After splitting two games at the Big Ten Tournament, the Nebraska softball team heard its name called Sunday night during the NCAA Softball Selection Show on ESPN2.
The Huskers (34-20) will play Wichita State (43-10) on Friday, May 19, at 6 p.m. at Cowgirl Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The game will air on ESPNU.
Oklahoma State (41-14) is the overall No. 6 seed and will host four-time America East champion Maryland, Baltimore County (26-15).
The Huskers will meet the Shockers for the third time this season. The previous two meetings resulted in 10-8 and 10-1 losses at the Shocker Classic. Nebraska also lost two games to OSU by scores of 10-0 and 3-1.
Nebraska and UMBC have never played each other.
The last four teams in the field:@Fullerton_SB@HuskerSoftball@NDsoftball@TXStateSoftball#RoadToWCWS pic.twitter.com/KJnn8WDtsv
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 15, 2023
Big Ten Tournament Recap
Fifth-year senior Courtney Wallace pitched her best game to date on Thursday night against Illinois.
The right-hander only needed 65 pitches to complete a 1-0 shutout to send the Huskers to the semifinals.
Freshman Katelyn Caneda doubled and junior Sydney Gray’s RBI single in the bottom of the first inning was the only offense Wallace needed to complete her fourth shutout of the season.
Huskers strike first ‼️@sydneygray_2 rips one up the middle to drive in @KatelynCaneda. #GBR pic.twitter.com/n6Ab0lGJXo
— Nebraska Softball (@HuskerSoftball) May 12, 2023
The win sent the Huskers to a semifinal matchup with regular season champion Northwestern.
The Wildcats tallied eight runs on 10 hits and ended the Huskers tournament run in an 8-0, five-inning run-rule.
Wallace led the offense going 2-for-2 and fell to 23-14 in the circle. She gave up three runs on three hits in the first inning. Sarah Harness gave up five runs on seven hits in relief.
Big Ten All-Tournament Team
Wallace was named to the 2023 Big Ten All-Tournament team for the second consecutive year on Saturday afternoon.
She appeared in both games and finished the weekend 1-1.
Northwestern’s Danielle Williams was named the Most Outstanding Player after going 2-0 and a save.
2023 Big Ten Softball All-Tournament Team
Cora Bassett, Indiana
Brianna Copeland, Indiana
Taylor Minnick, Indiana
Sarah Stone, Indiana
Nia Carter, Iowa
Kayla Chavez, Minnesota
Autumn Pease, Minnesota
Courtney Wallace, Nebraska
Kelsey Nader, Northwestern
Danielle Williams, Northwestern
Angela Zedak, Northwestern
Sam Hackenbracht, Ohio State
Maren covers softball for Hail Varsity and co-hosts the Behind the Plate with Maren and Nate podcast.
