Courtesy Nebraska Athletics
The No. 3 Nebraska softball team finished the regular season with a flourish, hammering Penn State in a 13-5 victory to end the regular season. The win, the Cornhuskers’ (43-6) 18th in a row and 32nd in the last 33 games, ran Nebraska’s Big Ten record to 23-1. The Huskers tied Indiana in 1994 for most wins by a Big Ten team in a normal schedule (Michigan in 2021 won more league games, but Big Ten teams played exclusively conference schedules due to the COVID pandemic).
Nebraska had already clinched the outright regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in next week’s Big Ten Tournament, but the Huskers took control of the game early with three runs in the first and five in the third. After the potent Nittany Lions (32-20, 11-13 Big Ten) posted three runs in the bottom of the third, the teams traded runs in the fourth, giving NU a 9-4 lead.
Jordy Frahm powered Nebraska’s final charge with home runs in the fifth and seventh innings. Alexis Jensen crushed a two-run home run as well to put Penn State away.
Frahm paced the NU offense, hitting 4-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI. Jesse Ferrell added a homer and a double. Jensen (21-2) earned the win from the bullpen, allowing two earned runs and five hits in four innings.
Nebraska now prepares for the Big Ten Tournament, beginning Wednesday in College Park, Md. The No. 1 seed in the tournament, the Huskers will take on the winner of the No. 8 seed and the No. 9 seed at 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Pregame coverage begins at 12:15 p.m. on B-107.3.