In the quest for a college softball national championship, 16 teams are still alive. And head coach Rhonda Revelle's Nebraska Cornhuskers are one of them.

Nebraska (42-13) won all three of its Regional games last weekend in Baton Rouge to advance to the Super Regionals, which for Nebraska kicks off Friday at 6 p.m. against No. 7 Tennessee (43-14) at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville.

The matchup will be a best-of-three series with a game being played on Friday (shown on ESPN2) and Saturday (ESPN), and Sunday if neccessary. Saturday’s matchup is set for 4 p.m. Sunday’s schedule is to be determined.

Led by All-American junior pitcher and hitter Jordyn Bahl, Nebraska is entering the Super Regional red hot after beating UConn and Southeastern Louisiana (twice) by a combined score of 32-3.

The Regional title was Nebraska's first since 2014 and the ninth in school history.

"I think we're just clicking on all cylinders right now, and we just have to keep building on that," junior infielder Ava Kuszak said Wednesday before the team flew to Tennessee.

Friday's game with the Volunteers will be a rematch of Nebraska's season-opener from Feb. 6 in Florida. That day the Huskers beat the then-No.6 Vols 7-1.

Like Nebraska, Tennessee has one of the best pitchers in the country in the hard-throwing Karlyn Pickens, the SEC Pitcher of the Year who will enter the game with a record of 22-8 and an earned-run average of 0.90.

"We're excited. We don't really care who we get matched up with, we've had that mentality since Regionals," Bahl said. "So now that it's Supers, and it's them again, we're excited for the opportunity."

The Bahl-Pickens pitching matchup is one many will be interested in, including ESPN, which will bring its top broadcast crew of Beth Mowins, Michele Smith, Jessica Mendoza and Holly Rowe to Knoxville to call the action.

With all the eyeballs watching, the team's mindset has stayed the same, according to Kuszak, a Broomfield (Colo.) native who extended her hit streak to 14 games with a first-inning home run against Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday.

Staying focused on the task at hand and nothing else will be key.

"Embrace the environment and honestly take it in for what it's worth, but also focus on us," Kuszak said of playing in a big-game environment on the road. "We've been focusing on that the past two weeks — just worry about what we're doing and making sure we're doing what we need to be doing on and off the field so that all the outside noise kind of drowns itself."

Revelle has been talking for weeks about her message of this being a one-game season. Staying in the routine and not changing anything about the approach has been the goal.

"We're really trying to stay in the moment, really trying to win pitch-to-pitch," Revelle said Wednesday. "The higher you get on the mountain, the more you have to really shrink it down and really stay bite-size, and that's our focus. Because this is a lot — it's great, wonderful. But they have to get back to what really matters — can I execute this pitch at a high level? So that's what we're really trying to do within our own circle."

In the season-opener against Tennessee, Bahl threw a complete-game five-hitter and allowed only one run while striking out seven without a walk. At the plate, Bahl hit the first home run of her career — a two-run shot — off Pickens.

"More than anything physically, she's a competitor," said Bahl of Pickens. "I just respect that about her and about that team in general. They're full of competitors and that excites our team because we know it's going to be a good fight. That's what we want."

In preparation for Pickens, Revelle had her players batting in the Alex Gordon Training Complex with some of the lights turned off.

"We've been hitting 75 (mph) without all the lights on," Revelle said. "...The lights aren't on because you have to really drill down on your vision. Our game got moved to 7 o'clock (6 p.m. central), so we did that the first time we played her because we knew we were playing a night game. You just look for any edge you can.

"She's the hardest thrower in the country, and we've been overtraining velocity. We're trying to make little tweaks, we've got Plan A and Plan B and Plan C that we can make some adjustments physically so we can be on time with 75, 76, 77 (mph)."

Revelle remembers how she felt during the season-opener against the Vols. With the collection of 10 new faces — and three new infielders — Nebraska got the job done against a top-10 opponent and showed Revelle her team would be able to compete with anyone in the country.

"We've been marching toward that," Revelle said. "We've stubbed out toes along the way, but like I said all along, I'm not considering anything we've done this year as a loss — I'm considering it as a learn. That really comes from our players and their attitude, their behavior and their want to be really good. So when they want that, and they work for that, it's always a learn, it's not a loss."

After missing all of 2024 with an ACL injury she sustained in the season-opener, Bahl has returned with a vengeance.

After her rehab was complete, Bahl remembers being asked if she felt like she returned to her pre-injury form. But the Papillion, Neb., native never thought of it that way. She never set a goal to get back to her previous form.

"Just not having those expectations and playing free without feeling the weight of those expectations has been a goal," Bahl said, "and I think that has been this season, and it's going to continue throughout."

According to Nebraska Athletics, Bahl is the first Husker in school history to record 15 doubles and 15 home runs in the same season. She also became the second Husker to record 60-plus runs, hits and RBIs in a season.

Bahl has 23 home runs, 69 runs scored and 41 extra-base hits on the season, all of which are program records. With 23 home runs and 25 wins in the circle, Bahl is one of five players in NCAA history to have more than 20 home runs and 20 wins in the same season.

In the circle, Bahl has an ERA of 1.50 and a record of 25-6 across 186.11 innings pitched. She has struck out 270 batters and allowed only 40 earned runs.

On Monday, Bahl was named one of three finalists for the USA Softball/ESPN Collegiate Player of the Year. The other two finalists are Arkansas’ Bri Ellis and Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady, the reigning Collegiate Player of the Year. The winner will be announced Tuesday, May 27.

Revelle is biased of course, but she knows where her vote is going.

"There are a lot of wonderful players out there, and the three finalists, any one can make a case for why they should be," Revelle said. "I just think Jordy has done so much on both sides of the ball. She's impacted the game in so many ways this year. She's even one stolen base away from double-digits in stolen bases for cryin' out loud. What kind of coach is going to run your pitcher? Might need to talk to her."

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