Behind two home runs from Emmerson Cope, the No. 18 Nebraska softball team claimed an 8-5 eight-inning win over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the first of two games Friday in Wichita, Kan.
Cope led the offense, going 3-for-4 with her two home runs, including a game-tying solo home run with Nebraska down to its final out in the top of the seventh inning. Cope added a career-high four RBIs. Ava Kuszak and Jordyn Bahl both went 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
Bahl (6-2) grabbed the win in the circle after entering in a tied seventh inning. She pitched 2.0 shutout innings with three strikeouts. Hannah Camenzind threw the first 4.2 innings for the Huskers (13-4) and allowed three earned runs. Kylee Magee pitched 0.1 innings and Cope came in for the sixth inning. Cope and Magee each allowed one earned run. Madi Mangulis (1-3) took the loss for South Dakota State (5-10).
The Huskers struck first in a two-run first inning. Kuszak reached on a Jackrabbit error and Bahl singled to center field. Olivia DiNardo was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and a Cope single sent Kuszak and Bahl to the plate.
Nebraska notched another run in the top of the fourth, as Lauren Camenzind got on base with a single, advanced to second on a Hannah Camenzind sacrifice bunt and scored by an Abbie Squier RBI single up the middle.
In the top of the fifth, Cope knocked a home run to center field for her second hit of the day to make the lead 4-0.
South Dakota State logged a four-run bottom of the fifth to tie the score at 4-4 with all four runs scoring with two outs.
The Jackrabbits scored again in the bottom of the sixth off an Akayla Banard homer that gave SDSU a 5-4 lead.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Cope sent a 2-1 pitch over the wall in right field for her second home run of the day to tie the game at 5-5. The game-tying blast marked Cope’s first career multi-homer game.
In the top of the eighth, Hannah Camenzind opened the inning with a double, then proceeded to advance to third on a wild pitch. A Kuszak double sent Camenzind to the plate and gave the Big Red a 6-5 lead. Bahl then doubled to score Kuszak, and Bahl went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI ground out from Samantha Bland.
Leading 8-5, Bahl retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth with a pair of strikeouts.
NU will play its second game of the day at 12:30 p.m. (CT) against No. 16 Oklahoma State in Wichita, Kan. The game can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- Natalia Hill started in center field, her first start at the position.
- Emmerson Cope hit home runs in the fifth and seventh innings for the first multi-homer game of her career.
- Cope also tied her career high with four RBIs.
- Cope, Ava Kuszak and Jordyn Bahl each had three hits. It marked the second career three-hit game for Cope, the fifth for Kuszak and the third for Bahl.
- Today’s win marks the Huskers’ first extra-inning win of the season. NU is 1-1 in extra-inning games this season.
- The Huskers used four different pitchers against South Dakota State – Hannah Camenzind, Kylee Magee, Emmerson Cope and Jordy Bahl. That is the first time this season NU has used four pitchers.
