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Associated Press
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Jordy Bahl is a force in the circle and at the plate while leading Nebraska's NCAA softball run
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — It's not just the dominance she's shown in the circle, the power she's flashed at the plate or Nebraska's run to its first NCAA super regional in more than a decade that told Jordy Bahl she made the right decision to come home after she won two national championships at Oklahoma. It's all that and more, like being 45 minutes away from her tight-knit family in Papillion, forging bonds with teammates and representing the state she loves. 'When I see pictures from the heat of the battle,' coach Rhonda Revelle said, 'her eyes look happy, and I like that, and I like that for her.' There's a lot to be happy about for Bahl and the Cornhuskers (42-13), who open a best-of-three super regional at No. 7 seed Tennessee (43-14) on Friday. Bahl is the first player to sweep Big Ten pitcher and player of the year honors, a finalist for national player of the year and a first-team All-American for the third time. She's 25-6 with a 1.50 ERA and ranks in the top 10 nationally in eight pitching categories. Her 270 strikeouts are a career high. She's fifth in the nation with a .475 average and seventh with a school-record 23 home runs. Of her 76 hits, 41 have gone for extra bases. She's the fifth player in NCAA history to record at least 20 pitching wins and 20 homers in the same season. 'I know the Lord is the author of my life,' Bahl said, 'and there are just so many surreal moments lately where I just step back and I'm like, 'Wow, I'm so undeserving. Just to be able to experience this and to have these amazing teammates to do it with make it all the sweeter.' Bahl was the 2021 national high school player of the year at Papillion-La Vista High and passed on an offer from Nebraska to join an Oklahoma program that had, at the time, won five national championships under Patty Gasso. Two more national titles followed with Bahl going a combined 44-2 with 397 strikeouts and an 0.99 ERA in 288 2/3 innings. Bahl was the most dominant pitcher in the nation when she left OU after the 2023 season. She had just gone through the NCAA Tournament with a 7-0 record and 0.18 ERA. In the WCWS alone, she threw 24 2/3 shutout innings and was voted Most Outstanding Player. But the pull of home kept tugging at her. She wears her heart on her right bicep, where there's a tattoo of the outline of the state of Nebraska. She said she felt called to help grow the sport in the state, and the Huskers have drawn their largest crowds over the past two seasons. This year Bahl has led the teams' onslaught on school offensive records. The Huskers are just the 11th team in NCAA history to record at least 100 doubles and 100 home runs in a season. Their momentum carried into the postseason. They're the first unseeded team to win each of its NCAA regional games by the run rule. Bahl started all three games in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, last week, and allowed one run and two hits with 16 strikeouts over 12 innings. In two games against regional finalist Southeastern Louisiana, she struck out 13 of 29 batters over nine innings. 'Jordy is something fierce in the circle,' Lions coach Rick Fremin said. 'We faced her a few years ago. She was tough then and she's even tougher now in a different uniform.' Bahl homered in each of her first four at-bats at the regional and finished 5 for 5 with seven walks, eight RBIs and seven runs scored. No pitching strategy worked against her. 'It doesn't matter if it's up, down, in, out, hard or soft, it's going to be tattooed,' Fremin said. 'So good luck figuring that out. That's somebody else's problem now.' Bahl's offensive prowess has been eye-opening. She didn't get many opportunities at the plate in her two years at Oklahoma. She bats leadoff at Nebraska. 'I could have told you her freshman year in high school she was this kind of offensive player,' Revelle said. 'If she never would have pitched, she probably could have been an All-American second baseman with hitting like this, or wherever she played.' In addition to her 31 starts in the circle, she's played 13 games at first base, three in center field, two in left and three as the designated player (formerly called the designated hitter). 'A lot of athletes could learn so much from her,' Revelle said. 'She is not focused on numbers, accolades. She's focused on one mission, and it's helping, doing whatever she can to help the team win, and she's just talented enough that she can do a lot of things to help the team win.' Bahl and the Huskers could be a major storyline if they win two more games and advance to the WCWS. They would play Oklahoma in the first round if the Sooners win their home super regional against Alabama. ___ AP college sports:
New York Times
08-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Jordy Bahl's Nebraska homecoming has been ‘incredible' — now it's time for a postseason run
LINCOLN, Neb. — For the first 30 or so games of the 2025 softball season, Nebraska coach Rhonda Revelle checked in with Jordy Bahl to monitor her stamina each time the Huskers played. Twice a national champion and a former first-team All-America pitcher at Oklahoma, Bahl had not attempted to hit at the collegiate level until this year. And she was returning this spring from a year on the bench to mend from a knee injury that required surgery after the season opener in 2024. Advertisement Revelle sat Bahl for one game early in the season to manage her workload. The former Gatorade National Player of the Year out of Papillion, Neb., paced in the dugout for the entire game. She didn't get much rest. The formula to keep her fresh during her junior season, Revelle said, involved belief. The coach trusted that Bahl, who matured in that redshirt season a year ago, could track her endurance and strength without constant check-ins. 'She has one motor,' Revelle said. 'But one thing she has learned as she's gotten older is how to idle the motor a little bit. The motor's still running. As we've come down the stretch, you can almost see her being very calculated: 'What does this mean for me?' 'She's answered the call. And I don't think she's ever held back. She understands the mission.' The mission for Bahl and No. 19 Nebraska takes them to West Lafayette, Ind., for the Big Ten tournament and a quarterfinal game on Thursday against Penn State. The Huskers tied UCLA for second place in the Big Ten behind Oregon and will fight for an outside shot to host an NCAA Regional next week. Bahl is a top candidate for national player of the year. She ranks in the top 15 in 13 statistical categories. Her .467 batting average puts her on pace to break a school record. She's hit 19 home runs with a 1.524 OPS. In the circle, she's 22-5 with a 1.46 ERA and 234 strikeouts in 163 1/3 innings. Her first full season at Nebraska has more than lived up to expectations. 'It has exceeded them,' she said. The realization came not after a home run or a pitching win — Bahl needs one more homer to become the fourth 20-20 player in NCAA history — but after the Huskers beat Maryland on Saturday. Bahl pitched Friday and Sunday against the Terps, allowing no runs on one hit to earn Big Ten pitcher of the week honors for the fifth time. She homered twice in the series, which drew 7,929 fans over three games. Bahl returned to the field after the middle game of the series with her two dogs to soak in what she had experienced. A crowd of 3,021 watched the Huskers win 9-2, the first sellout in the history of Nebraska's Bowlin Stadium. Nothing like reflecting at the end of a special day. Thank you to the 3,021 fans who completely filled this place for the first time ever. Thank you to all of the alumni in attendance who built Nebraska softball. Let's celebrate some rock solid human beings and seniors tomorrow😊 — Jordyn Bahl (@jordybahl) May 4, 2025 'It was absolutely incredible, and it was everything that I dreamed about when I was a little girl, growing up in this state going to these games,' she said. 'To see it actually happening, it's hard to wrap your mind around. But it's happening. And it's so exciting. And it's making dreams come true.' Advertisement Bahl committed to Nebraska before her freshman year of high school in 2017. She flipped to Oklahoma because she thought it offered all that she wanted. After winning two national championships, she still felt unfulfilled. Bahl was named the most outstanding player at the 2023 Women's College World Series. She entered the transfer portal less than a week later. There was only one possible destination. On Sunday in Lincoln, as Nebraska honored four seniors in the last regular-season home game of 2025, Bahl worked four hitless innings and led off the bottom of the first with an opposite-field home run. Replicas of her No. 98 jersey dotted the bleachers on a sun-drenched afternoon. A group of girls who play softball in Elgin, Neb., watched her intently from the right field berm. Bahl is on track to become the first player nationally since 2017 to score more runs than she's allowed while pitching 130 innings or more. 'She's really helped recalibrate the standard for Nebraska softball — from practice to what we do in the weight room to just overall focus,' Revelle said. 'There's not a part of our program that she hasn't impacted.' Without her last year, Nebraska finished 30-23 and missed the postseason. It is 38-12 this season, with help from six first-year transfers. Shortstop Ava Kuszak, a transfer from Wisconsin, has matched Bahl's 19 homers. But it is Bahl, according to Revelle, who serves as the 'competitive lighthouse' for Nebraska. 'Everybody knows what she's capable of,' the coach said. 'And it starts with her. She knows what she's capable of.' Said catcher Ava Bredwell: 'Our lineup feeds off of her energy.' Nebraska is 1-5 against ranked opponents this season. Bahl did not pitch in a 9-1 loss against UCLA or a loss against Southern Miss, both in February. 'Any time she takes the mound, we feel like we have a shot to win,' Revelle said. Advertisement The intensity at this time of year rises. Bahl knows the feeling. 'It's always a lot more fun playing the game when you feel like your back's against the wall and your season's on the line,' she said. Welcome to the postseason. The Huskers are ready to follow Bahl's lead. (Photo courtesy of Nebraska Athletics)
