The flags moved some, but the trees didn’t. The weather was nice and sunny in the 60’s. The Huskers were coming off of three consecutive games in double figures.
And not a single ball left the yard in either game.
There were ooh’s and aaah’s four or five times including one blast by Jordy Frahm to center which Coach Rhonda Revelle said she thought “was cleared by a lot and then they were on the warning track catching it like ‘what just happened?’” However, the phrase “warning track power” was the order
of the day. So the Huskers made do with solid pitching and small ball.
Oh, and continuing to answer the bell each time they found themselves challenged. Which today was right out of the gate in both games.
In the opener, the Hawkeyes grabbed a quick run and the Huskers ran away from there for a 9-1 run-rule victory.
In Game 2 it was Iowa for a walk, a missed tag error and then both runners advanced on a dropped third strike. Mariah Myers pounced immediately with a 2-run single to get the quick jump for the Hawkeyes a second time.
No problem said the Huskers as Frahm and Hannah Coor led off with hits advancing to second and third on Coor’s single after a long throw. Hannah Camenzind scored Frahm with a groundout to 1st and then the power-hitting Ava Kuszak laid down a squeeze bunt scoring Coor. All tied up and your move, Iowa.
They were done scoring for the day, but Nebraska wasn’t even with the long ball removed from their arsenal.
Alina Felix, getting a rare start on senior weekend, took advantage ripping a leadoff single. The Kacie Hoffman doubled sending one to the wall in the left-center gap, her second on a 4-for-6 day. It ended up being the game-winning hit.
The Huskers would score another in the 2nd when Iowa’s shortstop couldn’t handle another Hannah Camenzind shot giving the Huskers a 4-2 lead and Hannah her 6th RBI of the day. Hoffman would knock another one home in the 3rd giving the game its final score of 5-2 even though it would go the distance. It should also be mentioned that Kacie also made a beautiful diving snag on the run of a sinking liner in the later innings. It won’t be on ESPN’s Top 10 Plays of the Day but it should.
Going that distance in the circle was Alexis Jensen who struggled a little in the first, but, like Frahm in the opener, she settled in quickly and began retiring Hawkeyes one after the other. Revelle chose to warm Jordy up in the top of the 6th, but she would not be needed on this early evening.
Jensen would allow a hit in the 7th and an error brought the tying run up with two outs, however Jensen’s body language seemed to let the record crowd know there was no need to worry. She ran the count to 1-and-2, the crowd rose to their feet and one swing later, she had a complete-game 4-hitter with 8 strikeouts and only one walk.
Hmmm, a strikeout to close the game. From whom else do we frequently see that?
The series finale will be played tomorrow at 1pm CST and the forecast still appears free from precipitation. See y’all for Senior Day.
