No. 18 Nebraska softball saw its bats come alive in two victories Friday at the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces, N.Mex. After thrashing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 20-1, in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule, the Huskers shutout host school New Mexico State, 10-0, in a game shortened to six innings by the mercy rule. Nebraska hit five home runs in each of the two games. The Huskers’ 20 runs in game one were the most scored by NU since Apr. 3, 2016, when Nebraska defeated Maryland, 26-4.
In game one, the Islanders jumped out to a 1-0 lead. But the Huskers got a two-run single from Lauren Camenzind in the second to take the lead. Then the onslaught began: eight runs in the third, eight runs in the fourth and a pair in the fifth to put the game away. Five different Huskers homered, led by Malia Thoms, who hit a pinch-hit grand slam. Ava Kuszak, Jordy Bahl, Talia Tokheim and Alina Felix all hit home runs as well. Meanwhile, the Nebraska pitching staff kept Texas A&M Corpus-Christi out of the game. Hannah Camenzind, Emmerson Cope and Caitlin Olensky combined to allow just four hits and one run in five innings to end the game early.
Nebraska took control of the game against the Aggies early, scoring a pair of first-inning runs. Back-to-back-to-back home runs by Abbie Squier, Kuszak and Bahl pushed the lead to 5-0 in the second. After scoring two in the fourth, NU scored three in the sixth to finish the game early. Bahl hit her second homer of the game and also doubled at the plate, while pitching five shutout innings in the circle. Kylee Magee threw the final inning to polish off the victory.
Nebraska now prepares to face Montana at 10 a.m. tomorrow, followed by Northern Colorado.