Jordy Bahl will pitch at Nebraska next season, not Oklahoma, a transfer that sent shockwaves throughout the rest of college softball.

Bahl was part of back-to-back national championship-winning teams with the Sooners, and she took home Most Outstanding Player honors in the most recent Women’s College World Series. But she announced last week she wanted to move back home, and Nebraska welcomed her with open arms.

The Huskers went 36-22 during the 2023 season. It was a second consecutive strong campaign for coach Rhonda Revelle’s squad after finishing 4 of the previous 5 seasons without a winning record.

“The talent that Jordy brings from an athlete’s perspective is unmatched, right?” Revelle said Tuesday when she met with local media to talk about the addition. “And the timing for her coming into this program, I think, is actually perfect. The culture is healthy. … You add an arm like Jordy Bahl with the returners we have that have had a lot of success on the field, it’s an exciting time for Nebraska softball.”

Revelle said she first met Bahl when she was around 12 years old, but she knew about her even before that. When Bahl told the longtime Nebraska coach during her initial recruitment she would begin her college career at Oklahoma and not Nebraska, Revelle remembered telling her there were no hard feelings.

“We have always been Jordy Bahl fans as a person first, as an athlete second, and that never wavered,” Revelle said.

The softball head coach was in her car when Bahl called her this time around to first broach the idea of returning to her home state. Revelle joked that in that moment when Bahl’s name came across the dashboard she was just hoping she wasn’t about to be told Bahl planned to transfer to Creighton.

The Huskers, of course, welcomed one of the sport’s best pitchers — if not the best — back with open arms. Bahl’s effect on the program has been swift and meaningful. Revelle says there’s more to come.

“I think we need to start with even bigger than our program,” Revelle said when asked what kind of impact the Papillion native can have. “She’s a tremendous ambassador for Nebraska.

“… People talk about generational athletes but she might be a generational force for the University of Nebraska.”

And, oh, by the way, she’ll also hit for the Huskers.