”It’s addictive, isn’t it?“ – Nebraska Softball Associate Head Coach Lori Sippel at 2024’s Softball Fan Day after I told her about getting hooked a few years prior.
She wasn’t wrong.
I had just told her my story of coaching then-just-appointed Assistant Coach Liv Ferrell, along with my daughter Mylie, in hockey since they were seven or so and how I thought it would be fun to cover the Big 10 tournament in East Lansing in 2022 when Liv was finishing her last season as a Husker player. They ended up
winning the damn thing and as Coach Sippel observed almost two years later?
Yes, I was addicted.
So as the 2026 season kicks off tomorrow, I am fired up and ready to go – and not just because of the potential this squad carries with them into 2026. Along with Mylie, whose path has again crossed with Liv’s as she went from college hockey player to Corn Nation colleague covering Huskers softball along with her volleyball responsibilities, we will be covering the ladies game-by-game as far as the ‘26 journey can take them.
With high expectations will come more media company following the team this season, I expect. After East Lansing, my softball travels have included Stillwater, Iowa City, Wichita, Seattle, West Lafayette, Baton Rouge and Knoxville, only being joined with other major Nebraska media for the last two. And, yes, I went a little nuts with the roadies in 2025. It may happen again.
But 2026 is here and the Huskers open with a Friday afternoon matchup against Big 10 and top 25 opponent Washington, followed by a prime time evening tilt with Texas. You know, the preseason #1 and defending national champs. They play both teams twice leaving a game with host UTSA as the only one which looks markable as a win.
Head Coach Rhonda Revelle was wowed by the juiced up Knoxville crowd at the Tennessee Super Regional last May and has made no secret of her desire to host one herself at Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln. To boost the chances of that happening, she has stacked a non-conference schedule with the nation’s best.
To see for yourself, CLICK HERE and check it out. National championship finalists Texas and Texas Tech. Our old friend #4 Tennessee. Ranked SEC and NCAA tourney participants Texas A&M, Georgia, South Carolina and LSU. Perennial power Okie State.
There’s nowhere to hide. But there are wins to be grabbed which could very well land them that Top 8 national seeding which could make Rhonda’s Super Regional weekend in Lincoln a reality.
It all starts tomorrow – here’s what you need know.
UTSA INVITATIONAL WEEKEND: THINGS TO LOOK FOR:
- With 4 games against ranked teams, including #1 Texas, a 3-2 record would be a solid start to the season.
- If the Huskers can muster one of those wins against Texas, that would be a huge shot heard by the rest of the country – much like last year’s 7-1 win over top 10 Tennessee in last season’s opening weekend.
- Yes, we remember the 1-0 loss to Tennessee in the Super Regional leaving them just short of the big goal. And, yes, they will see Tennessee again shortly.
- Washington and super-soph Alexis DeBoer (see below) will be far from a pushover. The two teams battled last season and Washington is picked for improvement in 2026.
- Get used to white-knuckling your glasses while watching games of this caliber in 2026 – every road trip is stacked until they return to Bowlin in March.
- Eh…hold the phone on things easing up in Lincoln. UNO has made three consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament and South Dakota State took the Huskers to extra innings twice in 2025 – they play both twice. The Big 10 schedule might be the break.
HUSKER GAME INFO
Schedule: (All times CST)
Feb. 6 vs. Washington 1:05 p.m.
Feb. 6 vs. #1 Texas 6:05 p.m.
Feb. 7 vs. #1 Texas 3:35 p.m.
Feb. 7 at UTSA 6:05 p.m.
Feb. 8 vs. Washington 10:05 a.m.
Location: Roadrunner Field, San Antonio, TX
Surface: Dirt Infield, Bermuda grass outfield
TV/Streaming: All games will be broadcast on the ESPN+ app. Broadcast TBD.
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: All games should be perfect softball weather. Highs for the day games should be around 80 with the temps dropping to the mid-60’s for the evening contest. Skies should be mostly sunny and clear all weekend.
THE OPPONENTS
WASHINGTON (Preseason #22)
Washington finished with a 35-19 record in 2025 and went 12-9 in Big Ten competition. NU faced Washington in a three-game series last year and went 2-1. The Huskies made the NCAA Tournament last year and fell to then-No. 18 Mississippi State in the Lubbock Regional.
Head coach Heather Tarr is entering her 22nd season at the helm of Washington softball and is 854-333-1 in her career and with the Huskies. the circle, Washington’s pitching staff posted an ERA of 3.10 while raising its opponents to 5.61. The Huskies’ pitching staff tossed 13 shutouts and logged six saves while striking out 370 batters and walking only 100. Washington hit .291 last year while holding opponents to .237 on the season. They also hit 75 home runs to their opponents’ 47 and logged 306 RBI while holding opponents to 168.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sophomore Alexis DeBoer represents UW on USA Softball’s Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List. DeBoer led the Huskies with a .358 batting average last season and racked up 58 hits, 37 runs and 55 RBI with 21 homers.
DeBoer was last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was a top 10 finalist for the NFCA Freshman of the Year award. She was also First-Team All-Big Ten.
DeBoer is the daughter of former Washington and current Alabama head football coach, Kalen DeBoer. We’re guessing DeBoer’s departure was not well-received. I attended to Huskers-Washington series last spring and there was zero mention of him in Alexis’ biography on the team site.
Washington welcomes back pitching duo Sophia Ramuno and Morgan Reimer, who combined for 68% of UW’s innings pitched in 2025.
TEXAS (Preseason #1)
Texas enters the 2026 season as the defending national champion, as the Longhorns claimed the Women’s College World Series title in 2025. Texas went 56-12 last year, including 16-8 in the SEC. The Longhorns advanced out of their Regional, downed Clemson in the Super Regionals and would post victories over Florida, Oklahoma and Tennessee before eventually downing in-state foe Texas Tech in the WCWS Finals.
As a team, Texas is ranked No. 1 in the NFCA Coaches Poll and the D1 Softball Preseason poll. The Longhorns are tied for No. 1 with Texas Tech in the USA Softball rankings and were deemed No. 2 by Softball America.
Head coach Mike White is entering his eighth season with Texas. He owns a 316-93-2 record with the Longhorns. Previously, he spent nine season at Oregon, where he went 436-111-2. White is 752-204-4 in his career. As a team, Texas hit .352 last season and held their opponents to just .228. The Longhorns notched 486 runs to 197 by their opponents and totaled 630 hits and 460 RBI. Texas’ pitching staff posted an impressive ERA of 2.55 last year, while their opponents had a 7.27 ERA. The Longhorn pitchers strick out 414 batters, walked 135 and logged nine saves with 15 shutouts on the season.
Five Texas players are on the Top 50 Watch List for USA Softball Player of the Year — Reese Atwood, Kayden Henry, Teagan Kavan, Ashton Maloney and Katie Stewart.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Teagan Kavan was Texas’ ace pitcher last year and racked up a 28-5 record with a 2.16 ERA in 2025. She was an NFCA Second-Team All-American last year and was on the All-SEC and NFCA All-Central first teams. Kavan was the 2025 Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player.
Catcher Reese Atwood returns as a two-time First-Team All-American. She was also on the 2025 All-SEC and NFCA All-Central first teams. Atwood was also the NFCA’s Catcher of the Year in 2025. Atwood averages .371 at the plate in her career and has amassed 205 hits, 130 runs and 222 RBI.
TEXAS – SAN ANTONIO (Unranked)
UTSA went 21-34 in 2025 and finished ninth in the American Conference. Sixteen of the UTSA’s 21 wins last season came on their home field. The Roadrunners went 5-0 at last year’s UTSA Invitational. That record could very well be flipped after a scheduling 180 for the tourney this year.
UTSA is led by head coach Vann Stuedeman, who is in her fourth season with the Roadrunners. She owns a 36-76 record at UTSA. Previously, Stuedeman was the head coach at Mississippi State for eight seasons from 2012-19, compiling a 277-190 record. She owns a 312-266 record in 10 seasons as a career coach. UTSA hit .259 as a team last season while averaging 3.7 runs per game. Defensively, the Roadrunners posted a 5.53 ERA and .950 fielding percentage. UTSA returns five players who started at least 36 games last season, including three of their top four hitters, all of whom started at least 50 games in 2025. In the circle, the Roadrunners return all six pitchers from last season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sabrina Wick returns after she started all 55 games in 2025 and led the Roadrunners with a .301 batting average and 14 stolen gases. Skylar Rucker is also back after she batted .282 in 54 starts last season. She boasts the top returning on-base percentage (.384) of any UTSA player.
HUSKERS LINEUPS (Best Guess)
This season, I want to take a swing at predicting the lineups. First off, this is basically an impossible task since they can and will be tweaked between games as will the rotation. For the upcoming five invitational weekends (and the 5-game Oklahoma State, Tulsa, SDSU roadie), “best guess” doesn’t begin to describe it as each will consist of 5 games, except for the 4-game weekend at home in Bowlin Stadium.
This first one will be very much based on the end of last season whose squad returns eight regulars from the team which came within one run of the WCWS. That feels safe.
What doesn’t feel safe is how the Huskers can approach these invitationals in 2026 if they want to put themselves in position for Coach Revelle’s goal/dream of hosting a Super Regional in Bowlin Stadium in a few months. Gone are easier weekends such as the New Mexico trip and replaced with a slate which is almost entirely comprised of competition with an apex of pre-season top 10 and 2025 WCWS squads and a low end of teams from last year’s NCAA field.
There will not be too much leeway to take a look at everyone and get some innings for the reserves – a solid performance against this slate will be remembered at season’s end when they’re trying for that Top 8 national seed.
So here’s the first swing:
P/1B #98 JORDY FRAHM (BAHL)
3B #29 SAMANTHA BLAND
SS #7 AVA KUSZAK
LF #9 HANNAH CAMENZIND
DP #1 OLIVIA DINARDO
C #25 JESSE FARRELL
1B #3 BELLA BACON (When Jordy pitches)
RF #14 KACIE HOFFMANN
CF #23 HANNAH COOR
2B #2 LAURA CAMENZIND/#66 KATELYN CANEDA
STARTERS:
G1: JORDY FRAHM – Washington
G2: ALEXIS JENSEN – Texas
G3: JORDY FRAHM – Texas
G4: ALEXIS JENSEN/KYLIE MAGEE – UTSA
G5: JORDY FRAHM – Washington
The lineup, if possible, could be stronger than last season with the addition of Coor, a possibly stronger Jordy and catcher Farrell poised to match or exceed the departed Ava Bredwell’s offense. See tomorrow’s column on things to watch in 2026 for more thoughts on the line-up and rotation – including why you might see the freshman Jensen get first crack at the defending national champ and preseason #1 Longhorns.
