Courtesy Nebraska Athletics
Facing a lineup that was scoring 11.74 runs per game, the No. 9 Nebraska softball team surrendered just a single run and four hits in locking down No. 7 UCLA in a 4-1 NU victory Friday at Bowlin Stadium.
The Bruins (28-4, 9-1 Big Ten) came in with 100 home runs in 31 games while hitting .410 as a team, but Alexis Jensen (12-2) threw five innings, allowing just one run and four singles. Jordy Frahm entered the game in the sixth and allowed only one baserunner while earning her eighth save, breaking now-head-coach Rhonda Revelle’s school record of seven saves in a season set in 1983.
The game started as a pitcher’s duel, with neither team getting a hit, let alone scoring in the first four innings. UCLA strung together three hits in the fourth to take a 1-0 lead when Bri Alejandre drove in a run with a single up the middle. But in the bottom of the fifth, the Cornhuskers (25-5, 7-0 Big Ten) struck back. After Jordy Frahm led off the inning being hit by a pitch, Hannah Camenzind lined a two-run home run over the left-field fence to give Nebraska the lead. Then in the sixth, the Huskers tacked on two insurance runs.
Hannah Coor led the NU offense, hitting 2-for-2 with a double and a walk. Hannah Camenzind drove in three runs and homered, while Frahm reached base three times with two walks and a hit by pitch.
The win snapped Nebraska’s 16-game losing streak to the Bruins, dating back to March 29, 1987, current Huskers’ associate head coach Lori Sippel’s junior season at NU. UCLA also saw a 22-game winning streak snapped, while Nebraska extended its winning streak to 14 games with wins in 21 of the last 22.
The Huskers and Bruins square off against Saturday at 2 p.m. at Bowlin Stadium.