SAN ANTONIO – The No. 10 Nebraska softball team beat the No. 1 Texas Longhorns – the defending national champions – by a score of 8-5 Saturday evening to notch its fourth win over the No. 1 team in program history. 

Nebraska beat a top-ranked team for the first time since April 8, 2016, when it downed then-No. 1 Michigan, 1-0.

The Big Red never trailed against the Longhorns after posting a four-run first inning, highlighted by an Ava Kuszak three-run home run. NU accounted for the rest of its runs in a four-run third inning that included another three-run bomb from Emmerson Cope. 

Jordy Frahm claimed the win in the circle after throwing a scoreless final four innings of relief to close out the game. Frahm allowed only three hits and struck out five en route to the win. Alexis Jensen threw the first three innings for NU and allowed eight hits and five earned runs with six strikeouts.

Offensively, Kuszak and Cope each logged three RBIs on the day while Kuszak had two hits and two runs. Frahm, Jesse Farrell, Hannah Camenzind, Kacie Hoffmann and Lauren Camenzind added a hit apiece. Frahm and L. Camenzind each knocked a solo home run as NU hit four homers in the game.

The Huskers took the lead on the second pitch of the game when Frahm knocked a solo shot over the wall in center field. Coor reached first on an error by the Longhorn pitcher and Farrell notched an infield single to put two on base to set up an Ava Kuszak three-run homer to extend the lead to 4-0. 

Texas cut the lead to two in the bottom of the first at 4-2.

Kuszak and H. Camenzind opened the top of the third with back-to-back singles before a Cope bomb extended the advantage to 7-2 and forced a UT pitching change. L. Camenzind hit a solo homer of her own, the Huskers’ fourth of the day, to make the score 8-2. 

The Longhorns fought back to 8-5 with a three-run bottom of the third that included a two-run homer.

Texas mounted threats in the fourth and fifth with runners in scoring position but Frahm and the Husker defense shut them down and retired six straight in the sixth and seventh to close out the 8-5 win.

Later in the day, the Huskers shut down an attempted UTSA comeback to down the Roadrunners, 6-3.

Nebraska went into the bottom of the sixth inning with a 6-1 advantage before UTSA scored two runs in the inning to cut the lead to 6-3. The Roadrunners hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh, but NU retired three straight batters to clinch the victory. 

H. Camenzind grabbed the win in the circle after tossing 2.1 scoreless innings and allowing only one hit. Kylee Magee started the game for NU and Jensen came in to close it.

H. Camenzind was also 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run and three RBIs. Frahm, Coor and Carlie Muhlbach each added an RBI. Frahm and Muhlbach each knocked solo shots. Muhlbach made her first career start today, as she started as the Huskers’ catcher.

NU opened up a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, as Frahm was hit by a pitch and went to second on a passed ball. She scored on a Coor single and Coor went home on a H. Camenzind single. 

The Huskers extended the edge to 3-0 in the second inning on a Frahm solo home run.

UTSA used a hit and two walks to get on the board in the bottom of the third and cut the lead to 3-1.

The Big Red pushed the lead to 5-1 in the top of the fifth. Emmerson Cope doubled and H. Camenzind knocked a two-run home run to score herself and Katelyn Caneda, who came in to pinch run for Cope.

Muhlbach hit her first career home run in the top of the sixth to make the score 6-1. 

The Roadrunners mounted a comeback in the sixth and cut the lead to 6-3, but NU fought back to close out the win.