Husker Big Red Daily: Nebraska softball wins a classic, Lincoln Regional Preview, more

Welcome to Husker Big Red Daily, your daily stop for the latest Nebraska football news, recruiting buzz, transfer portal updates, and Huskers headlines. Here’s a quick look at the latest storylines surrounding Nebraska athletics.

After a 10-inning marathon, Nebraska softball scored the all-important opening round win over Arkansas on Thursday night at the Women’s College World Series.

It took a game-tying home run from Hannah Coor, 10 strong innings from Jordy Frahm, and a walk-off home run from All-Big Ten shortstop Ava Kuszak to win the game, 5-3, but the Huskers are 1-0 and headed to the winner’s bracket, where they will play Alabama on Saturday at 6 PM CST on ESPN.

A win on Saturday would send Nebraska to the semifinals undefeated. That’s a huge place to be. If the Huskers beat Alabama, they would need to win just one game, in two chances, to advance to the championship series.

Frahm was incredible, allowing eight hits in 10 innings. She struck out nine and could get the ball again on Saturday, although Alexis Jensen could easily get the start. The formula of Jensen starting, and giving way to Frahm in the fifth inning or so has been very effective for the Huskers, now 52-6 on the season.

Looking ahead to the Lincoln Regional

Will Bolt is probably a little envious of Rhonda Revelle this week, or he could be, if the Huskers run into any trouble at the ‘extremely tough’ Lincoln Regional, but managing a baseball pitching staff is a completely different animal.

Revelle can throw Frahm or Jensen for every pitch. Bolt doesn’t have that luxury. He’s got four quality starters. Ty Horn and Cooper Katskee have also had some decent moments in relief. The bullpen is a weakness, outside of closer J’Shawn Unger, but getting to him can be a journey.

The 42-15 Huskers will start Carson Jasa against South Dakota State (24-31), which put together a stellar run through the Summit League to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013. The two teams met earlier this season, with Nebraska winning 5-4, thanks to a 5-for-5 performance from Dylan Carey. Sam Schlecht (4-4, 5.88 ERA) will get the start for the JackRabbits.

Nolan Grawe is the top batter for SDSU, hitting .315 this season with seven home runs and 49 RBI. Luke Luskey is another name to know. He led South Dakota State with 13 homers and 55 RBI, while batting .305. Nebraska baseball has eight batters hitting over .300, led by Case Sanderson (.370). Carey has also been huge, leading the Huskers in slugging percentage thanks to 14 home runs, 63 RBI, 16 doubles, and two triples, while hitting .342.

Carson Jasa is expected to get the ball on Friday for Nebraska. The All-Big Ten pitcher was 9-2 with a 3.76 ERA this season. The first pitch goes out at 3 PM (ESPN+). Ole Miss and Arizona State, two top-25 teams, will play after.

If Nebraska wins, it would play the winner of that game on Saturday night at 7.

Official visit season has arrived

It’s official visit season for college football recruiting. That means the Nebraska football team will have a busy June. Even though recruits can visit this weekend, the Huskers won’t host any 2027 recruits.

However, on June 5th, June 12th, and June 19th, Nebraska football is scheduled to host 35 recruits for official visits. 5-star Albert Simien will be one of those. Matthew Gregory, a top-100 wideout trending to Nebraska, is another.

There will be plenty of storylines to follow, but Husker fans can rest easy this weekend and focus on the diamond. Official visit season starts in earnest next week for the Big Red.

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