The No. 19 Nebraska softball team’s season came to an end in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Sunday in the NCAA Super Regionals after falling 1-0 to the seventh-ranked Tennessee Volunteers in the decisive game three of the series.
Nebraska won game one but lost games two and three by one run, finishing the season with an overall record of 43-15 and falling just short of making it to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
The only run in the final game came from a solo home run off the bat of Ella Dodge in the bottom of the first, which proved to be the game-winner. The Huskers’ best chance to make a move came in the fifth inning as they loaded the bases with two outs, but Tennessee’s star pitcher, Karlyn Pickens, struck out Lauren Camenzind to end the threat.
After the game, Coach Ronda Revelle told reporters that the team made a lot of progress this season compared to last year, despite the disappointing end.
“We had a big vision this year,” Revelle said. “We didn’t quite make it, but we took a big step. And we’re not planning on not continuing the step, and that’s really our intension.”
The Big Red finished with its best winning percentage in 18 years and made it to a Super Regional for the first time since 2014. The Huskers ended the 2025 season with a winning percentage of .741, which is the best since the 2006 season when they finished with an overall record of 44-12 (.785).
“I’m going to look back at this season as a coach and be really, really proud of it,” Revelle said. “I’m already really proud of it, but I’m going to be able to put context to it.”
The team has a lot of players that will be returning with only four seniors graduating. Star two-way player Jordy Bahl said that the outgoing seniors have meant a lot to her.
“They left a legacy in this program, because of what they do on the field, but also just because of who they are in the locker room and the people that they are,” Bahl said. “There definitely going to be missed, and they’re also going to continue to be a motivation for us next year.”
The Huskers have a lot of pride for all the progress that they made throughout the season. Even though they didn’t get as far as they hoped they would, Bahl said that she is encouraged from all that they accomplished, though she also knows there is still work to be done.
“Just the whole season in general, again, I’m really proud of our team,” Bahl said. “We did grow a lot, but at the same time, we know we didn’t meet our potential.”
With the end of this season, it means that Bahl will only have one more season with the Huskers. Shortstop Ava Kuszak said that Bahl’s impact has helped the team tremendously on and off the field.
Bahl, the superstar from Papillion who spent her first two seasons at Oklahoma, saw her first season as a Husker cut short by a knee injury in the opener. She bounced back in a big way this season, picking up 26 wins in the circle and smacking 23 home runs at the plate to earn her place among the national player of the year finalists. The Husker captain will have one more season with the Red Team to add to her collegiate legacy.
“It fires me up inside, because she just wants to go out there and do everything she can to win,” Kuszak said of Bahl. “I think that’s just the person she is. It’s not just the softball player she is, it’s the person she is, because that’s what enables her to do that is not because of the softball Jordy, it’s because of the person Jordy, and that’s why I love her.”
Although the season just ended, the Huskers already have their mind set on what they want to do next season. Kuszak said that she is pumped about getting to work in the off season.
“I think hitting the ground running next year — I’m ready for next year already, just to start going, because I want to hit the ground where we are now,” Kuszak said. “With the way this team grew throughout the year, I’m excited to see what happens next year.”
