TWIS Notes 5/14/26: Lincoln Regional Edition – The Journey’s End Is Just Beginning

Now, the fun begins.

The Huskers are hosting their first regional in 13 years and their goals only begin there. Will they reach Oklahoma City? We will see, but the final stage of that journey begins with a win in the 4-team double-elimination match-up in Lincoln at 5:30pm Friday.

2026 Has Already Been a Season To Remember – Now Begins the Road To Making It One for the Ages

In the land of grain silos and two-lane highways, folks sitting in small-town and roadside diners would drink coffee while waiting for chicken-fried steaks & eggs, read the paper and perhaps chat with others about Husker sports. And they would joke years ago that the Huskers had only two – football and spring football.

Those days appear to be over.

This spring has been flush with success. Men’s hoops – first NCAA victory and the Sweet 16 (yes, I know, technically a winter sport, but no one’s thinking winter in the post-season). Women – an NCAA tourney bid and play-in victory. Wrestling – a #3 national finish a year after finishing #2. Track & Field – Men and women both ranked in the top 10 with multiple conference and national leaders. Baseball – virtually assured of an NCAA bid and firmly in the hunt for a 1st round regional hosting bid.

And then there’s the softball team.

I have said that four arrivals had the effect of jarring the Big 10 from being the 5th or 6th strongest conference to the 2nd – or at least the 3rd. Those arrivals were UCLA, Oregon and Washington from the Pac-12 and Jordy then-Bahl, now-Frahm, from Oklahoma.

The results? Okay, first of all, the SEC is still the dominant #1 and region alone suggests this won’t change anytime soon. They took 6 of the top 8 national seeds who are assured of hosting super-regionals should they advance past Round 1. The other 2? Nebraska And UCLA.

Of the top 16 seeds, the SEC took 9 followed by the Big 10 with 3. The ACC and Big 12, who both used to sit well above the Big 10, took 2 apiece. The Big 10 is top heavy you say? Total NCAA seeds – SEC – 12, ACC – 8, Big 12 and Big 10 – 7. No other conference had more than 3 (Sun Belt), and I think it can be safely said the Big 10 has moved into a neighborhood with the big girls.

The Huskers have sort of turned into road rock stars like their volleyball counterparts in that sport. Their March road trip to Stillwater set Oklahoma State attendance records for their home opener (#1) and highest single-game attendance all-time (also #1). This is a program with 28 NCAA tourney appearances and 12 in the WCWS. Was Jordy Frahm a big reason for that? Of course. And, yes, the Huskers lose 12 seniors and likely don’t start 2027 with such high expectations, but I think we can hold off worrying about that for a month or so.

2026 started with high expectations. And the reality has now exceeded those expectations so far. Revelle talked about wanting that top-8 seed so Lincoln would be guaranteed that Super Regional hosting if they advanced to Round 2. The regular season and conference tournament ended with championships in both AND a #1 ranking in the ESPN and NFCA polls. Coupled with a #3 finish in RPI, many thought their #4 NCAA national seeds was too low.

How’s that for exceeding expectations?

Perhaps it would be easy to look ahead of their regional with such lofty rankings and ratings. Don’t bet it on it. More than once this season, I would ask Coach Revelle about an upcoming game or weekend just to see her flash that beaming smile and tell me again, “Now, Andy, you know we don’t look any farther ahead than the next pitch.”

They’ve got the talent, the bats and the arms, but his the approach which will carry them to a 3-0 record and some more home cooking in a Super Regional next weekend.

This Week’s HUSKER SOFTBALL Nuggets

• Here are the other teams in the Lincoln Regional. There will be more details on them in the How To Watch/Listen and More columns which will either publish here the night before or early the morning of those games. I try to do the evenings, but sometimes the night after games is just a faceplant.
• Here you go – Louisville (44-12, 18-6 3-way tie 3rd place ACC, #29 RPI/#105 Strength of Schedule), Grand Canyon (52-8, 21-4 1st place Mountain West, #27/#111), South Dakota (19-34-1, 7-11 4th place Summit League, #159/#64)
• Alabama received the #1 national seeds, but didn’t get any favors in the selection process. Waiting for them there are Belmont and likely All-American hurler Maya Johnson (27-2 0.66 ERA 381 K’s 32 BB’s) as well as SE Louisiana U. who stunned LSU twice before falling to the Huskers in last year’s Baton Rouge Regional. Can they shock an SEC opponent for the 2nd straight season?
• The Big 10 put in seven teams with three involved in by-the-skin-of-their-teeth decisions. The Huskers, UCLA, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin made it safely. Michigan and Indiana were Last-Four-In selections. Northwestern, probably the overall best program the last five or so seasons, was in the First-Four-Out group.
• Revelle took two Gatorade ice-water jug dousings at Penn State two weekends ago (regular season title) and another at Maryland (tournament title). Should they win the Lincoln Regional, I expect to see her with her head on a swivel after the championship game. Can these ninjas strike a third time?
• I still hope Saturday’s loss stings a little for UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. That challenge attempt to get Jordy Frahm ejected for “malicious intent” after a base-running collision is still one of the cheapest things I’ve ever seen tried by a coach. And I was left to wander the shops of Tijuana as a kid in the 70’s on a travel-camp bus trip.
• Revelle’s move to replace Alexis Jensen with Emmerson Cope at DP (or hitting when Jensen pitches) to lighten her workload paid off big in College Park. Cope ripped three hits on the weekend (.333 BA) including a home run to across a main drag/wide street behind the left field fence. And Jensen tossed a 2-hit shutout striking out 12 over the 7 innings against a .355-hitting Indiana squad.
• If she pitches like that from here on out…

Lincoln Regional Schedule

TV/Streaming TBD as the tournament progresses.

• May 15

  • Game 1:3 p.m. | No. 8 Louisville vs. Grand Canyon | ESPNU
  • Game 2: 5:30 p.m. | No. 1 Nebraska vs. South Dakota | ESPN+

• May 16

  • Game 3: 12 p.m. | Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
  • Game 4: 2:30 p.m. | Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
  • Game 5: 5 p.m. | Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3

• May 17

  • Game 6: 2 p.m. | Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5
  • Game 7 (if necessary): 4:30 p.m. | Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5