While the football team has Spring ball, the Huskers softball team plays Fall ball getting in practices and a few games against opponents and each other. They finished 3-2 against a two-weekend 5-game
schedule vs. Colorado St., UNO and Kansas and are in the midst of three scrimmages against each other as the Scarlet take on the Cream with one remaining next Wednesday at 5pm in Bowling Green Stadium.
(Cheat code: Admission is free!)
The Huskers have gone from a younger team who last year had many new faces, to a more experienced team with many returning starters. Transfers center fielder Hannah Coor (Oklahoma) and catcher Jesse Farrell (UNLV) appear primed to step in and play immediately. And freshman Alexis Jensen from Gretna High has been making her first appearances as well. Last summer after her signing, Coach Rhonda Revelle compared Jensen to NU’s own Jordy Bahl as well as Teagan Kavan of Texas and Ruby Meylan, now at Oklahoma State., as pitchers with whom Jensen is on a similar level, who all starred in the circle as freshmen.
It was expected she could step into the #2 starter role behind Bahl which was the Huskers weak link last season. She looked the part last Wednesday striking out 8 batters in 4 innings while walking only 1, but did surrender a 2-run bomb to Emmerson Cope, 1 of her 2 on the evening. Revelle hopes a stronger focus on hitting and less on pitching will unlock Cope’s offensive potential which flashed several times last season.
Speaking of Bahl, she threw 4 scoreless with 5 strikeouts scattering 3 hits and appears to be in her normal next-level form. Returners Hannah Camenzind and Kacie Hoffman join Coor in the outfield, and the entire infield returns – 1b Bella Bacon, 2b Lauren Camenzind, 3b Sammie Bland and SS Ava Kuszak.
Second base could be competitive as senior Katelyn Caneda returns at full strength after missing time in 2024. She was a previous 2-year starter and All Big 10 selection as a freshman and could challenge Lauren C. who stepped in to the position last season.
With the bulk of a roster which had Nebraska’s most successful hitting season ever and Bahl and Jensen giving Huskers pitching the kind of two-headed monster which is usually a hallmark of top 10 teams nationally, Coach Revelle has post-season goals for for 2026 which involve Bowlin Stadium.
It was in Knoxville after the crushing 1-0 loss to Tennessee in Game 3 of the NCAA Super Regional, Revelle complimented the packed and spirited Tennessee crowd and stated she would love to be a host team with a pro-Husker crowd in Bowlin Stadium for both a regional and super regional. When I said I had noticed how the non-conference tournament schedule had been beefed up and was that an attempt to boost the RPI, she was quick to answer.
“Yes for RPI, I mean, if we’ve got a chance to have a special season, we’ve got to play really tough competition. If we take a loss or two, it can be a learning loss. It can be actually helpful. It’s not going to hurt us in the RPI, but if we win some games early, it’s really going to help us. We’d like to…play ourselves in a position where we could host maybe a Regional and a Super Regional and we’ve got to play those that kind of schedule to even put ourselves in position to do that.”
In order to do that, the Huskers would have to finish the season ranked solidly in the Top 10 as a national 8-seed would be required before the NCAA tournament began. They would secure an NCAA Regional bid, and, if they won their regional, would then host the best-of-3 NCAA Super Regional. With their returning roster plus their transfer acquisitions and Jensen, a pre-season ranking in or near the Top 10 seems likely.
For now, though, it’s time to work on just getting better. And Revelle believes going against each other is a fine way of doing that saying, “I feel like when we’re playing each other, we’re playing good competition.”
And if you’re facing Bahl and Jensen in practices and scrimmages, then taking on pitchers such as Karlyn Pickens and NiJarry Canady isn’t quite as intimidating a task.
