Jordy Bahl

Jordyn Bahl (born July 24, 2002) is an American college softball pitcher for Nebraska. As a freshman at Oklahoma in 2022, she was named NFCA National Freshman of the Year.

Jordy Bahl
Bahl at Werner Park in 2023
Nebraska Cornhuskers – No. 98
Pitcher
Born: (2002-07-24) July 24, 2002 (age 21) Papillion, Nebraska, U.S.
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Teams
Oklahoma (2022–2023) Nebraska (2023–present)
Career highlights and awards
2× Women's College World Series champion (2022, 2023) Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player (2023) WCWS All-Tournament Team (2023) 2× First Team All-American (2022, 2023) NFCA National Freshman of the Year (2022) Softball America Freshman of the Year (2022) Big 12 Freshman of the Year (2022) 2× Big 12 Pitcher of the Year (2022, 2023) 2× First team All-Big 12 (2022, 2023)

High school career

Bahl attended Papillion-La Vista Senior High School in Papillion, Nebraska. She led the Monarchs to three consecutive Class A state titles and was awarded All-State honors all four years. During her junior year in 2020, she posted a 27–0 record with a 0.15 ERA, surrendering just 27 hits and 24 walks in 139 innings pitched, while striking out 299 batters. She also batted .581 with 59 RBI, tying the Class A single-season record with 22 home runs. Following an outstanding season, she was named the Nebraska Softball Player of the Year.^[1]

During her senior year in 2021, she posted a 27–0 record with a 0.10 ERA, surrendering just 27 hits and 15 walks in 137 innings pitched, while striking out 316 batters. She also batted .510 with 20 home runs and 55 RBI.^[2] Following an outstanding season she was named Nebraska Softball Player of the Year for the second consecutive year and Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year.^[3][4][5]

She finished her career at Papillion with a 95–3 record, 0.63 ERA, and 978 strikeouts, in 523 innings. She also recorded 63 complete games and one perfect game.^[6][7] Bahl was ranked as the nation's No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2021 by Softball America and Extra Inning Softball.^[8][9]

College career

Bahl made her collegiate debut for Oklahoma on February 10, 2022, in a game against UC Santa Barbara. She struck out four of the eight batters she faced in 2+2⁄3 innings. Sophomore Nicole May and graduate transfer Hope Trautwein combined to finish the perfect game for the Sooners.^[10] On February 25, she pitched a perfect game against Cal State Fullerton. She struck out 11 in the complete-game performance, allowing no hits or walks to the 18 batters she faced. She became the first Oklahoma freshman to pitch a perfect game since Paige Parker in 2015.^[11] She finished the regular season with a 21–1 record, with a 0.95 ERA, 199 strikeouts and 29 walks in 132+1⁄3 innings pitched. She allowed 18 earned runs, while holding opponents to a .137 batting average including seven shutouts.^[12][13]

On May 6, 2022, she suffered an injury during a pregame warm-up for the Saturday game in the regular series finale against Oklahoma State.^[14] She didn't pitch during the 2022 Big 12 Conference softball tournament due to suffering arm soreness.^[15] She pitched for the first time since returning from injury on June 2, during the first game of the 2022 Women's College World Series against Northwestern. She threw 11 pitches, and allowed two hits while recording just one out.^[16] During the Women's College World Series championship game on June 9, she allowed four hits, two runs, three walks and two strikeouts in four innings and earned the win in the title clinching game. Following an outstanding season, she was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and Co-Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and a unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selection.^[17][18] She was also named a first-team All-American, the NFCA National Freshman of the Year, Softball America Freshman of the Year and a finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.^{[19][20][21][22]}

During the 2023 season in her sophomore year, she posted a 22–1 record with four saves. During 18 conference games, she posted a 7–0 record with a 0.70 ERA, giving up just four runs. Her seven conference wins were the most of any pitcher while her opposing batting average of .130 in Big 12 games was the lowest of any league pitcher. Following the season she was named a unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selection and the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive year.^[23] During the 2023 Women's College World Series, Bahl posted a 4–0 record with one save in 24+2⁄3 scoreless innings and was subsequently named the Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player. She became the first pitcher since 1992 to work at least 20 innings at the World Series without allowing a run.^[24]

On June 12, 2023, Bahl announced she would enter the NCAA transfer portal.^[25][26] During two seasons at Oklahoma she appeared in 71 games with 46 starts and posted a 44–2 record, 1.00 ERA and 397 strikeouts in 288+2⁄3 innings. Her ERA ranked second in Oklahoma program history and was the lowest since the pitching distance was increased from 40 to 43 feet in 1988. She also posted the second-best winning percentage (.957) and opponent batting average (.153) in program history, and ranked third in strikeouts per seven innings (9.62).^[27][28] On June 15, she announced she was transferring to Nebraska.^[29][30]

On February 8, 2024, during the opening game of the 2024 season against Washington, Bahl suffered a season-ending injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee. She took the loss in her Husker debut, pitching 2+1⁄3 innings, allowing two hits, three strikeouts, three earned runs and four walks.^[31] It was later announced she would redshirt during the 2024 season and return in 2025.^[32][33]

References

1. "Papillion-La Vista High School Student-Athlete Named Gatorade Softball Player of the Year" (PDF). playeroftheyear.gatorade.com. May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
2. "Jordy Bahl". soonersports.com. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
3. "Bahl named 2020-21 Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year". NFCA.org. June 22, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
4. Beideck, Steve (July 29, 2021). "Papio's Jordyn Bahl named Gatorade national softball player of the year". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
5. Head, Nate (June 18, 2021). "Jordyn Bahl named Nebraska Gatorade softball player of the year". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
6. "Jordyn Bahl's Softball Stats". maxpreps.com. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
7. Scarborough, Alex (April 14, 2022). "Inside Oklahoma softball's Jordy Bahl's 'whole other level of greatness'". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
8. Eads, Brentt (November 3, 2020). "Player Spotlight: 2021 Extra Elite 100 2021 #1 Jordyn Bahl… "Life is About Learning & Moving On"". extrainningsoftball.com. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
9. Wachen, Rebecca (August 10, 2021). "Why Jordyn Bahl Chose Oklahoma". softballamerica.com. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
10. "Pitching Perfect, Offense Strong in Season Opener". soonersports.com. February 10, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
11. "Bahl Perfect, OU Sweeps Day One of Nutter Classic". soonersports.com. February 25, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
12. "Three Sooners Named Top 10 Finalists for Player of the Year". soonersports.com. May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
13. Batacao, Jason (May 5, 2022). "OU softball: How family, fishing and failure fuels Jordy Bahl's Michael Jordan-esque competitive fire". The Oklahoma Daily. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
14. McLeod, Justin (May 18, 2022). "Patty Gasso Discusses Jordy Bahl's Injury, Timeline for Her Return". extrainningsoftball.com. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
15. Bailey, Eric (May 17, 2022). "Jordy Bahl handling arm injury 'very optimistically' but frustrated she can't help Sooners". Tulsa World. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
16. Sulley, Colton (June 2, 2022). "'She's made differently': Sooners' Jordy Bahl returns to circle in OU's 13-2 run-rule over Northwestern". The Oklahoma Daily. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
17. "Sooners Dominate Big 12 Awards". soonersports.com. May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
18. "2022 All-Big 12 Softball Awards Announced". big12sports.com. May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
19. . teamusa.org. May 4, 2022. Archived from the original on May 9, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
20. "OU's Bahl named 2022 NFCA/Schutt Sports DI National Freshman of the Year". nfca.org. May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
21. "Five Sooners Named First Team All-Americans". soonersports.com. June 1, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
22. "2022 NCAA Freshman Of The Year: Jordy Bahl". softballamerica.com. June 20, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
23. "2023 All-Big 12 Softball Awards Announced". big12sports.com. May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
24. Brunt, Cliff (June 8, 2023). "Oklahoma wins third straight WCWS title, extends record win streak to 53". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
25. Chapman, Ryan (June 12, 2023). "OU Softball: Oklahoma Star Shocks Softball World, Enters Transfer Portal". si.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
26. Lederman, Eli (June 12, 2023). "Jordy Bahl, star pitcher who led OU to historic three-peat, enters transfer portal". Tulsa World. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
27. Aber, Ryan (June 12, 2023). "OU softball ace Jordy Bahl announces she will transfer from Sooners 'to return home'". The Oklahoman. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
28. "Jordy Bahl Announces Her Transfer to Nebraska". huskers.com. June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
29. "Oklahoma pitching star Jordy Bahl announces transfer to Nebraska". ESPN.com. June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
30. Sherman, Mitch (June 15, 2023). "Jordy Bahl commits to Nebraska softball: What this means for Huskers". The Athletic. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
31. "NU Falls to Washington in Season Opener". huskers.com. February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
32. "Nebraska softball pitcher Jordy Bahl out for season with ACL injury". ESPN.com. February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
33. Sardis, Nick (February 14, 2024). "Nebraska pitcher, OU transfer Jordy Bahl's season-ending ACL injury: What we know". The Oklahoman. Retrieved February 14, 2024.