I am 100% serious about that by the way. It wasn’t just any walk.
But let me back up for a moment.
The Huskers were playing then-#2, now-#1 Tennessee in their eighth game on the second weekend of the season. Muhlbach was making her third appearance and second start of both the season and her Husker career. The first start came against struggling Texas-San Antonio and she responded with her first hit as a Husker, a home run. Now, she was getting her second start against the Vols – just a slight upgrade
in competition – and this time the pitcher would be Karlyn Pickens.
Yeah, THAT Karlyn Pickens.
The All-American and NCAA record-holder for fastest pitch in NCAA D1 softball history (79.4mph) had quickly been inserted into the game by Vols Coach Karen Weekly the previous inning after Tennessee had jumped from a 1-1 tie to a 4-1 lead. Muhlbach’s assignment would be to get on base any way she could.
Now in a world of Randy Johnsons, Nolan Ryans and Paul Skeneses, 79.4mph probably doesn’t sound like much. But consider the underhand whips are coming from 43 feet instead of the 60.5 from which the major leaguers throw. There is a conversion chart for this and here are the results:
So it’s the equivalent of something coming at you 111.7mph from the MLB mound.
I actually got to see Pickens’ record-setter live in Game #2 of the Knoxville Super Regional last May. I couldn’t tell you exactly which pitch it was, but she was bringing it. More than a few hitters walk into the box against her defeated before taking a pitch – you can see it in their body language when they swing, many times having made the decision to go before the pitch has been thrown.
In the bottom of the 6th on February 13th in her 8th collegiate at-bat, Muhlbach showed she was not one of those hitters.
With two walks in her first seven trips to the plate, she had already shown a sharp eye for the zone. But even armed with that knowledge, there was no way anyone could anticipate the battle in which she was about to find herself locked.
Pickens got ahead 1-2 with Muhlbach swinging at both strikes. This count was one at which hitters often found themselves swinging wildly at anything they could reach rather than risk coming around too slowly on Pickens’ gas and then heading to the dugout at screamers in the dirt or eye-high. Muhlbach?
Fouled off.
Fouled off.
Fouled off.
Carlie then took to even the count 2-2.
Fouled off.
Fouled off.
And a quick word about these fouls. Muhlbach was dug in and focused on each pitch and she was swinging with a purpose, not dinking to stay alive. Most were fouled straight back falling into the “just missed” category. She then took two close balls for the walk, leaving Pickens scratching her head.
Muhlbach, after finding herself in that 1-2 count which so often leaves experienced college batters flailing, had managed to face 8 more pitches, fouling off 5 and taking 3 for balls and the eventual walk. That was a next-level at-bat on multiple levels, even though the Huskers couldn’t capitalize and it went in the scorebook as a mere walk.
If athletes were a stock in which one could invest, I would advise buying now on Carlie even though the price has likely already started rising. I intended to write about that at-bat as soon as it was over and all she’s done since is start two more games at DP.
Here’s her current stat-line For 2026: 4-for-9, 2 doubles, a HR, 2 RBI’s, 5 walks, 1 HBP, Slugging % 1.000, On-Base % .667, and OPS 1.667. Yes, it’s only 15 plate appearances, but two of her four starts have come against two teams, Tennessee and Texas Tech, who have already been ranked #1 in the country. Against them? 1-3 with 3 walks, also a .667 OBP. Guys, that would be killing it in slow pitch softball.
And this isn’t a hitter who’s chipping away by drawing walks. 3 of her 4 hits are for extra bases, including this shot against the top-ranked Red Raiders:
After signing with Huskers in fall 2024, she chose to forego her senior season of softball at Gretna in order to join the Huskers in the spring of 2025 and take a redshirt. This gave her a chance to begin practicing with the team and acclimate herself to starting collegiate academics while also getting used to the grind of top-end D1 college softball.
Another advantage?
Instead of hitting high-school pitching, which she’d already proved she could demolish, she got to spend that spring hitting D1 pitching in practice, including that of three-time All-American Jordy Frahm.
Maybe after you’ve gotten to face that on regular basis, the prospect of your 1st at-bat against Pickens isn’t quite so daunting – although, if this continues to prove successful, we might see some grumbling among high school coaches none to pleased to see their finest players hitting the road their senior seasons.
And I wasn’t kidding about Muhlbach’s treatment of high school pitching – in her two seasons at Gretna, she hit .459 with 32 HR’s and 97 RBI’s. She also broke Gretna’s single-season home run (21) and RBI (61) school records, both of which were previously held by former Husker two-time All-American Billie Andrews.
And in the game behind the plate against UTSA, she looked like anything but a freshman as she calmly blocked pitches in the dirt and fielded a throw back from Frahm at 1st base after a Roadrunner tried to sneak home on a bunt out.
For good measure, she showed off the arm which, at Gretna, allowed only one stolen base in 87 innings. See for yourself below.
UNLV transfer catcher Jesse Farrell, hitting .355 with 4 homers, isn’t going anywhere, so DP is Muhlbach’s way into regular playing time and she appears to be grabbing that opportunity.
In one of Nate Rohr’s pre-game interviews with Rhonda Revelle on the Huskers Radio Network at some point after the UTSA game, she said that Muhlbach had been hammering the Husker pitching in practice. With multiple Huskers in slump mode, it will be difficult to send an obviously potent bat like Carlie’s back to the bench and Revelle may have to make hard decision or two about sending a current regular to the dugout when when the Huskers take their swings.
And while no one can know the future for sure, Carlie Muhlbach has come out of the gate with a poise both at and behind the plate which belies her freshman status.
I’m saying it – invest now and start throwing #72’s name around.
