The Huskers took a road trip to Minnesota looking for a sweep and woke up Monday with the first #1 ranking in their history.
Monday morning opened with the On3/Softball America poll moving the Huskers up from #3 to #1 leapfrogging past last week’s #1 and #2 Oklahoma and Alabama. Oklahoma went 2-2 losing to Oklahoma State & Arkansas, while Alabama dropped a mid-week game to Samford. There were no other jumps as those two only slipped back to the #2 and #3 spots ahead of #4 Texas Tech.
Meanwhile, the Huskers, while not playing the toughest opponent, avoided any slips while sweeping Minnesota and outscoring them 32-4 in cold, blustery conditions on the road in Minneapolis. While the bats exploded in the final two games, Husker pitching, led by Jordy Frahm and Alexis Jensen, remained in lockdown mode having surrendered only 6 runs in their last six games.
In addition to the #1 ranking, the Huskers also took sole possession of 1st place in the Big 10. Washington, previously undefeated and one game up on the Huskers, was swept by Oregon and dropped to fourth with things not looking any easier for them as they take on UCLA next weekend. Nebraska is in excellent position to take the regular season title as they finish with Iowa and Penn State, while UCLA and Oregon tangle with each other on the final weekend.
Coach Rhonda Revelle’s decision to start the season in combat mode by playing what turned out to be the nation’s toughest non-conference schedule, has paid big dividends as they finished that stretch 18-5 and ranked in the Top 10. They are 17-1 since then and have been steadily climbing the polls. As she said, taking on those games was a big risk, but it has paid off with big rewards.
Most importantly, their RPI did not take a hit after playing #143 Minnesota and they remain #4 in the country in that ranking. The goal is to nab at least a #8 national seed which would guarantee them home series for both a 4-team pod in the opening round of the NCAA tournament and a two-team best 2-of-3 Super Regional as well.
Win both of those and it would be off to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series.
The other three polls have not yet been released, but it is unlikely Nebraska will reach the top spot in any of those. They are currently ranked highest in the ESPN/USA Softball poll at #4, but it is tough to think they would leap over two SEC teams in a poll sponsored by an organization heavily invested in that conference.
Does that #1 ranking mean anything yet? Well, no, not as far as post-season placements are concerned.
But it’s still a hell of an accomplishment by a team who continues to break records and barriers the deeper this season goes. And in this amazing spring of Husker sports, as Jake Taylor said, shouldn’t someone just win “the whole f*****n thing?”
