Iowa comes to town this weekend a shadow of the team who finished 6th in the Big 10 in 2025 with a 15-7 record, The missing piece? Hawkeye ace Jalen Adams who graduated after posting a 25-6 record with a 2.19 ERA and a 1.080 WHIP. Check the Iowa notes below and you will see the importance of having a stopper who can keep the squad in games 1-2 times each weekend. Adams was not even close to replaced as the team ERA has soared to 4.71 without her.
The Huskers are the superior team on paper once again,
but Iowa has become a 5th degree black belt in ruining things for Nebraska, so the fire and focus must be maintained. Think softball is immune? Let me take you back to 2025 when the Huskers dusted the Squawks off by a combined 26-1 in the first two games in Iowa City.
Then on Sunday, with the Huskers up 2-0 early and Jordy then-Bahl cruising through two innings, whatever miserable spirits or Danhausen-level curses that have imperiled Nebraska over and over once again entered the chat, this time directly in Jordy’s veins. Jordy struck out the first two batters giving her 5 in 2.2 innings.
Then the fun began – here’s how I recounted their two-out rally while still shellshocked after the game:
Then the bottom fell out, and, for the second consecutive weekend, the Huskers failed to complete a sweep against an outmatched conference opponent.
Single to left. Error by shortstop. Walk to load the bases. Single – one run in. Single – score 2 more, 3-2 Iowa. Then came the sequence which just seemed surreal and had Husker fans shaking their heads in disbelief. Hit by pitch, bases loaded again. Hit by pitch – 4-2. Hit by pitch – 5-2 Iowa.
Do I think it will happen again? No. Will I be stunned it if does? Probably not.
But – fire and focus. This is the type of squad which should instead carry some momentum into Senior Weekend strap a few on Iowa. Could 30+ runs be their way of telling Iowa “You. Are. Cursed.” for a change.
Did You Know We Have a HUSKERS SOFTBALL Podcast?
That’s right – every Tuesday night at 8PM.
It’s called Husker Heat and we started our 3rd season two weeks ago. With my lovely daughter Mylie as my co-host (of course I’m biased – daughter), we cover the previous weekend, preview the coming games, talk about current storylines and likely find a couple of non-softball topics to chatter about as well. We try to keep it around 45 minutes (try!) while still making sure you’re the best-informed softball fans in Nebraska.
There’s a section for comments, so please fire away with any thoughts or questions and if we don’t have answers on hand, we’ll try to have them for you by next week’s show. It broadcasts on Facebook Live, Twitter and YouTube Live.
And bonus? Mylie and her fiancé adopted a doggo, so we’ll likely have a guest puppy flopping around on broadcasts! (Say hello to Tatum)
Andy Ketterson
Husker Heat – click the link above to check out this week’s show and join us next Tuesday!
IOWA WEEKEND – THINGS TO LOOK FOR:
- Anything but a sweep means something odd happened. Nebraska hits 42 points higher and has an ERA almost 3 runs lower than Iowa.
- Fire and focus must be maintained – there can be no repeat of the supernatural Game 3 in last year’s series. (See above.)
- Nice weather is on tap for all three games with temps in the 60’s and no rain forecast after Sunday’s game was moved. (Knock on wood.)
- It’s the last home regular season series for 2026. But the Huskers will be returning.
HUSKER GAME INFO
Schedule: (All times CST)
April 24 – Iowa 3:00 p.m.
April 24 – Iowa 5:30 p.m. (approximate – will start around 30 mins after the opener)
April 25 – Iowa 1 p.m.
Location: Bowlin Stadium, Lincoln, NE
Surface: Traditional Dirt “Skinned” Infield, Kentucky Bluegrass outfield
TV/Streaming: All games will stream on the B1G+ app.
Radio: Huskers Radio Network. You can listen for free at Husker Audio – University of Nebraska – Official Athletics Website huskers.com – Nate Rohr is on the call for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Weather: Friday’s games should be played under clear skies starting with temps beginning around 66 degrees and remaining around there for the duration of the doubleheader with breezes of 5-10mph in from the NE. Saturday’s rains have disappeared from the forecast (for now?) and we are looking at overcast skies & mid-60’s temps throughout with winds of 10-15mph out of the east.
THE OPPONENT
Iowa (25-22, 6-12 Big Ten 12th – 2-way tie)
Iowa is 25-22 on the season with a 6-12 mark in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes come to Nebraska fresh off of midweek wins over Iowa State and Northern Iowa. NU and Iowa share common opponents in LSU, Minnesota, Washington and South Dakota State. The Hawkeyes are 1-8 against those opponents, while Nebraska is 8-1.
Head Coach Stacy May-Johnson is in her first season at Iowa and is 25-22 with the Hawkeyes. She has a 173-163 record in her career.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Devin Simon leads the team with a .327 batting average and 50 hits, along with a .412 on- base percentage. McKenzie Leitgen adds eight home runs and six doubles, along with 28 RBIs.
Serayah Neiss has thrown a team-high 115.2 innings and has a 4.18 ERA. She has an 11-7 record with 71 strikeouts and 35 walks. Braylen Conlon (4-4, 4.29 ERA), Avery Sapp (6-5, 4.77 ERA) and Carly Brewer (4-6, 5.43 ERA) round out the Hawkeyes’ pitching staff.
HUSKERS LINEUPS (Best Guess)
P/1B #98 JORDY FRAHM
CF #23 HANNAH COOR
LF/DP #9 HANNAH CAMENZIND
SS #7 AVA KUSZAK
RF #14 KACIE HOFFMANN
C #25 JESSE FARRELL
P/DP #99 ALEXIS JENSEN
3B #29 SAMANTHA BLAND
1B #3 BELLA BACON (When Jordy pitches)
2B #2 LAURA CAMENZIND
LF #27 NATALIA HILL (defensive only)
G1: JORDY FRAHM
G2: ALEXIS JENSEN
G3: HANNAH CAMENZIND
The order seems to be locked in pretty tight and shouldn’t see any major changes going forward barring some shifting in the middle of the order based on hot streaks and matchups.
The rotation against Minnesota and UNO seems to be setting up a senior weekend with Jordy and Lex getting the starts in Friday’s weather-altered doubleheader. After a couple of rough starts, Hannah pitched 4 strong innings in relief for the win against UNO and would appear to be the choice on Saturday with Jordy’s Mariano Rivera alter-ego in waiting if necessary to close the door.
