The No. 21 Nebraska softball team finished a three-game sweep of three-time defending Big Ten champion Northwestern Monday in Evanston with a 3-0 shutout win.
Jordy Bahl pitched her best game as a Husker, striking out a season-high 14 batters while walking one and allowing two hits a complete game victory. Bahl earned her 12th win in her last 13 decisions, moving to 18-4 on the season.
For four innings, the game was a scoreless deadlock. But in the top of the fifth, Bella Bacon led off the inning with a walk. Ava Bredwell bunted Bacon to second. After a strikeout by Lauren Camenzind, Bahl was intentionally walked. Kennadi Williams came on as a pinch runner for Bacon at second. Samantha Bland hit a chopper up the middle. The Wildcats’ shortstop, Kaylie Avvisato, fielded the ball and flipped to second too late to get the inning-ending force out on Bahl. Meanwhile, Williams rounded third and went home, scoring the game’s first run.
The Cornhuskers (32-10) tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh. Emmerson Cope came off the bench to pinch hit, and led off the inning with a double. Nessa McMillen came on to run for Cope as Abbie Squier came to the plate, also as a pinch hitter. Squier singled to score McMillen to push the lead to 2-0. Squier moved to second on a wild pitch, then scored on an RBI double by Bahl to push the lead to three. Bahl retired Northwestern (24-13-1) in order to finish the victory and the sweep.
The Wildcats entered the weekend in a three-way tie for first with Oregon and UCLA, but after Nebraska’s sweep, Northwestern settled in fourth place, 1.5 games behind third-place Nebraska. The Huskers are 1.5 games behind UCLA and Oregon for the Big Ten lead.
Nebraska returns to action Friday evening against Indiana at 5 p.m. at Bowlin Stadium.