Nebraska softball will be back on the road this weekend as it travels to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Buckeyes to kick off Big Ten play. This matchup will mark the first conference series of the year for both teams.
The Huskers hosted their first home games of the season at the Big Red Spring Fling at Bowlin Stadium. Nebraska swept the weekend behind a team-wide effort, as many Huskers got their names in the scorebook.
Nebraska comes into the weekend at 19-6 and riding a six-game winning streak. Ohio State will be a challenging matchup as the Buckeyes come in at 18-5-1, winning seven of their last eight games.
The last time the two teams squared off was in 2023 at Bowlin Stadium where the Buckeyes ultimately won the series 2-1.
Both Ohio State and Nebraska rank in the top three nationally for home runs. The Huskers rank second with 53, while the Buckeyes are a close third with 48.
With junior infielder Lauren Camenzind tallying her first home run of the season on Saturday against Northern Colorado, 14 different Huskers have a long ball to their name thus far.
Junior pitcher/first baseman Jordy Bahl continues to play lights out. In the Big Red Spring Fling, she tossed two complete games, with one of the games being a career high 9.0 innings against South Dakota St. She also hit .545 with two homers and nine RBIs.
Senior left fielder Abbie Squier showed out for the Huskers as well last weekend. The Lincoln native hit .444 in the tournament, contributing three home runs, five RBIs and 13 total bases. Squier has been hot at the plate all season, hitting .420 with 21 hits.
With a three-game series ahead, you can expect to see junior pitcher/outfielder Hannah Camenzind, Bahl and even sophomore right-hander Kylee Magee in the circle.
Magee got the nod for game two of the tournament, getting her fourth start of the season and ninth appearance. Against Northern Colorado, she went two innings, allowing three hits on no earned runs and striking out one.
Regardless of the box score, Magee showed tremendous grit as she got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam without giving up any runs in the first inning. The former Arizona State Sundevil holds a record of 2-1 with a 4.38 ERA through 16 innings of work.
With the high-powered Buckeye offense playing at home, the Nebraska pitching staff will need to play its best softball. The Husker pitching staff as a whole holds a 2.11 ERA in a total of 152.1 innings.
Ohio State
Sophomore catcher Jasmyn Burns leads the Buckeyes offense with a batting average of .529 through 68 at-bats. She has 30 extra-base hits, with nine of which being long balls. She is also slugging 1.118.
Right behind her is sophomore infielder Sami Bewick and senior infielder Kami Kortokrax. Bewick and Kortokrax are hitting .394 and .372, respectively. Both players have five doubles, a triple and three home runs through 24 games.
As a team, the Buckeyes are hitting .343 and show no sign of slowing down. In the Ohio State Tournament this past weekend, the team accumulated 43 hits.
Leading the pitching staff is freshman Lorin Boutte. Boutte holds a 2.51 ERA through 55.2 innings of work, striking out 66 and walking only 16 batters. She holds a record of 9-3 and has appeared in 15 games.
The first game of the tournament is slated for 5:00 p.m. CT on Friday. The game will be broadcast on BTN+.