February 6, 2024
Not quite eight months later, the big news out of the Nebraska softball program still rumbles through the atmosphere of the D-I softball orbit.
And you’d have to be from another planet to not appreciate the asteroid-like impact of Jordyn Bahl’s transfer from Oklahoma to the Cornhuskers.
To quickly sum up, Bahl closed the deal pitching for the Sooners last June at the Women’s College World Series as OU won its third straight national title in Oklahoma City. After two years in crimson and cream, Omaha area-native Bahl announced she was making the move to Nebraska, after compiling a 44-2 record and a comedically low 1.00 ERA during her run in Norman.
Her homecoming obviously raises the ceiling of the Cornhuskers’ fortunes for 2024, with the roster already flexing a deep, experienced roster that has the team ranked inside the Top 20 in most every relevant preseason poll. How it plays out is a mystery that starts to unfold starting Thursday, Feb. 8 at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, powered by Triple Crown Sports.
NU head coach Rhonda Revelle has deftly pulled off a balancing act this offseason, happy to embrace Bahl’s presence and enjoying the fan base’s breathless enthusiasm, while staying true to the work of preparing an entire team for the challenges to come. The chatter about Nebraska was coming, like it or not, and Revelle believes the distraction has been channeled properly.
“We worked through that process mostly through the fall and … I won’t say normalize it, because it’s a different kind of year. I will say, the focus has been on being team-centered, and that goes straight back to Jordy,” said Revelle, who is entering her 32nd year as head coach with the program. “She’s a team player, and the fact she’s coming home and already knew a lot of her teammates – that helped ease the transition. The team has done a really nice job of focusing on what we can control, doing our best to insulate ourselves from the outside noise. Not that we don’t want the hype; we do want our fans excited. But we understand that in order for us to move forward and have the season we hope to have and play at our best, we have to focus on getting better every day.
“I’ve thought, I’m glad for my experience … sometimes you sit there and think about how your body doesn’t feel like it did 25 years ago, but I would not have traded the experience I have for anything. It’s been helpful (this offseason); we have an experienced coaching staff, and it’s been handled day by day. It’ll be interesting at the end of the year, to look back … we have a group that is invested in this at a high level, that just happens to have one of the best pitchers in the country who came home.”
The pitching staff, while fortified by Bahl and her 192 strikeouts in 147 innings, still has a few variables to tackle. The exit of Courtney Wallace is no small thing, as she threw 222 innings last season, 75 more than Bahl, and Revelle is not likely expecting as huge a workload from her transfer. Sarah Harness is back after going for 115 innings in 2023 (with 10 wins, a 3.40 ERA and 104 strikeouts), and there’s a lot of promise in senior Kaylin Kinney, who broke her hand in Game 1 last year and was essentially shelved the rest of the way. She allowed one walk and struck out 14 in 25 innings.
At the plate, Nebraska has some obvious anchor points, with senior sisters Billie and Brooke Andrews back after hitting .354 and .311, respectively. Billie Andrews missed time in the fall because of injury, but she’s healthy again after hitting 16 home runs a year back and scoring 50 runs. Katelyn Caneda started 58 games at second base as a freshman, hitting .366, and primary catcher Ava Bredwell as a sophomore hit well and played her position with skill and savvy.
The team is down an outfielder with the injury troubles of Abbie Squier, but senior Peyton Cody, a transfer from St. John’s, can help the batting order as she hit .316 in 40 starts a year ago. Seniors are waiting in the wings, including Caitlynn Neal (.307) and Sydney Gray (.277).
“With that many seniors, you do have to try and stay in the moment and not do too much worrying about next year,” Revelle said. “They’ll say things like, ‘This is my last, first trip,’ and I’m saying, ‘Stop it!’ It’s helped that the Andrews sisters have been here a long time, been teammates with Jordy before, and (sophomore transfer) Bella Bacon from Purdue, she’s played with Jordy. It’s added a maturity level.”
After the first cluster of games in Puerto Vallarta, starting with Washington on Feb. 8, Nebraska hopes to have a clarified handle on the last two lineup puzzles at first base and right field.
“Caitlynn Neal had been in right field (58 starts in 2023), but our analytics show we get a lot of balls to left, and we’re messing around interchanging her with Brooke at centerfield and left, which leaves right field open with Squier out,” Revelle said. “Do we rotate? Go with a hot bat? It’s a question. We have three in the mix at first – Bella Bacon, Emmerson Cope and Sammi Bland, who played shortstop in the fall, and who might be in it at right field. It all might end up based on offense.”
PV COLLEGE CHALLENGE – From Rhonda Revelle: “We really enjoyed the fact everything is all-inclusive. It’s tight-knit, we can walk right to the playing venue, it kept things intimate and our families loved that. The whole vibe of the people there, the fans, the clinics you do to interact with the community earlier in the day. It makes you understand that it’s bigger than just softball. You get to bring this great game to Puerto Vallarta. Our fans and families can hardly wait. It’s a great culture to embrace, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s warm, too.”