The top-ranked Nebraska Huskers proved once again why they're the team to beat in 2026, but not before the South Dakota Coyotes gave them everything they could handle. In a tense Game 2 of the Lincoln Regional, the Huskers rallied past a scrappy South Dakota squad 4-1, showing the kind of grit that champions are made of.
For most of the game, it looked like Madison Evans might pull off another upset. The Coyotes' pitcher had already stunned one Nebraska team two weekends ago, and she was on the verge of doing it again. Through four innings, she had the Huskers' bats silent, and South Dakota held a shocking 1-0 lead.
The Coyotes struck first in the top of the 4th when Autumn Iversen connected on a pitch from Alexis Jensen that caught too much of the plate. Iversen sent it soaring over the fence, and suddenly the 20-34-1 underdogs were dreaming of a massive upset. Jensen had been nearly flawless otherwise, but that one mistake was all South Dakota needed to grab the lead.
The Huskers faithful remained loud and supportive, but you could feel the tension building. In the bottom of the 4th, Nebraska loaded the bases with no outs—only to see two pop-ups and a strikeout end the threat. Then they opened the 5th with two quick outs. Even for a team that came in 46-6 against the nation's 11th-toughest schedule, this was getting dicey.
That's when the Huskers' resilience kicked in. A player who had been mired in a 1-for-10 slump dating back to the Maryland series decided enough was enough. She ripped a scorching double through the Coyote third baseman and beat the throw to second. Then Hannah Coor, also battling a slump, launched a shot off the wall in right-center, scoring the runner and legging out a triple. Suddenly, the game was tied.
Hannah Camenzind stepped to the plate with the game on the line. She had watched Evans work the outside corner all game, and she was ready. In a near-perfect replay of her clutch at-bat against Michigan the previous weekend, Camenzind drove the pitch the opposite way into the left-field corner for a double, scoring Coor and giving Nebraska a 2-1 lead. She tried to stretch it into a triple when the throw got away, but a South Dakota challenge overturned the call.
No matter. The Huskers had cracked the code, and the floodgates opened from there. Nebraska added two more runs to secure the 4-1 victory, advancing in the Lincoln Regional with the kind of comeback that defines championship teams. For the fans who had been nervously chewing their nails, it was another reminder: never count out the Huskers.