If you’ve never gotten a chance to watch Alexis Jensen in action, you might want to pop some popcorn, get plenty of your drink of choice, stay up late and check out what I’m sure will be a replay of this afternoon’s game on the Big Ten Network after everyone’s gone to bed.
Jensen is a dichotomy. She lives and breathes softball, but to call her serious-minded would miss the mark. Not that she isn’t – about the game – but she is a bit goofy, too. Check out her TikTok page and you’ll see what I mean.
And I mean it in the best way. She just oozes charisma, let’s say. In the pre-game, there she is with the red face paint, the shades, the Miyagi-do-looking bandanna…and that million-dollar smile.
Nerves? What nerves?
Just to get the full picture, here’s her pre-inning loosen-up routine (not from today) before and as she takes the circle.
I asked her after that UCLA series how it came about and she said it was her way of loosening up to focus but reminding herself to have fun. And when she’s on, she has FUN.
She was ON today.
She hadn’t been recently. In three of her last four starts, she hadn’t been shelled, but she had been touched up a bit. Yesterday, I mentioned how Coach Rhonda Revelle had started turning to Emmerson Cope to DP more just to reduce Jensen’s workload which had started to match that of Jordy Frahm’s. Would it help?
There’s never any way to know for sure, but the answer today seemed to very much be yes.
Indiana took to the plate in the top of the 1st and returned to their dugout three consecutive times having struck out. Okay, then.
Up came the Huskers. Hannah Coor bunted her way on with one out and it was Hannah Camenzind’s time to show the Big 10 coaches just how silly it was to leave her off their All-Conference teams, both 1st and 2nd. The left-handed hitting Camenzind sliced a 3-1 pitch high over the Hoosier left fielder’s head and off the wall in the corner. Coor streaked around to score all the way from 1st base and Camenzind pulled up at 2nd with what would be the game-winning RBI.
She was only the third batter of the game.
Jensen marched out for the top of the second and promptly struck out the side again.
The game stayed 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth. On the way there Jensen struck out 4 more and surrendered only a bunt single in retiring 12 of her first 13 batters. Then, with the help of back-to-back RBI singles by Lauren Camenzind and Jordy Frahm, the Huskers plated three more to put some distance between them and the struggling Hoosiers. Sammie Bland ripped a shot to right score Ava Kuszak in the bottom of the fifth for a final insurance policy.
It wasn’t needed
Jensen just continued to run 1-2-3 innings one after the other until the top of the seventh. At that point, she actually ran into her biggest trouble of the day – a walk, another strikeout, but then a double over the 3rd base bag and into the corner to put runners on second and third.
Revelle brought Bella Bacon in to play 1st so Frahm, the nation’s saves leader, could trot over to the bullpen and warm up just in case.
Think again, said Jensen. Strikeout annnnd Strikeout. Those were her 11th and 12th of the day and finished off the 7-inning, 2-hit masterpiece against the .353 hitting Hoosiers
The Huskers bats didn’t unleash the fury, but they again did enough to give a member of their 1-2 punch room to do their things. After three miscues in the field against Michigan, the Husker defense was flawless and error-free against the Hoosiers. There were no laser-show performances at the plate but Frahm and the red-hot Bland both put together 2-hit performances.
It was enough and maybe it isn’t such a bad idea to have their knob on “DUE” in Saturday’s final, especially if the opponent is UCLA, currently up on Wisconsin 6-2 at the time of this publishing.
Frahm is virtually assured of getting the start, but Jensen will be locked in loaded should Jordy require her assistance for a change.
If she is, you can be assured she’ll be ready to roll as she takes the circle.
And she’ll remember to have fun.
The Big Ten Tournament final will be played at 3pm CST tomorrow, but given tomorrow’s forecast here in College Park, MD – 60% chance of rain starting at 4pm here (3pm CST), don’t be surprised to hear that’s moved up a few hours. Game will again air on the Big 10 Network and radio will be available on the Huskers Radio Network.
