Game 2 vs Grand Canyon – THINGS TO LOOK FOR:
- Grand Canyon may not have played the toughest schedule (SOS #111), but it’s hard to fake your way to a 53-8 record. They were ranked for most of the season and, like the Huskers, won their conference’s regular season and conference tournament titles.
- Oakley Vickers is the Antelope’s ace, but unlike South Dakota, GCU has a very deep staff and likely will not lean on Vickers to start every game. Natalie Fritz, Taryn Batterton and Abi Jones are all very effective and threw significant innings in 2026.
- Oakley Vickers should also be a shoo-in for the Lincoln regional’s Coolest Name team.
- The Mountain West Tourney is double-elimination (Big 10 is single) and after losing their second game, GCU had to battle back through the loser bracket to finish with a 4-1 record. In that run, their pitching staff would start Vickers, then go with a committee approach in the following games. Don’t be surprised to see that in today’s game – but fully expect to see Vickers close out a close one – much like Jordy Frahm.
- Also, unlike South Dakota, GCU has a potent offense (.319 BA) with power (89 HR’s) comparable to Nebraska’s (Yes, against lesser competition) and lots of speed (79 SB’s). The ‘Skers may not want to go the come-from-behind route in this one. Ok, wait, they did it against UCLA.
- You be you, Nebraska.
- Jordy Frahm closed out yesterday’s game with her nation-leading 11th save. The Shohei Ohtani comparisons are now insufficient. She’s Freddie Freeman, Bob Gibson AND Mariano Rivera all rolled into one.
- Today, she picks up where she left off Friday evening, the bats get going earlier and the Huskers win another lower-scoring game. Huskers 5 GCU 2. And yes, yesterday’s prediction wasn’t even close. If I was any good at these, I would be gambling professionally, not writing.
HUSKER GAME INFO
Schedule: (All times CST)
May 16 – Grand Canyon U. – 12:00pm CST
Location: Rhonda Revelle Field at Bowlin Stadium, Lincoln, NE
Surface: Traditional Dirt “Skinned” Infield, Kentucky Bluegrass outfield
TV/Streaming: Today’s game will be broadcast on the ESPN+ 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: Saturday will also be a sunny and hot one
but not quite as hot with 82 degree temps at first pitch heating up about 4 or 5 degrees by game’s end. Winds should be out of the east at 10-15mph.
THE OPPONENT
Grand Canyon (53-8, 21-4 Mountain West Conference, 1st place)
The Lopes are hitting .319 on the season while holding opponents to .237. They have hit 87 home runs and 75 doubles on the season. They have a 2.54 ERA as a team and 361 strikeouts and 109 walks.
Series: Nebraska leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: 3/21/79, Nebraska won, 4-1
Head Coach Shanon Hayes was the Mountain West Coach of the Year and is in his fifth season at GCU. He is 235-58 with the Lopes and 706-240-5 in 17 career seasons.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sydney McCray was the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. Jada Cooper leads the team with a .370 batting average. Trinity Martin has 17 home runs and 5 doubles, while Natalie Fritz is 10-0 in the circle with a 2.32 ERA. Emily Gonzalez adds 12 homers and 13 doubles on a .321 batting average, while Addison Shifflett is hitting .350 with 46 RBI.
Oakley Vickers has thrown the most innings for GCU at 114.1 and has a 2.08 ERA with a 15-4 record record in the circle. Taryn Batterton adds a 10-1 record and 2.70 ERA across 90.2 innings.
Madison Evans has thrown a majority of the innings for USD at 185.2 and has a 15-14 record with a 3.92 ERA.
HUSKERS LINEUPS (Best Guess)
P/1B #98 JORDY FRAHM
CF #23 HANNAH COOR
LF/DP/P #9 HANNAH CAMENZIND
SS #7 AVA KUSZAK
C #25 JESSE FARRELL
3B #29 SAMANTHA BLAND
RF #14 KACIE HOFFMANN
P/DP #99 ALEXIS JENSEN/EMMERSON COPE
2B #2 LAURA CAMENZIND
1B #3 BELLA BACON (When Jordy pitches)
LF #27 NATALIA HILL (defensive only)
G3 Starter: ALEXIS JENSEN
The lineup is basically set and barring a match-up advantage, a game in 95 degree heat is probably not the one Coach Rhonda Revelle will choose to slide Jensen back in for Cope, let alone the fact that Lex threw arguably her best game of the season against Indiana after getting a break from hitting duties.
I would look for Jensen to start game one and allow the Huskers to throw a fresh Jordy Frahm against the Grand Canyon – Louisville winner.
Lincoln Regional Schedule
TV/Streaming TBD as the tournament progresses.
- May 15
- Game 1: Grand Canyon 5 Louisville 1
- Game 2: Nebraska 4 South Dakota 1
- May 16
- Game 3: 12 p.m. | Nebraska vs. Grand Canyon
- Game 4: 2:30 p.m. | Louisville vs. South Dakota
- Game 5: 5 p.m. | Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3
- May 17
- Game 6: 2 p.m. | Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5
- Game 7 (if necessary): 4:30 p.m. | Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5
