Sooners bound to see Jordy Bahl again
Sooners bound to see Jordy Bahl again
Though Oklahoma shouldn't be looking to put Nebraska on its schedule, the Sooners and Huskers can only avoid each other for so long
This, like each of my Sunday columns, also appears in The Norman Transcript and comes at no cost here. Still, Oklahoma Columnist remains a reader supported venture that relies upon paid subscriptions to exist. If you’d like to help keep this community going, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription for the tidy sum of $6/month or $60/year.
Were Patty Gasso to try putting Nebraska on the 2024 Sooner schedule, it might justifiably be judged bad form.
Given that Bahl left for home, for family and relationship reasons, not to mention planting a softball flag in her beloved home state, not just its flagship university, there’s no upside to the Huskers seeking out the Sooners so quickly, thus leaving no good reason for the Sooners to do the same.
Having never faced the toughest lineup in the nation but for practice, Bahl could get rocked, her confidence could waver, the adjustment to new surroundings could lag and all the projections of all the miracles she might make happen in her home state could be put in jeopardy.
Even were the Mary Nutter Classic to come calling, it’s hard to see the Sooners and Huskers on the same diamond particularly soon.
At the very same time, the chance Oklahoma and Nebraska might avoid each other completely the next two seasons is even more far fetched.
Just a few weeks ago, the NCAA sent the Huskers to Stillwater to open postseason regional play.
If the rankings and RPIs were to cooperate, would the NCAA not delight in sending Nebraska back to the Sooner state, this time to the middle of it?
Better yet, might Nebraska simply be too dang good to send anywhere but Lincoln until the World Series arrives, leaving Bahl’s old team and new team to finally meet at the World Series?
I’ll bet on that.
Because not only is Bahl’s transfer the first of its kind in any sport, the best player on the best team heading home to transform a program in front of family and friends … essentially the equivalent of the great Roy Williams leaving Norman for Berkley, California, after leading OU’s 2000 national championship defense … its odds-on to deliver that transformation at the highest level.
Nebraska coach Rhonda Revelle threw her No. 1 pitcher, departing senior Courtney Wallace, 222 innings this past season, or 80-plus more than Bahl tossed prior to the World Series.
She can’t be planning to use Bahl that often, putting her arm in jeopardy, and still Bahl’s arrival could put a rocket on the Huskers’ backs because pitching’s their primary issue.
Nebraska went 36-22 overall and 13-10 in the Big Ten with an overall earned run average of 3.54 and a 220th-in-the-nation strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1.28.
Not good.
Yet, its team batting average was a 29th best-in-the-nation .308, it’s on-base percentage a 62nd-best .371 and it’s slugging percentage a 25th-best .499.
Not bad.
Katelyn Caneda, who hit a team-best .366, will only be a sophomore. Billie Andrews, who slugged .667 with 16 home runs, has her senior season in front of her. Brooke Andrews, who hit .311, slugged .575, banged out 11 home runs and drove in a team-high 45 should be back, too.
If the Huskers can quit swinging at bad pitches and raise their on-base rate, maybe add another quality pitcher to complement Bahl and returning Sarah Harness — 10-5, 3.40 ERA, 115 1/3 IP — while Bahl adds four or five additional starts to her regular-season slate, the world might be their oyster.
Nebraska could rule the Big Ten pronto, a conference that’s sent just four teams to the World Series the last 10 seasons: Michigan twice (2015-16), Minnesota (2019) and Northwestern (2022) once.
But whether it does or not, once NCAA play begins, Bahl really could toss every game without being terribly overtaxed.
Asking a pitcher to go the distance twice on the same day may now be verboten, but once for three straight days, come the postseason, is not asking too much.
For the Bahl-led Huskers, everything’s suddenly on the table.
Which, of course, brings everything back to the Sooners.
If things don’t flourish immediately in Lincoln, could the NCAA resist sending Nebraska to Norman?
I don’t see how.
If they do flourish, is there a way the two teams avoid each other in Oklahoma City?
Quite unlikely.
Putting us back where we started.
Bahl’s move is unprecedented.
It’s never happened before.
Not in any sport.
Its implications may be unprecedented, too, while the mere thought of them adds drama at every turn.
Oklahoma will see Jordy Bahl again, perhaps with everything on the line.
It’s a lot to look forward to.
WITH HER FINANCIAL BACKERS IN NEBRASKA,WHY DID SHE EVER COME TO OKLAHOMA TO BEGIN WITH? BIG MONEY GOT HER BACK TO NEBRASKA! YOU ALL CAN BELIEVE ALL THESE TERNDER HEARTED EXCUSES, BUT MONEY TRUMPS EVERYTHING NOW SPORTS!