What Nebraska softball ace Jordy Bahl learned from a season derailed by injury

LINCOLN, Neb. — Jordy Bahl has no complaints.

Not about the knee injury that ended her first season with the Nebraska softball team after throwing only a handful of pitches in February. Not about missing the opportunity to play alongside longtime friends in their final seasons of eligibility.

Not about the experience in the dugout with a team this spring that missed the NCAA postseason.

Bahl, in fact, said she felt a sense of relief soon after she realized she would have to redshirt and rehab this year in the wake of helping lead Oklahoma to national championships in 2022 and 2023 before a transfer one year ago to compete for her home state Huskers.

“Everything mentally the last two years,” Bahl said Wednesday, “everything leading up to (the injury), the pressure, the expectations, coming back home, there was so much craziness going on that never, at one point, was I able to step back and just take a deep breath.

“And that was almost God’s way of saying, ‘Here you go. You need this rest, physically and mentally. And this is the only way you’re going to get it.’ Because if it was up to me, obviously, that wouldn’t have been the way things played out.”

A two-time All-America pitcher and the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 Women’s College World Series, Bahl posted a 44-2 record over two seasons with the Sooners and allowed less than one earned run per seven innings. Her transfer to Nebraska last summer allowed Bahl, the former Gatorade National Player of the Year out of Papillion-LaVista High School in 2021, to reconnect with her family and establish a legacy at home on and off the field.

GO DEEPER

'Oh, my God, it's happening': Why softball champ Jordy Bahl upended it all to come home

Until the aftermath of the Feb. 8 injury, though, she never experienced a full reset.

“It renewed my love for the game,” she said, “renewed my appreciation for everything. It’s been a really big year for everything. I didn’t realize how much I needed to take a step back.”

Bahl suffered the injury in Nebraska’s season opener while pitching against Washington in a tournament played in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She slipped while delivering a pitch and felt a “big pop” in her left knee before falling to the dirt. Bahl described the incident as “one of those freak things.”

His will > my will.
His plan > my plan.
He > I.

Happy little shotgun rider when He is behind the wheel.🤟🏻

Go big red.❤️ pic.twitter.com/4y06KVM5f0

— Jordyn Bahl (@jordybahl) February 13, 2024

An MRI after the Huskers’ return to Lincoln confirmed the need for surgery. Bahl said she can exert herself today at 50 percent and that she expects to be cleared to work at full speed in October. She plans to graduate in May 2025 and pitch two more seasons at Nebraska for coach Rhonda Revelle.

The Huskers suffered a rash of injuries in 2023 — including to their ace — and finished 30-23 overall and fourth in the Big Ten. They missed the NCAA regionals for the first time in three years. Bahl watched most games in uniform with her teammates.

“It should just make you sick to your stomach,” she said of losing. “You never want to be in that situation again. And that’s where you make the decision like, ‘I’m going to do everything in my power to make that never happen again.’

“Or you’re OK with that. And if you’re OK with that, that’s kind of weird.”

Bahl, 21, returned to Nebraska in part to impact young athletes. She said she has used this time rehabilitating to connect with softball players who’ve also experienced injuries. Fans and other players who’ve watched her compete typically saw only the high moments like her victories at the WCWS.

“What they don’t see is all of the struggles and hard times,” Bahl said. “Using one of these low times to relate and connect to girls who are going through low times, that’s been one of the coolest parts.”

Bahl said she enjoyed watching her former teammates at Oklahoma win another championship last month. She used time this year, too, to watch her brother in high school, Bryson, play basketball and commit to South Dakota State.

As she works to rebuild strength six days a week, Bahl played a key role in helping Revelle land six transfers for 2025. Among the Huskers’ portal additions are three players, like Bahl, from the Omaha area — Arkansas transfers Kacie Hoffman, an outfielder, and twins Hannah Camenzind, a pitcher-outfield and catcher-shortstop Lauren Camenzind.

Nebraska also added infielder Ava Kuszak from Wisconsin, utility-catcher Olivia DiNardo from Arizona State and pitcher Kylee Magee from Arizona.

All six won honors at their previous schools.

“The common theme from all of them is that they want to win,” Bahl said, “and they want to do whatever it takes to win. What more can you ask?”

Bahl said she recognized before this experience with an injury that she needed a break at times. She refused to allow herself to take it, she said, out of concern that competitors would get ahead.

She’s come to understand that she’s not fallen behind this year. She still works as hard as in the past. The work just looks different.

And when next spring arrives? This year away from the normal grind elevated her love for softball.

“I’m just going to have a new appreciation for it when I come back.”

(Photo courtesy of the University of Nebraska)