The No. 11 Nebraska softball team split its first two games at the Clearwater Invitational Thursday, shutting out No. 11 LSU, 6-0, before falling just short in a comeback bid against No. 20 Georgia, losing 6-5.
Against the Tigers (6-1), Alexis Jensen (2-0) dominated early, retiring the first 10 batters she faced and allowing just a hit and a walk in her four innings pitched to earn the win. Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers’ (4-2) bats broke through for a run in the top of the third, as a two-out double by Jesse Farrell drove in Lauren Camenzind to get Nebraska on the board.
Then in the fourth, Emmerson Cope led off with a single to left. Her pinch runner, Katelyn Caneda, was bunted to second. Then Kacie Hoffmann hit a ground ball to third base. The LSU third baseman, Avery Hodge, threw the ball into the stands, allowing Caneda to score and moving Hoffmann to second base. A wild pitch moved Hoffmann to third, then she scored on Samantha Bland’s sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 3-0. With two outs, Lauren Camenzind reached on a walk, then Jordy Frahm laced a double to right to score Lauren Camenzind, boosting Nebraska’s advantage to 4-0. Then in the sixth, Bland collected her first hit of the season, a double to center, busting an 0-for-15 slump. Two batters later, Frahm singled to center to score Bland to make it NU 5-0. Frahm finished off the win, despite pitching into trouble. The Tigers had the bases loaded with no one out, but Frahm retired the next three hitters to polish off the win.
The Bulldogs (5-2) led off the bottom of the first with a home run for Kiersten Roose off Jensen. Then in the second, Georgia’s Emily Digby hit a two-run home run, making it 3-0. Then in the third, Nebraska (4-3) tallied two runs, as Farrell drove in a run with a double followed by an RBI single by Ava Kuszak, cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-2. But Georgia answered with three runs to boost the lead to 6-2 going to the fourth. In the fourth, Bland with a one-one single. Hoffmann followed with a double to move Bland to third base. Malia Thoms came off the bench hit a sacrifice fly to score Bland to shrink the Bulldogs’ lead to 6-3. Farrell homered in the fifth to slice the lead to 6-4. Then in the seventh, Frahm tripled to right, then scored on a single by Hannah Camenzind to cut Georgia’s lead to 6-5. With two outs, Camenzind’s pinch runner, Nessa McMillen, moved to second on Kuszak’s walk. Then pinch-hitter Carlie Muhlbach singled to left. McMillen was thrown out trying to score from second on the play, ending the game.
Nebraska now prepares to take on No. 3 Tennessee Friday in Clearwater, Fla., in a rematch of last year’s Super Regional in Knoxville, which the Lady Vols won two games to one. First pitch is slated for 11 a.m.