a season-ending injury in the Huskers’ conference opener against Illinois last year. Before her injury, she compiled a record of 3-2 with a team-best 3.30 ERA.
Emmerson Cope was out for almost a month of the 2024 season after battling a back injury. When she was in the lineup, the Topeka, Kan., native amassed an ERA of 4.76 in the circle. She racked up 21 hits, 10 runs, six homers and 19 RBIs.
Talia Tokheim missed the first 23 games of the season while rehabbing an injury from 2023. She returned for nine games before suffering another season-ending injury in game three of the Penn State series. In her limited time on the field, she notched 46 total bases and seven home runs.
Kylee Magee suffered a season-ending injury after racking up six appearances with four starts in her sophomore year with the Sun Devils. In her first two years at Arizona State, she struck out 79 batters in 89.2 innings.
Scouting Northwestern (20-12-1, 9-1 Big Ten)
Northwestern is 20-12-1 on the season with a 9-1 mark in Big Ten competition. They are tied for first in the Big Ten standings. As a team, the Wildcats bat .288 and have an ERA of 3.85.
Nebraska and Northwestern have common opponents in Missouri, Duke, Tennessee, Southern Miss, Utah, Mississippi State and Minnesota. The Huskers are 7-3 against those opponents, while the Wildcats are 7-4.
Last season, Northwestern claimed the Big Ten regular-season title for the third straight year. Kelsey Nader and Kansas Robinson were named to the All-Big Ten First Team and Emma Raye was on the All-Freshman team.
Kaylie Avvisato has a team-high batting average of .383 and has started every game this season. She has compiled 20 RBIs, six doubles, two homers and 22 runs scored.
Robinson has 28 RBIs and 53 total bases, along with 10 doubles and five homers. She owns a batting average of .277.
Birdget Donahey has the highest slugging percentage on the team at .658 and a team-high seven home runs. She bats .291 and adds 18 RBIs and 23 runs scored.
Grace Nieto owns a .343 batting average and has 35 hits and 20 runs scored on the season, including 12 RBIs and two home runs.
Nader has 17 RBIs, two homes and seven doubles on a .340 batting average.
Raye bats .300 and has started every game for Northwestern. She adds 20 RBIs, 10 runs scored and nine doubles.
Isabel Cunnea and Avery Garden have batting averages of .316 and .246, respectively. Cunnea has 13 RBIs and six doubles, while Garden adds two homers and 13 runs scored.
Lauren Boyd has compiled a record of 6-2 and an ERA of 2.58 across 65.0 innings pitched. She has struck out 64 batters and allowed 24 earned runs.
Riley Grudzielanek has pitched the most innings for the Wildcats at 70.1. She owns a 4.48 ERA and a 7-8 record. She has allowed 45 earned runs and struck out 51 batters.
Signe Dohse has a 3.34 ERA and 2-0 record across 29.1 innings. She has allowed 14 earned runs.
Renae Cunningham has tossed 28.0 innings and has a 2-2 record and ERA of 4.75. She has allowed 19 earned runs.
Emma Blea rounds out the pitching staff with a 1-0 record and 5.57 ERA across 16.1 innings.
Kate Drohan has been the head coach at Northwestern since the 2002 season and has a 800-438-2 record in her career and with the Wildcats.
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