Jensen, Frahm rack up strikeouts as Nebraska softball sweeps doubleheader
Nebraska pitcher Alexis Jensen celebrates after a strikeout during a game against South Dakota State March 5 in Lincoln at Bowlin Stadium.
Jordy Frahm's pitch left yet another hitter swinging at open air, and the first Husker to celebrate her success with a high-five and fist pump was a teammate who’d just done the same hours earlier.
“I’m like, ‘Let’s show some energy, pump the team up, get our bats going and have some fun out there,’” freshman left-hander Alexis Jensen said of her energy.
The strikeouts started flowing early and never stopped on an evening when both Nebraska starting pitchers exerted their dominance.
Jensen struck out a career-high 13 batters during a complete game victory and Frahm followed with nine of her own strikeouts across five innings of work.
No. 10 Nebraska softball defeated South Dakota State 9-4 as Jensen led the way, later earning an 8-0 run-rule win over the Jackrabbits to sweep its Thursday doubleheader at Bowlin Stadium.
Nebraska (16-5) enjoyed plenty of fan support during a home opener that took place in sunny 60-degree conditions as it had to fight back from an early deficit in its first game of the day.
South Dakota State (12-11) took advantage of a steady wind blowing out to left field to hit a pair of early home runs off Jensen, including a three-run blast that held up in the air before drifting out of the ballpark.
The Jackrabbits led 4-2 after the third-inning surge before Jensen settled down and Nebraska’s hitters started to heat up.
Catcher Jesse Farrell and Frahm drove in runs as part of a multi-hit performance before shortstop Ava Kuszak tied the game with a two-run blast and outfielder Hannah Camenzind later added a pivotal three-run homer.
“It just really helped to have the team behind me helping every step of the way and just letting me do my thing,” Jensen said. “I knew they’d have my back.”
A five-run inning in Nebraska’s favor gave Jensen a lead to work with, and she protected it by throwing four scoreless frames to end the contest.
Head coach Rhonda Revelle nearly went to the bullpen when SDSU put two runners in scoring position during the seventh inning, but instead opted to stick with her starting pitcher.
“I took a trip out to the mound and I said, ‘Hey do you want to finish this?’” Revelle said. “She had a lot of conviction that, ‘Yes, I can get us out of this,’ and I thought that was really good for her to throw a seven-inning complete game.”
Jensen ended up throwing 130 pitches to earn the second complete game victory of her Husker career in memorable fashion.
The freshman left-hander recorded 13 strikeouts, three more than the career-high she’d set a week prior, with a devastating combination of changeups and rise balls.
“As the game went on, every single inning I was like, ‘I want this, I want this,’” Jensen said. “I was just glad that she let me stay in even after giving up two home runs and letting me work through it.”
Jensen's complete game effort also kept Frahm fresh for the nightcap.
South Dakota State managed just five hits off Nebraska’s All-American pitcher as she recorded eight of the game’s first nine outs by strikeout.
As the evening stretched on and temperatures cooled, the Nebraska batting order did enough to ensure the second leg of the doubleheader lasted just five innings.
Another multi-hit game for Frahm brought her daily total to 5-for-6 at the plate as Kuszak drilled her second home run of the day and the big hits kept coming.
Senior outfielder Kacie Hoffmann added a two-run blast and Hannah Camenzind also drove in a pair of runs before first baseman Bella Bacon drove in the game’s final run, a towering solo homer over the left-field fence.
“She blasted that; that was a no-doubter,” Revelle said of Bacon’s home run. “If you look up and down our lineup, we had contributions everywhere.”
Nebraska has now won 12 of its 13 games and will have a day off on Friday before resuming its homestand with contests against Omaha on Saturday and Sunday.
