The No. 19 Nebraska softball team took advantage of two Tennessee errors as part of a three-run fourth inning and downed the No. 7 Volunteers, 5-2, on Friday night at the NCAA Super Regionals in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Huskers moved to 43-13 on the season and moved within one win of their eighth all-time Women’s College World Series by taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three super regional.
Samantha Bland, Hannah Camenzind and Olivia DiNardo recorded a hit and an RBI apiece and Jordyn Bahl added a hit and scored twice. Camenzind’s hit was a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning.
Bahl (26-6) grabbed the victory in the circle after pitching a complete game with seven hits, two earned runs and six strikeouts. Karlyn Pickens (22-9) took the loss for Tennessee.
Bahl opened the game with a single through the left side, then stole second base and went home on a DiNardo RBI single to make the score 1-0.
Tennessee tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second on a Sophia Nugent home run.
In the top of the third, Bahl walked and went home on a Bland double, and NU grabbed the lead back at 2-1.
H. Camenzind opened the top of the fourth with a solo home run before Bacon was hit by a pitch. She advanced to second on a wild pitch before Lauren Camenzind walked. Bahl reached on an error, which also scored Bacon. L. Camenzind crossed the plate on another error and the Big Red led 5-1 going into the fourth.
Tennessee brought the score to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth on a single and a wild pitch. But that would be the final scoring of the game.
NU will take on the Vols again tomorrow, May 24, in the second game of the NCAA Super Regionals. The game is set to start at 4 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed on ESPN and can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- The Huskers moved to 69-56 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and 3-3 in Super Regional matchups.
- Today’s win was NU’s first top-10 win since it beat then-No. 6 Tennessee in the 2025 season opener.
- This is the fourth time in school history and the first since 2014 that NU has won four straight games in the NCAA Tournament.
- Jordyn Bahl moved to 11-0 in her NCAA Tournament career.
- Bahl became the first player in Nebraska history to score 70+ runs in a season. She has 71 runs scored this year.
- Hannah Camenzind‘s home run was her 10th of the season, putting four Huskers at 10+ homers this year, which is the first time that has happened in school history.
- Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens has given up only six home runs this season. Two of them have come from Huskers – Bahl in the season opener and Hannah Camenzind in today’s game.
