No. 21 Nebraska softball rolled to a mercy-rule win over Northwestern for a second straight day, this time thrashing the Wildcats 10-1 in five innings Sunday in Evanston, Ill. That’s after the Cornhuskers (31-10) clobbered Northwestern (20-14-1) in five innings on Saturday, 11-1.
The tone was set early in this one. Jordy Bahl and Samantha Bland hit back-to-back home runs to start the game and give Nebraska a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded and two out, Bella Bacon singled up the middle, driving in one. A second scored on an error on the play, pushing the Huskers lead to 4-0. Kansas Robinson homered for the Wildcats in the fourth to cut the lead to 4-1.
But the floodgates burst in the fifth for Nebraska. After Kacie Hoffman was hit by the first pitch of the inning, Ava Kuszak drilled the second pitch of the inning over the fence for a two-run home run to build the Huskers’ lead to 6-1. With runners second and third and one out, Bahl hit a chopper to shortstop that she beat out for an infield single, driving in a run. Bland hit into a fielders choice, retiring Bahl at second while leaving Ava Bredwell at third and Bland at first. With Hannah Camenzind at the plate, Bland took off second and stole it. As the throw went out to second base, Bredwell raced for home and stole it, building Nebraska’s lead to 8-1. Bland later moved to third on a passed ball. Hannah Camenzind drew a walk, then Nessa McMillen came on to pinch run for her. McMillen stole second, then she and Bland scored when Olivia DiNardo hit a two-run single to center to push the Huskers’ lead to 10-1.
That was more than enough run support for Kylee Magee (5-3), who pitched a season-high five innings while allowing one earned run and three hits while striking out four. Northwestern’s Riley Grudzielanek (8-8) took the loss, allowing four runs-three earned-in just one-third of an inning of work.
Bland and Hoffmann both had three hits for Nebraska, while Kuszak and Bahl both had two hits and two RBI.
The series loss was Northwestern’s first in a Big Ten series since 2022. The Wildcats have won the Big Ten regular season championship each of the last three years.
The Huskers aim for the conference series sweep Monday at 3 p.m. in Evanston, Ill.