Huskers.com
Nebraska softball players Jordyn Bahl and Ava Kuszak both garnered Big Ten weekly honors, as Bahl was named the Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week and Kuszak was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the week.
The duo helped the Huskers to a 5-0 finish at the Troy Cox Classic last weekend. All five victories came in run-rule fashion, and NU outscored its opponents 69-9 while notching 20 home runs and hitting .446. The Big Red also scored 10+ runs in five straight games for the first time in program history.
Bahl was dominant at the plate and in the circle, producing nine extra-base hits at the plate while tossing a no-hitter in the circle. She went 2-0 in her two appearances in the circle – both starts – tossing 10.0 shutout innings and allowing only two singles while striking out 13 batters. At the plate, Bahl was 10-for-16 (.625) with nine extra-base hits, four doubles, four home runs, one triple, nine runs scored and nine RBIs. Bahl averaged 2.0 hits, 1.8 extra-base hits, 1.8 runs and 1.8 RBIs per game.
On the first day of the tournament, Bahl went 4-for-6 with a double, three home runs, four runs and four RBIs against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi and host New Mexico State, including her first career multi-homer game against the Aggies. Bahl also started in the circle against NMSU and tossed 5.0 shutout innings, allowing only a pair of singles. On day two, Bahl went 2-for-6 at the plate with one double, one home run, two runs scored and four RBIs. But her biggest contribution came at pitcher against Northern Colorado, when she threw a 5.0-inning no-hitter and did not allow a ball out of the infield. Bahl concluded the tournament going 4-for-4 with a single, two doubles and a triple against Montana with one RBI and three runs scored. She had a career-high four hits against the Griz and also set career highs with two doubles and one triple and tied her career high with three runs and three extra-base hits.
Kuszak went 9-for-14 (.643) with six home runs in five games as Nebraska went 5-0 at the Troy Cox Classic. She averaged 1.8 hits, 1.2 home runs, 2.0 runs and 2.6 RBIs per game in only 14 at bats and 19 plate appearances. In addition to her .643 average, Kuszak posted a .684 on-base percentage and a 1.929 slugging percentage. Kuszak homered in four of Nebraska’s five games, including tying the Nebraska and Big Ten record with three home runs as part of a 4-for-4 day against Montana in the final game of the tournament.
She set career highs against the Griz with four hits, three home runs, four runs and six RBIs. Kuszak opened the tournament by going 2-for-5 with two home runs, two walks, three runs and four RBIs in a pair of games against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi and host New Mexico State. On day two, Kuszak went 3-for-5 with a homer, two walks, three runs and three RBIs in wins over Montana and Northern Colorado.
The last time that a Nebraska softball player won a Big Ten weekly award was last season, when Billie Andrews was named the Player of the Week on March 18, 2024. The last time that NU had a Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week in the same week was in 2016, when MJ Knighten won Player of the Week and Cassie McClure won Pitcher of the Week.
Bahl, Kuszak and the rest of the Huskers will continue their season on Thursday, Feb. 20 against No. 24 Baylor at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The game is slated to start at 4:30 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed on FloSoftball. It can also be heard for free across the Huskers Radio Network.