Jordy Bahl explains why representing her home state, growing the game of softball means a lot to her

After two dominant seasons with Oklahoma where she helped the Sooners achieve back-to-back national championship wins, pitcher Jordy Bahl decided to take her talents back home, transferring to Nebraska.

In her introductory press conference, Bahl admitted to being homesick, yearning to be back in her home state since her arrival in Norman. But according to Bahl, another plus of being back in Cornhusker State is being able to represent and inspire young girls that once sat in the same shoes she did in her youth.

“I was the little girl playing on little club teams around Nebraska and it was always super cool wearing Nebraska across your chest during the summer and then going to play in tournaments in California and play teams from big softball states like that,” Bahl said.

Nebraska isn’t necessarily known as a hotbed for softball talent, something Bahl learned at a young age and carried with her throughout her career as a positive.

“No one is really expecting anything from the team from Nebraska, it’s like you’re a true underdog,” Bahl said. “And so it was always cool getting to compete with the best of the best, and so that’s just a really cool feeling.”

Bahl may have started off her career as an underdog, but the tables turned quickly once her collegiate career began. In just two seasons her awards and accolades stack up against just about any player in the country earning two-time First Team All-American honors, two-time All-Big 12 First Team selections, the 2022 Big 12 Freshman of the Year award, the 2023 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year award, and the 2023 Most Outstanding Player of the Women’s College World Series.

Her play from afar has surely been inspiring to young girls in Nebraska already, but now that she’s back in her home state, she will be able to make an even bigger impact on growing the game locally where it matters most to her.

“Also like I said, home has always been super important to me, and so even when I went down to OU it was hard because I never wanted to leave home. This place and these people mean so much to me and so it would just be so cool to just capitalize on what this team can do and have little girls dream of playing for this program,” Bahl concluded.