Nebraska softball has a big advantage heading into Sunday, plus more in Big Red Rundown

It wasn’t easy by any means, but Nebraska softball is right where it needs to be after two days of the NCAA Softball Tournament.

The Huskers are hosting the Lincoln Regional. Today is the final day, at least for this round. Two teams advanced to Sunday: Nebraska by virtue of wins over South Dakota and Grand Canyon. The Lopes bounced back from their loss to Nebraska on Saturday to beat South Dakota in the evening, advancing to Sunday. The Coyotes knocked off Louisville to reach that round.

So, Nebraska softball will square off against the Grand Canyon squad it defeated 2-0 on Saturday. Jordy Frahm was incredible for the Huskers, tossing a complete-game, one-hit shutout. She also set a career-high with 16 strikeouts. 16 of the 21 outs she registered came via strikeout. She also didn’t walk a single batter.

Frahm had a couple of hits, offensively, too, although Hannah Coor was the hero once again, delivering an RBI double that gave the Huskers the lead in the fifth inning. From there, Frahm shut the door, just like she did against South Dakota.

It will be interesting to see if Rhonda Revelle throws Frahm in the first game, or decides to roll with Alexis Jensen, who allowed just two hits and one run on Friday.

Through two games, Nebraska softball has allowed three hits and one run. That’s what you call effective starting pitching. The lack of offense has been a bit worrisome. Nebraska came into the NCAA Tournament averaging 7.23 runs per game. Through two games, they have scored just six runs on 10 hits.

The first pitch on Sunday will be at 2 PM CST on ESPN. If the Huskers win that game, they will advance. If they lose, there would be a second, winner-take-all game to advance to the Super Regional immediately after game one.

Another sweep for Nebraska baseball

Nebraska baseball earned a 14-11 win over Minnesota on Sunday to complete a series sweep. It was the eighth Big Ten series win out of 10 and sends Nebraska into the postseason on a seven-game winning streak.

From Huskers.com:

Jett Buck paced the Big Red offense with a 3-for-5 afternoon, falling a triple shy of the cycle while driving in four runs and scoring twice. Case Sanderson was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, three RBI, and three runs scored. Rhett Stokes finished 2-for-6 with two RBI and a solo homer, and Drew Grego doubled and had a pair of hits.

Mac Moyer went 1-for-1 with a home run, two runs driven in and four walks. Jeter Worthley, Trey Fikes and Joshua Overbeek recorded one hit apiece.

Gavin Blachowicz started and worked 4.2 innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts. Colin Nowaczyk and Caleb Clark each made a brief appearance before Pryce Bender settled things down, tossing 2.1 innings of one-run ball to earn the win and improve to 1-0. J’Shawn Unger closed it out with a scoreless ninth for his 11th save of the season.

Nebraska baseball clinched the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Baseball Tournament. The Huskers will play on Friday against Rutgers, Washington, Ohio State, or Michigan in the quarterfinals.

Nebraska is ranked ninth in live RPI. So, not only should the Huskers host a regional, a Super Regional isn’t out of the question, especially with a third consecutive Big Ten tournament title.

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