Plenty of teams have tried to contain No. 23 Nebraska’s Jordyn Bahl this season. Few have come close to doing so.
In front of a packed Northwestern home crowd Saturday, graduate student pitcher Lauren Boyd stepped into the circle to open an ultimately winless weekend series against the Cornhuskers (32-10, 11-3 Big Ten).
Her first challenge: face Bahl, one of college softball’s top two-way players, who entered the weekend with the Big Ten’s second-best ERA and seventh-highest batting average.
Ball one. Inside corner. Just missed.
Then came three-straight strikes. First, an offspeed gem that sank into the bottom of the zone. Bahl let it go by. Another pitch zipped past.
Finally, a swing so off-balance Bahl was already walking toward the dugout before her bat had even followed through. Not even close.
Next batter, same outcome. Another strikeout swinging.
After a competitive walk and another quick out, the Wildcats (20-15-1, 9-4 Big Ten) came up to bat riding the momentum of a lights-out defensive showing in the first half inning.
In a three-loss weekend where NU never led, that start was one of the few glimpses of triumph in an otherwise dismal showing.
Nebraska outscored the ’Cats by a combined 24-2 over the three contests, led by Bahl’s full-fledged attack on both sides of the field. At the plate, she tallied six hits and eight RBIs. In the circle, she registered 25 strikeouts, conceding just four hits and one run in 12 innings.
“I think we beat ourselves at the plate,” junior infielder Kansas Robinson said of the team’s offensive struggles against Bahl. “I don’t think she beat us at all.”
When Bahl returned to the plate in the second frame of the weekend opener, she got her revenge for the first-inning strikeout, knocking in two of eight second-inning runs for the Cornhuskers. She put an early end to Boyd’s day before coach Kate Drohan’s squad could record an out.
Boyd, who had conceded just 19 walks in 65 innings pitched this season, gave up four free bases in her shortened stint Saturday, compounded by a fielding error she made on a bunt play to jumpstart Nebraska’s offensive onslaught.
After giving up two earned runs before she got out of the second inning, redshirt freshman pitcher Signe Dohse strung together two scoreless frames in relief.
The hosts’ only run Saturday came off a home run by freshman infielder Kaylie Avvisato. The rocket bounced hard off the Welsh-Ryan Arena wall and rolled halfway back to the infield.
Down 8-1 in the top of the fifth with two outs and two runners on, the Sharon J. Drysdale Field crowd cheered when a 2-2 pitch to Bahl seemed to hit the bottom of the zone.
The umpire didn’t flinch. Ball.
Next pitch: a 3-run shot.
“That’s on you, she doesn’t need your help,” one frustrated fan shouted at the official.
Staring down a run-rule loss, the ’Cats had to score in the bottom of the fifth to keep the game alive.
Junior outfielder Kelsey Nader and senior infielder Grace Nieto each worked walks to kick off the inning, but a groundout by Avvisato and back-to-back strikeouts ended the game in an 11-1 NU loss.
The next day wasn’t much different.
Bahl and Nebraska utility player Samantha Bland — the only underclassmen in the visiting lineup — each led off the game with a solo home run. Another loss was in the works early.
By the time sophomore pitcher Renae Cunningham replaced sophomore pitcher Riley Grudzielanek in the circle with one out in the top of the first, NU already trailed 4-0.
“In tough situations where they need to get an out, I’m there,” Cunningham said of her early relief appearance.
Facing an upward climb from the get-go, the ’Cats scored their lone run in the same fashion as Saturday. This time, it was a homerun off Robinson’s bat in the fourth inning.
But a six run, five hit, top of the fifth ended NU’s day in a mercy-rule result yet again. The Cornhuskers capitalized on a fielding error to extend their lead to nine. Drohan’s group went down 1-2-3 in its final at-bat, ultimately falling 10-1.
Looking to salvage what was already a series loss with a weekend-ending win, the ’Cats played a much more competitive game Monday, but still fell 3-0.
With each team returning its starting pitcher from Saturday’s contest, the series finale was knotted 0-0 through four innings. Nebraska didn’t score its first run until a fifth-inning RBI single.
After Boyd conceded two additional runs on three hits with no outs in the seventh inning, Dohse took back over on the mound and got NU out of the inning.
Despite sophomore catcher Emma Raye’s competitive, 10-pitch at-bat, Bahl struck out the side to seal the Cornhusker sweep.
The three losses sunk the ’Cats from tied-for-first to fifth in the conference standings. NU will look to avenge its losing weekend when it hosts Loyola at 4 p.m. Wednesday, before travelling to Rutgers this weekend.
Email: audreypachuta2027@u.northwestern.edu
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