Husker miscues allow Washington to pull one out in the final game of the UTSA Invitational/
The Husker bats finally slept (with a little help from a home plate ump for whom strike calls about 6” outside were commonplace on Sunday) and the difference in the end was Husker errors which ended up being the difference as the the #22 Washington Huskies eked out a 3-2 win in the bottom of the 7th inning against #9 Nebraska.
Jordy Frahm didn’t appear to be in too much trouble after starting the inning with her 10th strikeout before a single to left by the dangerous Ava Carroll who finished the day 3-for-4. But then a pair of wild pitches (giving her 3 for the game) quickly changed the look of things in a 2-2 knot. The first came while safely walking the dangerous Alexis DeBoer on 6 pitches, but this advanced Carroll to 2nd.
Jing Gardner came on to pinch run for Carroll and another wild pitch, this one on the first toss to Jadyn Glab, moved Gardner over to 3rd with still only one gone. Glab then roped the very next offering into center field ending the game and giving the Huskies a split with the Huskers for the weekend.
They will not meet again unless their paths cross in the B1G Tourney or the NCAA tournament – which is a shame; I would head back to Seattle in a heartbeat after last spring’s trip turned into a 10-day vacation.
Frahm was good, but not great, while making her 4th appearance on Sunday and going the distance for the first time. Her K’s/BB’s were solid striking out 10 against 1 free pass, but, much like #2 Alexis Jensen, she had a few issues with letting fly right thru the meat of the strike zone as she gave up 10 hits, including her 3rd homer of the weekend.
It’s tough to pin too much on her, though, as the Huskers should be able to hit their way to a win over any team in the country if they can hold the opposition to two earned runs or fewer. We do tend to hold Frahm to a higher standard, however. Jordy’s 3 wild pitches on Sunday might indicate a little fatigue early on but shouldn’t be an issue as the games begin to pile up.
If the Huskers had an offensive MVP this weekend, it was Hannah Camenzind who smacked the Huskers only homer of the day after 11 team jacks in the first 4 games. Hannah finished 9-for-18 in the 5 games, a .500 BA which was accompanied by 2 HR’s and 4 RBI’s. And Frahm and Jessie Farrell both went 6-for-14, although pitchers seemed to have some success against Jordy as things went along over the weekend repeatedly coming high and in. This gave her trouble extending and, on a few at-bats, she was chasing high pitches out of the zone.
Like I said – higher standard.
Husker miscues also aided the Huskies first score in the bottom of 1. After a 1-out single, Frahm’s first wild pitch sent the runner to 2nd base and a dropped 3rd strike sent the runner to 3rd on the throw over. (To be fair, Revelle should’ve appealed that as the batter kicked the dropped ball toward the 3rd base dugout.) A Bella Bacon error on a grounder then scored the run instead of ending the inning.
Bella made up for it in the 5th, however, when Farrell spied a Husky runner far off 1st after a pitch, and quickly gunned her out with Bacon making a nice grab and then finding the runner for the tag. One last note – I had wondered why Sammie Bland was 8th in the order this weekend after finishing out 2025 as a terror for other teams in the #2 slot. I got my answer as she was hitless with 5 strikeouts. Yikes. However, I have no fear she will bounce back and soon. Mark it.
The Huskers will return next weekend at the Shriner’s Children’s Clearwater Invitational in Florida. There’s good news and bad news. Good news first – some games will be on ESPN2. Bad news – the other games will be on ESPN+. I would highly another weekend of former Texas pitcher Cat Osterman doing color – she may have been confused about the batting out of order appeal process, but she offered great insight throughout the weekend, especially as to what pitchers were thinking. However, the camerawork was Peacock/B1G+ Network brutal with plenty of shots of player reactions while actual live plays were occurring off-camera.
Prepare yourselves accordingly and Go Big Red.
Category: General Sports
