Courtesy of Husker Athletics
West Lafayette, Ind. – The No. 19 Nebraska softball team posted its 23rd run-rule victory of the season with a 9-1 five-inning win over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in West Lafayette, Ind., on Thursday. With the win, NU advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and will face the winner of UCLA/Indiana tomorrow.
For the second straight game, Ava Kuszak was the one to seal the victory for the Huskers, as she hit a walk-off single that sent Jordyn Bahl to the plate with the game-ending run in the bottom of the fifth. Kuszak added three walks on the day. Ava Bredwell was 3-for-3 with a double and three RBIs and Abbie Squier added a triple and two RBIs. Bella Bacon contributed a double.
Bahl (23-5) grabbed the win in the circle, as she tossed all 5.0 innings and allowed one run and two hits. She struck out nine batters in the process. Bahl retired the final 12 hitters of the game – eight via strikeout – as Penn State did not have a base runner after a leadoff walk to begin the second inning. Mady Volpe (10-16) took the loss for the Nittany Lions.
NU moved to 39-12 on the season, while PSU fell to 25-27.
Penn State got on the board in the top of the first with a two-out RBI single, taking advantage of a leadoff walk.
NU fought back with a five-run bottom of the first with all five runs scoring with two outs. Kuszak walked and went to third on a Nittany Lion error. Olivia DiNardo reached first on a fielder’s choice and went to second on a wild pitch that also scored Kuszak. Hannah Camenzind walked and advanced to second on another wild pitch. DiNardo went to third beforeSquier hit a triple to score both H. Camenzind and DiNardo. Bacon walked and stole second, and she and Squier crossed the plate on a Bredwell single. The Big Red led 5-1 after the inning.
The Huskers added two more in the bottom of the second. Bahl and Kuszak both walked and Bahl scored on a DiNardo single. Kuszak crossed the plate on a H. Camenzind sacrifice fly to make the lead 7-1.
After scoreless third and fourth innings, Bacon kicked off the bottom of the fifth with a double and Katelyn Canedapinch ran for her. Caneda went home on a Bredwell double. Bahl walked and Bland reached on a fielder’s choice that advanced Bahl to second. Kuszak hit the walk-off single that sent Bahl across the plate and locked up the 9-1, five-inning win.
The Huskers will face the winner of the UCLA/Indiana game tomorrow, May 9 at 4 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on the Big Ten Network and can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- Samantha Bland started the 100th game in her career.
- NU now has a 10-9 record in the Big Ten Tournament.
- The Huskers advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the sixth time in program history.
- After its five-run first inning, Nebraska has scored 4+ runs in 40 innings this season, and 5+ in 22 innings.
- Today marked the Huskers’ 23rd run-rule win of the season, which is the most in program history.
