Husker Softball Continues to Overcome Adversity

As injuries mount, ‘we’re just going to keep fighting,’ says coach Rhonda Revelle

Kaylin Kinney / Nebraska Athletics

The Nebraska softball team has been bitten by the injury bug extremely hard this season. It’s to the point where head coach Rhonda Revelle has never seen anything like it in her 30-plus years of coaching.

Freshman left-hander Caitlin Olensky and sophomore outfielder Talia Tokheim will both miss the remainder of the Huskers’ season due to injury, joining an injured list that already includes Jordy Bahl, Abbie Squier, Dakota Carter and Abbey Newlun.

“I’m in my 32nd year and I can’t even compare anything to it,” Revelle said. “We’re just going to keep fighting.”

Fighting is all this year’s Huskers knows how to do after losing their ace, Bahl, in the first few innings of the season. They have consistently overcome adversity and still find themselves in a position to make the NCAA Tournament.

After dropping the first game of the three-game set to Rutgers on Friday, the Huskers will have to lean on their first-year ace Kaylin Kinney to shut down one of the Big Ten’s top offenses. The fourth-year Husker pitcher has now thrown nearly as many innings this season (113⅔) as in her three previous seasons combined (114⅓ innings).

“She just really went to work on being consistent and throwing to both sides of the plate. It started in her mind like, ‘I’m gonna do this,’” Revelle said of Kinney. “It wasn’t really a mindset switch, but it was a mindset strengthening. She hasn’t invented a new pitch or anything like that, it’s just really been her mindset.”